Heinrich Trossbach

Heinrich Troßbach (8 March 1903, Le Sablon near Metz, Lorraine – 8 October 1947, Kulmbach) was a German track and field athlete who specialized in the 110 meters hurdles and was among the world's leading hurdlers of the 1920s.

Career

Troßbach first broke the German 110 meters hurdles record in 1922, cutting the ten-year-old mark of Walter Martin from 15.8 seconds by half a second to 15.3 seconds, run on 20 August in Duisburg. That time was subsequently bettered by Troßbach himself; his German record of 14.9 seconds, set on 8 August 1925, stood until Ferdinand Beschetznick ran 14.8 seconds on 26 July 1931.¹

European record. On 3 June 1923 he ran 15.1 seconds in Frankfurt, a European record, which he repeated there on 16 September of the same year.

1925, his peak year. Eight days later, on 16 August 1925 at handicap races in Frankfurt, he ran 14.6 and then 14.5 seconds, but in each race he knocked down one hurdle, and under the rules then in force no record could be recognized when any hurdle fell.² A statistical ranking of the best 110 m hurdlers of 1921 to 1930 places him among the top hurdlers of the decade, with 22 points and a best mark of 14.5.⁵

Later competition. He won further German titles in 1926, taking the 110 meters hurdles in 15.3 seconds in Leipzig and finishing second in the 400 meters hurdles behind Otto Peltzer.^{6 • 7} In 1927 he was beaten in the sprint hurdles by France's Gabriel Sempé in the France v Germany international match, which Germany won 89 to 62.⁸ He finished third at the German championships in 1928, second in 1929 behind Willi Welscher, and third in 1931 behind Ferdinand Beschetznick and Erwin Wegner.⁹ He had skipped the Amsterdam Olympics of 1928, and made his return to international competition in the 1929 France v Germany match, winning the 110 meters hurdles in 15.0 seconds, half a second slower than his four-year-old best mark.³

Indoor running. He also set marks over the indoor 60 meters hurdles: 8.5 seconds in Berlin on 30 November 1924, 8.1 and then 8.0 seconds in Münster on 27 January 1929, and 8.0 seconds again in Berlin on 11 January 1931, times that appear in the evolution of the indoor world best.¹⁰

Missed Olympic chances

Two circumstances denied Troßbach an Olympic medal and official record recognition. Germany was not invited to the 1920 Games in Antwerp or the 1924 Games in Paris because of its role in the First World War, removing his best competitive years from Olympic contention.

Writing and later life

In about 1926 he published the instructional book Der Hürdenlauf (The Hurdle Race) with the publisher G. Stalling in Oldenburg i. O.; the book is held by the library of the National Institute of Fitness and Sport in Japan and is cataloged under the subject heading hurdle-racing.¹¹ He worked as a department head (Hauptdienststellenleiter) in the Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen in Berlin, and later became a respected sports journalist and chief editor of the magazine Der Leichtathlet; in that role he created the nickname "Otto, der Seltsame" (Otto, the Strange) for the runner Otto Peltzer.⁴

Family of hurdlers

His son Wolfgang Troßbach (born 24 August 1927 in Berlin) followed the same event. He placed in the German 110 meters hurdles championships ten times between 1946 and 1955, was West German champion in 1951, 1952, and 1953, won silver at the 1949 Student World Games in Merano, and competed in the 110 meters hurdles at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, with a personal best of 14.7 seconds.⁴

References

1. Deutsche Rekorde – Leichtathletik (Herren) 3, sport-komplett.de
2. Progression of World Athletics Records, World Athletics (eBook)
3. Athletics Track And Field – France v Germany 1929
4. Olympedia – Wolfgang Troßbach
5. The Best Athlete: 110 m Hurdles 1921–1930, TU Dortmund (eldorado)
6. Leichtathletik – Deutsche Meister, Berliner SC club detail, ladm.duv.de
7. Deutsche Meisterschaften (400m Hürden – Herren), sport-komplett.de
8. Athletics Track And Field – France v Germany 1927
9. Deutsche Meisterschaften (110m Hürden – Herren), sport-komplett.de
10. World Indoor Record Evolution, Men, World Athletics (Birmingham 2018)
11. Der Hürdenlauf, CiNii Research bibliographic record

Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026

© 2026 Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Embed a reference card.