Not only does 8 March mark the 124th anniversary of Eintracht Frankfurt’s founding, it is also International Women’s Day. We take a look back at some of the most successful female athletes to have shaped the club over the last few decades.
Women have been exercising at Eintracht Frankfurt for over 120 years, and across the decades they have achieved success both nationally and internationally, helping shape the club and the city.
Handball champions in 1923 and 1943
After handball began to gain in popularity in Germany at the start of the 20th century, the first German Championship in field handball was held in 1921, with Eintracht’s women’s team taking top honours just two years later. Although it was not an official title the club nevertheless produced postcards marked “German champions 1923”. The women’s team continued to be successful and won every regional championship between 1934 and 1943, as well as the German Championship in 1943.
Emmi Haux: German champion and world-record javelin thrower
The Frankfurt native joined Eintracht’s athletics department in 1928 and just a year later she set a new double-handed javelin world record with a throw of 57.05 metres.
Ilse Bechthold: Club legend and women’s rights activist
Ilse Bechthold, who passed away at the age of 93 in 2021, made her mark on the club during her 73 years as a member – and not only as an athlete. From 1948 to 1973 she won a total of 26 Hessian state championships in the shot put and discus. In 1971 she was voted onto the athletics department board and was, among other things, a member of the executive committee of the German Athletics Association (DLV), a member and chairwoman of the IAAF Women’s Commission and vice president of the DLV. Even after her days as an athlete were over, Bechthold continued to be an advocate for female athletes and fight for more equality in a variety of areas. Her commitment earned her, among other honours, the Federal Cross of Merit in 1988, the IOC’s ‘Women and Sport Trophy’ in 2007 and the ‘Olympic Order’ in 2016.
The table tennis team of the 1950s
In 1948 the women’s table tennis team won the German Team Championship for the first time, and followed it up with a further six titles by 1959. Hanne Schlaf, Hilde Bußmann, Ellen Hennemann, Marianne Blumenstein, Annemie Mann and Christel Bischof were even awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf for their achievements by the German president.
Eintracht’s hockey team
Eintracht’s women’s hockey teams have also enjoyed regular success. In 1980 the club was one of the founding members of the Bundesliga; in 1990 they won the European Cup; in 1991 the German Field Championship; and in 1997 the German Indoor Championship.
Betty Heidler: Supreme athlete and serial champion
The Berlin native, who ended her career in 2016, is still regarded as the best female hammer thrower in the history of German athletics. She finished fourth at her first Olympic Games in 2004 before winning gold at the World Championships in Osaka in 2007. Heidler won the European Championship in 2010, set a new world record the following year with a throw of 79.42 metres, and won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Kathrin Klaas: 15 years at the top
Klaas participated at three Olympic Games, seven World Championships and five European Championships across her 15-year career as a hammer thrower. In her first year at Eintracht, in 2003, she won the German U19 Championships and in 2006 she followed that up with the title at the German Youth Championships. Klaas also won the silver medal at the German Championships, having finished in third place in 2005. A Hessian native, Klaas was Germany’s best-placed finisher at the 2012 European Championships where she ended up in fourth, the same position she occupied at the Olympics later that year. After winning the German Championships in 2014, she took silver the following year before reclaiming her crown in 2018, her final year as an athlete.
Ariane Friedrich: German record holder
Ariane Friedrich, who joined Eintracht in 2003, won the high jump at four German Championships and four Indoor Championships, in addition to enjoying international success. She won gold at the 2009 European Indoor Championships after jumping over two metres, and took silver at the World Championships in Berlin later that year. Friedrich’s jump of 2.06 metres in 2009 set a new German record that still stands to this day.
Susanne Wodarz: Women’s rugby team founder
At the end of the 1990s, Susanne Wodarz was the only active female member of Eintracht’s rugby department. In 2004, together with Corinna Völker, she established the club’s first women’s rugby team. Now, almost 20 years later, the women’s team have pride of place in the department. During her playing days, Wodarz represented the German national team on numerous occasions.
Pioneers in women’s football
Women’s football has been played at Eintracht Frankfurt since the start of the 2000s and has constantly been expanded and improved. Thanks to the merger with 1. FFC Frankfurt and the team’s ensuing participation in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga, Eintracht now have a successful team that the whole region can be proud of. Who knows where the path will lead, as there is undoubtedly still potential for another chapter to be written in Eintracht’s history.
