“Building Bridges through Sport”

Symposium in Honour of Prof. Dr. Manfred Laemmer

At the age of 80, EOA President Manfred Laemmer still burns with the same fire for the Olympic idea. The Cologne-based sports historian, who completed his habilitation in history and classical philology and directed the Institute for Sport History at the German Sport University Cologne for over 30 years, has been shaping the Olympic Movement in Europe for half a century.

The EOA, in cooperation with the German Olympic Academy, Maccabi Germany, the German Sports & Olympic Museum, and the Forum Sportpolitik will host a symposium on the occasion of Manfred Laemmer’s 80th birthday on 28 April 2023. The event will take place in Frankfurt and will gather national and international sport administrators, researchers and fellow colleagues of Manfred Laemmer. In his last years, the sport historian dedicated himself to building bridges through sport, be it in the context of the Fair Play movement or in the founding of the European Olympic Academies. Six different lectures will discuss matters that have addressed and moved Manfred Laemmer throughout his career.

Programme

13:30-14:00 | Arrival and Reception

14:00-14:15 | Honour of the Deutsche Olympische Gesellschaft (DOG) (German Olympic Society)

14:15-15:00 | Opening

Video messages by
Spyros Capralos (European Olympic Committees)
Isidoros Kouvelos & Dionyssis Gangas (International Olympic Academy)
Philippe Housiaux (European Fair Play Movement)

Words of Welcome by
Mariia Bulatova (European Olympic Academies)
Gudrun Doll-Tepper (German Olympic Academy, German Sports & Olympic Museum)

15:00-16:15 | Lectures

Andreas Hoefer
Die Quadratur der Ringe: Friedens-Spiele in Zeiten des Krieges? (german)

Sylvia Schenk
Olympic Values and/or Human Rights

Sven Gueldenpfennig
Citius – Altius – Fortius – Communiter: Betrachtungen zur Erweiterung des Olympischen Mottos
(german)

16:15-16:45 | Coffee Break

16:45-18:00 | Lectures

Markwart Herzog
Der FC Bayern München: Eine „Heldengeschichte“ unter dem Hakenkreuz? Neue Erkenntnisse der Forschung 
(german)

Alexander Feuerherdt
Boycotts against the Israeli sport

Uri Schaefer/Detlef Dumon
Learning from History Examples of Global Policy Development

18:00-20:00 | Get Together & Dinner Buffet

Moderation: Juergen Mittag (Forum Sportpolitik/German Sport University Cologne)