1901: Founding of the Hellas rowing club - 5600 victories in 111 years
Walter Scheller and his vice Klaus Dieter Roos had it printed on their letterheads: since it was founded, the Hellas rowing club has won more than 5,600 races. It has competed twice at the Olympic Games, in Munich in 1972 and in Seoul in 1988. It has competed four times in world championships, eight times in German championships and 418 times in Hessian championships. And the Hellas rowers often brought home medals. Scheller is the chairman of the club with the blue star. This year, the club has been in existence for 110 years, just as long as the OFC Kickers.
Rowing has been practiced in Offenbach since 1874, when the Offenbach Rowing Club was founded. Two years later, the RG Undine was added, followed by the RV Hellas in 1901. The founding venue was the "Hotel Kaiser Friedrich" on the corner of Kaiserstrasse and Große Marktstrasse. They lived under crowned regents.
The young club gave its first two four-man boats the names "Kaiser Wilhelm II" and "Ernst Ludwig", the name of the Hessian Grand Duke. The first two-man boat was named "Prinz Heinrich" in honor of a popular brother of the emperor at the time. The zeitgeist of the bourgeoisie also played a role in the choice of the club's name. "Hellas" was intended to indicate that the club's role model was the physical and intellectual culture of the ancient Greeks. The chairman reacts with derision to the fact that people who are unfamiliar with the name "Hellas" often assume it refers to a Greek soccer club.
The members had financed the purchase of the boats with share certificates of ten marks each. They were stored in a temporary hall on the city limits of Bürgel. A flood tore them down for the first time in 1909. Only the current location on the Hafendamm, on the other side of the Carl Ulrich Bridge, was safe from flooding until 1921. The members were later able to extend the building with a restaurant and bowling alley, but all this was demolished by aerial bombs during the Second World War. And now the Hellenes know that they will also have to leave the reconstruction.
The name Hellas is not only associated with notable away successes, but also with events that have become city events. Up to 30,000 spectators gathered at Hellas in 1968 and 1971 for the German Water Ski Championships. Then a powerful Offenbach feeling floated on the waves of the Main. The number of visitors was also large when the "Stadtachter" was held. For years, the eight was the most successful boat category under the blue star.
Walter Scheller joined Hellas as a coach in 1965. He immediately proved to be an asset. The very next year, chairman Alfred Seeger was able to honor 16 of his rowers for nine victories. And another year later, 32 victories in all classes were celebrated.
For forty years, since 1952, Alfred Seeger was at the helm of the association. The honorary citizen of the city of Offenbach is remembered as a patron and organizer who had a wide range of contacts and not only knew how to procure funds, but also how to attract valuable supporters. It is said that he laid the foundation on which Scheller was able to build his successful coaching work.
Like Seeger, the "big names" of the club's middle and more recent history include the building contractors Wilhelm and Theo Krebs, the steel construction manufacturer Robert Lavis and Dr. Otto Krauß from the Hessian Ministry of Finance, the Hellas chairman from 1945 to 1952. They are an example of how the RV Hellas provided impetus to integrate the local economy into the sport.
Sixty boats are "in the stable" at Hellas, many of which are of the latest design. 27 of today's 145 members are active rowers. They have elected a successful coach as their chairman, who sees his sport as "a good school for modern life". Because rowing teaches "teamwork, physical performance and personal stability". The development of Offenbach harbour meant that the club lost its old home. With the support of the city of Offenbach, the club had to move. Today, its boathouse is located in the western part of the harbor, right on the city limits of Frankfurt.
By Lothar R. Braun