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The Most Famous

SKATERS from Austria

This page contains a list of the greatest Austrian Skaters. The pantheon dataset contains 315 Skaters, 14 of which were born in Austria. This makes Austria the birth place of the 10th most number of Skaters behind China and South Korea.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Austrian Skaters of all time. This list of famous Austrian Skaters is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Austrian Skaters.

1. Karl Schäfer (1909 - 1976)

With an HPI of 54.97, Karl Schäfer is the most famous Austrian Skater. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Karl Schäfer (17 May 1909 – 23 April 1976) was an Austrian figure skater and swimmer. In figure skating, he became a two-time Olympic champion at the 1932 Winter Olympics and the 1936 Winter Olympics. He was also a seven-time World champion (1930–1936) and eight-time European champion (1929–1936). As a swimmer, he competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 200 metre breaststroke.

2. Herma Szabo (1902 - 1986)

With an HPI of 50.27, Herma Szabo is the 2nd most famous Austrian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Herma Szabo (22 February 1902 – 7 May 1986) was an Austrian figure skater who competed in ladies' singles and pairs. As a single skater, she became the 1924 Olympic champion and a five-time world champion (1922–1926). She also won two world titles in pairs with Ludwig Wrede.

3. Helene Engelmann (1898 - 1985)

With an HPI of 49.88, Helene Engelmann is the 3rd most famous Austrian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Helene Engelmann (later Jaroschka, 9 February 1898 – 1 August 1985) was an Austrian pair skater. With Alfred Berger, she became the 1924 Olympic champion and a two-time world champion. She also won a world title with Karl Mejstrik.

4. Trixi Schuba (1951 - )

With an HPI of 49.25, Trixi Schuba is the 4th most famous Austrian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Beatrix "Trixi" Schuba (born 15 April 1951) is an Austrian former competitive figure skater who competed in ladies' singles. She is a six-time Austrian national champion (1967–1972), a two-time European champion (1971 and 1972), a two-time World champion (1971 and 1972), and 1972 Olympic champion. She is considered to be one of the best compulsory figure skaters ever.

5. Willy Böckl (1893 - 1975)

With an HPI of 48.76, Willy Böckl is the 5th most famous Austrian Skater. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Willy Böckl (27 January 1893 – 22 April 1975) was an Austrian figure skater. He won the World Figure Skating Championships four times and captured two silver medals at the Winter Olympics, and he also won six European Championship titles. The invention of the inside Axel jump (an Axel jump taking off from an inside edge rather than the normal outside edge) has been credited to Böckl and called the "Böckl jump". After retiring from skating, he moved to the United States and became a coach at the Skating Club of New York. In 1937, he published an illustrated instructional book, Willy Boeckl on Figure Skating, which focused on compulsory figures and free skating, but also included chapters on pair skating, ice dance, and carnival (ice show) skating. He published a second book in 1940, How to Judge Figure Skating, which was primarily about judging compulsory figures. In 1938, Willy Boeckl (the spelling was changed sometime after he arrived in the United States) was one of thirteen prominent figure skating instructors from the United States and Canada, who met in Lake Placid, New York, for the purpose of forming an association of figure skating instructors. This distinguished group became known as the American Skaters Guild (the name was later changed to the Professional Skaters Guild of America in 1950, and again to the current name of the Professional Skaters Association). Willy became the first president of the guild; Willie Frick its first vice-president, and Walter Arian, second vice-president. He announced a retirement from coaching in 1944 to work as president of a tire company. Boeckl continued to be involved in skating and lead an ice show tour in Europe in 1953. After retiring, Boeckl moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Following the death of his wife, he returned to Austria, where he died in 1975.

6. Alfred Berger (1894 - 1966)

With an HPI of 48.23, Alfred Berger is the 6th most famous Austrian Skater. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Alfred Berger (25 August 1894 – 11 June 1966) was an Austrian pair skater. With his skating partner, Helene Engelmann, he became the 1924 Olympic champion and a two-time world champion (1922, 1924).

7. Eva Pawlik (1927 - 1983)

With an HPI of 47.07, Eva Pawlik is the 7th most famous Austrian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Eva Pawlik (4 October 1927 – 31 July 1983) was an Austrian figure skater, show star, actress and commentator. She was the 1948 Olympic silver medalist, the 1948 World silver medalist, and the 1949 European champion.

8. Otto Kaiser (1901 - 1977)

With an HPI of 46.87, Otto Kaiser is the 8th most famous Austrian Skater. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Otto Kaiser (8 May 1901 – 7 June 1977) was an Austrian pair skater. Competing in partnership with Lilly Scholz, he became the 1928 Olympic silver medalist and 1929 World champion. The pair won the bronze medal at Worlds in 1925 and silver from 1926 through 1928.

9. Fritzi Burger (1910 - 1999)

With an HPI of 46.25, Fritzi Burger is the 9th most famous Austrian Skater. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Friederike "Fritzi" Burger (6 June 1910 – 16 February 1999) was an Austrian figure skater. She was a two-time Olympic silver medalist (1928, 1932), a four-time World medalist (silver in 1929 and 1932, bronze in 1928 and 1931), the 1930 European champion, and a four-time Austrian national champion (1928–1931).

10. Wolfgang Schwarz (1947 - )

With an HPI of 44.61, Wolfgang Schwarz is the 10th most famous Austrian Skater. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Wolfgang Schwarz (born 14 September 1947, in Vienna) is an Austrian former figure skater. He is the 1968 Olympic gold medalist (one of the youngest male figure skating Olympic champions), a two-time (1967–1968) World silver medalist, and three-time (1967–1969) European silver medalist. Prior to the Grenoble Olympics, he had finished second to Austrian teammate Emmerich Danzer multiple times at the World and European Championships. In December 2002, Schwarz was convicted on charges of trafficking in human beings after he brought five women from Russia and Lithuania to Austria to work as prostitutes. He was given an 18-month sentence, postponed due to his skin cancer. In December 2005, he was acquitted in a separate case of human trafficking. In August 2006, he was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison for plotting a kidnapping of a Romanian teenager.

People

Pantheon has 14 people classified as skaters born between 1893 and 1951. Of these 14, 3 (21.43%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living skaters include Trixi Schuba, Wolfgang Schwarz, and Sissy Schwarz. The most famous deceased skaters include Karl Schäfer, Herma Szabo, and Helene Engelmann. As of April 2022, 3 new skaters have been added to Pantheon including Otto Kaiser, Lilly Scholz, and Felix Kaspar.