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General First nameBaron Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt
Lastnamevon Cramm
GenderMale
CountryGermany
Date of birth1909-07-07
Place of birthNettlingen, Germany
Date of death1976-11-09
Place of deathCairo, Egypt

About

The following piece originally appeared in the book entitled ‘Tennis in Deutschland. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Zum 100-jährigen Bestehen des Deutschen Tennis Bundes.’/‘Tennis in Germany. From Its Beginnings to the Present Day. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the German Tennis Federation’. The book in question was first published in 2002.

Gottfried von Cramm – The Tennis Baron

By Ulrich Kaiser

[Translated from the German by Mark Ryan]

The road leading from Cairo to Alexandra via the Nile Delta is wide and straight, so no one was able to explain why the heavy goods vehicle suddenly switched to the other lane. It crashed head-on into the oncoming limousine. Gottfried von Cramm lost consciousness and never regained it. He was 67 years old. It was the end of the life of a person who, more than anyone, could claim to be a ‘sportsman’ in all the senses of that word. One is a ‘sportsman’ not just because of sporting success. For more than a generation Gottfried von Cramm was the symbol of a type of fairness whose self-evidence could at times certainly be embarrassing for others.

For example, in 1935, during the Davis Cup inter-zone final against the USA, von Cramm and his doubles partner Kay Lund led the Americans Wilmer Allison and John von Ryn by two sets to one. It looked as if the Germans would also win the fourth set. It was then that von Cramm interrupted the match and told the umpire that the ball had touched him and that the point in question should go to his opponents. No one else present in the stadium had noticed it, neither of his opponents, none of the officials, none of the spectators. The Germans lost the fourth set 7-9 and the fifth 6-8 and, in the end, the whole tie.

The von Cramms were from Lower Saxony, not far from Hildesheim. Gottfried von Cramm grew up in an environment that was characterised both by his rural surroundings and by modern forms of education and respect for the good old traditions. He could probably have been as good at being a knight without any difficulty, but he was a bit too tall for it. Besides, he enjoyed the game of tennis more.

Gottfried von Cramm developed his talent not just for the game, but also for the hard work that is needed if one is to devote oneself to the endless hours of training – five or six hours a day. Much later von Cramm recounted how he practised with his racket against a stone wall. The balls, which kept hitting the wall in the same place, eventually left a dent in it. But later on he was able to go through a whole tournament without serving a single double fault.

Of course, at a time when complete professionalism did not yet exist, he could have gone to university. In Berlin, of course – where else?! Naturally he went to Berlin, though not to university, but instead to the Rot-Weiss-Club, the place where anyone who wanted to be one of the best players in Germany played at that time. He was only 20 years old when he took part in the International German Championships at the Rothenbaum complex in Hamburg for the first time.

At that time the leading German players were Hans Moldenhauer, who would also die in a traffic accident, and Daniel Prenn, who a few years later would flee to London in the face of those in power in the Reich Chancellery. Something else that should not be forgotten is that old Otto Froitzheim was also still around. Gottfried von Cramm entered this circle as a young, dazzling hero – a heartthrob to young women – and a child of fortune.

But was he really a child of fortune? Tall, blond and blue-eyed – the way he looked definitely corresponded to the ideal the new regime was aspiring to. However, his family’s influence and its traditions, as well as the young baron’s own tendencies, made him vulnerable. What was called liberal several decades later, was at that time considered free-thinking and did not suit the regime. Perhaps he would have been made to feel this sooner, if he had not had been successful at sport.

This situation lasted until 1934. By then he was number two in the world according to the rankings drawn up by the British journalist Arthur Wallis Myers, who could not really be called a friend of the Germans. This list, naturally drawn up without the help of a computer, was an entertaining piece of work and the result of a type of subjectivity that no one disputed. The Australian Jack Crawford was the world number one although he had experienced many bitter defeats against von Cramm.

Gottfried von Cramm won the men’s singles title at the International German Championships six times at the Rothenbaum complex in Hamburg. He was twice men’s singles champion of France at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. He reached the men’s singles final at the U.S. Championships in Forest Hills once, and the final of the same event at Wimbledon three times in a row. This resulted in him being called the best male player never to have won Wimbledon. There were also the successes he had as an exceptional doubles player as well as his many successes at much smaller tournaments. (It should be pointed out here that the term ‘Grand Slam’ had not yet been coined and that the biggest tennis tournaments only became ‘open’ three-and-a-half decades later.)

Despite all this, it would be wrong to paint Gottfried von Cramm as the sunshine boy of German sport. There were also the losses that left their mark on the ‘tennis baron’. And not just those on the tennis court, but also the other sort. He married a childhood friend when he was still a bit of a playboy. The marriage quickly fell apart, but left its mark.

In 1936, von Cramm lost to Fred Perry in the men’s single final at Wimbledon by the score of 1-6, 1-6, 0-6. This was the same Perry he had only recently defeated in the final of the International French Championships in Paris. When the Wimbledon final was over, the umpire announced: “Mr von Cramm apologises to the spectators for his poor performance.” At the very start of the match he had injured himself. This was in fact true, and any other player would have retired after the third game.

One year later, he lost in the Wimbledon final again – this time to the American Donald Budge. Two weeks later he met Budge again in a remarkable, classic match during the Davis Cup tie pitting Germany against America. Von Cramm lost again. In this respect at least, he had angered those people who wanted to use his victories on the tennis court for political ends. They had no further need for the liberal baron.

When von Cramm returned to Germany near the end of 1938, after a world tour, he was arrested. The official reason for his arrest were his homosexual inclinations. An alleged offence related to foreign exchange dealings was also cited. But his only ‘offences’ were his losses on the tennis court. When he wanted to take part in the Wimbledon tournament in 1939, he was not entered by the tennis officials in Germany, a step which was necessary at that time.

The officials at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon called a special meeting and rejected von Cramm’s personal request to take part in the tournament in 1939. However, he was able to take part in the tournament held at the Queen’s Club in the week before Wimbledon. At this tournament he defeated the American Bobby Riggs 6-2, 6-0 in the final. Two weeks later Riggs won the men’s singles title on the Centre Court at Wimbledon.

Gottfried von Cramm had been imprisoned and released, and was ultimately supposed to be sent to the front, but was arrested again. In the end, those in the Reich Chancellery gave in to the serious objections of the Swedish King, with whom they didn’t want to ruin their relationship. The king had often played doubles with von Cramm on the Riviera, using the pseudonym ‘G’ for Gustav.

After the end of the war, when most people had other worries, Gottfried von Cramm began to gather friends who were bound by a common interest in tennis. He responded positively to invitations from abroad. He was a wonderful, a plausible ambassador for the new Germany. In addition to his commitment to tennis, von Cramm also began to build up his own business. He found people to help him do so.

Gottfried von Cramm was married to the Woolworths heiress Barbara Hutton for a short time. In this respect she was fulfilling a dream from before the war. Their marriage attracted a huge amount of publicity, the first of its kind in a country, Germany, that was trying to reshape itself.

Gottfried von Cramm spent the cold months in Egypt, where he ran a cotton business. That is the reason why he was on the way from Cairo to Alexandria on 6 November 1976.
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