Alois Podhajsky | |
|---|---|
| Director of theSpanish Riding School | |
| In office 1939–1965 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1898-02-24)24 February 1898 |
| Died | 23 May 1973(1973-05-23) (aged 75) Vienna, Austria |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Equestrian | ||
Representing Austria | ||
 | 1936 Berlin | Dressage individual[1] |
Alois Podhajsky (24 February 1898 – 23 May 1973) was an Austrian military officer, Olympic rider, and long-serving director of theSpanish Riding School of Vienna. He is known for his work in classical horsemanship and for his role in maintaining theLipizzan breed and the traditions ofhaute école. Podhajsky wrote several books ondressage and training, and during the Second World War he oversaw efforts to protect the Spanish Riding School and its horses.
Podhajsky was born inMostar,Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was an officer in the Austrian Army, rising to the rank of colonel. In 1939, Podhajsky became chief of the Academy of Classical Horsemanship, better known as theSpanish Riding School of Vienna.[2] Founded in 1572, the school's main focus was the training ofLipizzan horses in the art ofclassical dressage.[3][4] Podhajsky competed in dressage at the1936 Summer Olympics and the1948 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 1936.[5] Podhajsky was director of the school throughoutWorld War II and continued in the position until his retirement in 1965.[6] Following his retirement, he continued to teach classical horsemanship, and wrote a number of books on the topic. Podhajsky died following a stroke in 1973, in Vienna, Austria.[6]
DuringWorld War II, worried for the safety of the school and the horses due to bombing raids on Vienna, Podhajsky evacuated most of the stallions out of the city toSankt Martin im Innkreis inUpper Austria.[7] A number of mares from thePiber Federal Stud, the breeding farm that supplied horses for the school, were also evacuated.[3]
Though the horses were in relative safety, there were still harsh challenges; there was little food for human or animals, and starving refugees sometimes attempted to steal the horses, viewing them as a source of meat.[8] As American GeneralGeorge Patton was leading his troops through Austria, he was alerted to the presence of the Lipizzans in Sankt Martin im Innkreis.[9] Patton and Podhajsky had each competed in equestrian events at theOlympic Games.[10][11][12] The two men renewed their acquaintance, and after Podhajsky orchestrated an impressive performance by the remaining horses and riders of the school in front of Patton (a lifelong horseman) and Undersecretary of WarRobert P. Patterson, the Americans agreed to place the stallions under the protection of the United States for the duration of the war.[8] Podhajsky later wrote about these events, an account which was made into a motion pictureMiracle of the White Stallions byWalt Disney studios, with actorRobert Taylor playing Colonel Podhajsky.
Podhajsky alerted Patton to the location of additional Lipizzan bloodstock. Many Lipizzan mares and some stallions had been appropriated by the Germans from the Austrian breeding farm at Piber and sent toHostau, to aNazi-run stud farm inCzechoslovakia (now theCzech Republic).[8] When Hostau fell behindSoviet lines, captured German officers, under interrogation by U.S. Army Captain Ferdinand Sperl, provided details on the Lipizzans' location and asked the Americans to rescue the horses before they fell into Soviet hands, because it was feared they would be slaughtered forhorsemeat. Patton issued orders, and on 28 April 1945 Colonel Charles H. Reed, with members of Troops A, C and F of the2nd Cavalry Regiment, conducted a raid behind Soviet lines, accepted the surrender of the Germans at Hostau, and evacuated the horses.[8] The Lipizzans were relocated toWels, then toWimsbach,Upper Austria.[3]
After the war, the Lipizzan stallions finally returned to Vienna in the autumn of 1955.[13][14]
Podhajsky is remembered most for saving the Lipizzans, preserving their history following the war, as well as for his dedication to the advancement ofclassical dressage, and his contributions to the Spanish Riding School.
We must live for the school. Offer our lives to it. Then, perhaps, little by little, the light will grow from the tiny candle we keep lit here, and the great art—of the haute école—will not be snuffed out.
— Alois Podhajsky[2]
He was awardedOrder of Saint Sava.[15]
