Ferdinand Raeschke

Ferdinand (Ferdi) Raeschke (February 19, 1920 Hamburg – June 16, 1987 Hamburg) was a professional German boxer and, after his active boxing career, owned the beer tavern "Bei Ferry" at the corner of Seilerstrasse / Detlev-Bremer-Strasse inside the famous entertainment quarter of St. Pauli, Hamburg.

Early life

After having attended a sports training event on July 17, 1932, the day of the street riots which were later named Altona Bloody Sunday (German: "Altonaer Blutsonntag"), twelve-year-old Ferdinand Raeschke returned home to his family's apartment at Kleine Marienstrasse and found his mother, Anna Raeschke, dead on the kitchen floor. Anna Raeschke had been incidentally killed near the kitchen window by a stray bullet to her head, when over 7000 paramilitary troops of SA and SS, as well as a rapidly growing number of residential members of the communist party KPD were roaming the streets, until they were met by an insufficient number of police men who, at some point, had started to shoot in panic. From then on, Ferdinand Raeschke had to grow up with literally no support and eventually started out as an amateur boxer. After Second World War he continued as a professional boxer. After his boxing career, Raeschke owned a beer tavern inside the entertainment district St. Pauli. Initially, the tavern was named "Cape of Good Hope" ("Cap der Guten Hoffnung"), it was later renamed "Bei Ferry" and was sold during the early 1980s.

Career

Raeschke won the 22nd German National Championships in 1941, and won the gold medal, defeating Gyula Torma (HUN), Borje Wretman (SWE), and Lajos Szentgyorgy (HUN), in the Welterweight class at the 1942 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Breslau. 
In 1940–1941, he was on the German national team 8 times, scoring +6 –2 =0. He took 2nd place in the 25th German National Championships in April 1944.
As a professional boxer, he won 39, lost 6, and drawn 12, in the period of 1945–1950.

References

External links

 Article by Raeschke's grandson Dirk Gerhardt, published by SPIEGEL ONLINE einestages, July 13, 2012 (currently available only in German)

Category:1920 births
Category:Sportspeople from Hamburg
Category:Welterweight boxers
Category:1987 deaths
Category:German male boxers