#olympic games

The parade of nations for the Oslo winter olympics, 1952

Erle Reiter, Minneapolis Winter Olympian

The world’s best winter athletes are gathering in Beijing this month for the 2022 Winter Olympics. When athletes met in Garmich-Partenkirchen, Germany, for the 1936 Winter Olympic Games, the top two American men’s figure skaters were both from the Twin Cities. Robin Lee of Saint Paul had won the U.S. National Championships and Erle Reiter of Minneapolis had taken second. Reiter’s papers, including handwritten notes for his skating programs and mementos from his Olympic experience, are now an archival collection in Special Collections.

Reiter grew up in Linden Hills and first fell in love with skating as a seven-year-old on a homemade ice rink in his backyard. As a teenager, Reiter took lessons locally at the Minneapolis Arena and studied with leading skaters at the Skating Club of New York. When he finished second at the U.S. National Championships in 1936, he secured a spot for the 1936 Olympics in Germany.

Under the looming specter of Nazism, Reiter and the rest of the Olympic team travelled to Bavaria to compete. The armband that Reiter wore in competition, as well as his Olympic identification card, passport, daily competition schedules, and souvenirs from his time in Garmich-Partenkirchen are included in the archival collection. Neither Reiter nor Robin Lee left Germany with an Olympic medal. Lee finished 12th and Reiter came in 13th.

After the Olympics, Reiter continued to skate. He won two more silver medals at the U.S. National Championships in 1937 and 1938. Rather than continue to train for the 1940 Olympics, Reiter became a professional skater in 1939. Together with other famous skaters of the era, he was a featured performer at a recurring ice show at New York’s St. Regis Hotel. Reiter made a good decision, it turns out, since the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were both cancelled due to World War II.

Reiter served in the U.S. Army during the war and returned home to Minneapolis after its end. With his wife, Helen, Reiter raised two sons. He was an active member of the Minnetonka and Calhoun Yacht Clubs, and he continued to figure skate into his 80s. Erle Reiter died December 3, 2008, and is buried in Lakewood Cemetery.

Photos of Erle Reiter and documents from the Erle Reiter Papers. Visit Special Collections to see this and other archival collections.