Peace Race trophy given to the overall winner general classification

1,500.00
Peace Race trophy given to the overall winner general classification

Description:
Peace Race trophy given to the overall winner general classification of the 1963 edition, Klaus Ampler. Final stage of the 16th Peace Tour 1963 from Magdeburg to Berlin, followed by the award ceremony in the Walter-Ulbricht-Stadium.

In 1948, the ruins of the post-war Polish capital would witness the Grand Départ of the first annual multi-stage "Peace Race", an event created by the sports committee of the Soviet Communist Party, which now controlled not only Poland, but most of Eastern Europe.

A race uniting riders in competing for the race leader’s yellow Jersey, featuring the the symbol of the event - the white dove of peace. Like its better known Western European counterpart, Le Tour de France, the "Peace Race" was an annual multi-stage bicycle race. Unlike Le Tour, the "Peace Race" was strictly for amateur sportsmen in the non-professional world of sport in the Eastern Bloc; each country alternated as the starting point over the years.

The trophy is characterised by an olive branch symbolising peace resting on a base bearing the engravings of the 1963 edition of the "Peace Race", which took place in Prague, Warsaw and Berlin. It also bears the name of Walter Ulbricht, politician and principal leader and founder of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Le trophée est caractérisé par un rameau d'olivier, symbole de paix, reposant sur un socle portant les gravures de l'édition 1963 de la "Course à la paix", qui s'est déroulée à Prague, Varsovie et Berlin. Il porte également le nom de Walter Ulbricht, homme politique et principal dirigeant et fondateur de la République démocratique allemande (RDA).

The base also features an engraving of the coat of arms of the German Democratic Republic (GDR),
combines the symbols of 3 social classes united by the communist regime: the hammer, representing the proletariat; the wheat, representing the peasantry; and the compass, representing intellectual workers.

Made in Bronze

Size: Height 44cm Width 17cm

Weight: 1,230kg

A copper alloy with tin as its main alloying element (unlike brass, which is composed mainly of copper and zinc). The main characteristics of bronze are good resistance to wear. Bronze, like copper or brass, is a victim of oxidation caused by humidity and carbon dioxide in the air. It changes colour and loses its original appearance.

Walter ULBRICHT
Homme politique communiste allemand, Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973) fut un dirigeant important de la République Démocratique Allemande (RDA). Il ordonna la construction du Mur de Berlin en août 1961.

Klaus AMPLER
East German cycling legend Klaus Ampler (born 15 November 1940 in Marienburg, then in Germany, now Malbork in Poland - died 6 May 2016 in Leipzig) was an East German racing cyclist of the 1960s. Winner of the 1963 Peace Race, he took over from Gustav-Adolf Schur as "team captain" of the GDR cycling team. He was selected for the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968.

Additional details:
From 1948-2006, the Peace Race (German: Friedensfahrt, Czech: Závod míru, Polish: Wyścig Pokoju, French: Course de la Paix was first run as a double edition between Warsaw-Prague and Prague-Warsaw in 1948.

Organised by the Polish Communist Party daily Trybuna Ludu and the Czechoslovak daily Rudé Právo, the race ran between Warsaw and Prague (and vice versa) until 1951. In 1952, the newspaper Neues Deutschland, organ of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), joined the organisation. From then on, the Peace Run alternated its starts and finishes between the three capitals, Berlin, Prague and Warsaw. This organisation (with the exception of 1969, when Prague refused to take part) lasted until 1984. In 1985 and 1986, the Soviets became involved in organising the race: the daily Pravda became co-organiser and the start was given from Moscow and then from Kiev. In 1987, the race returned to its traditional route, between Berlin, Prague and Warsaw, and celebrated its 40th anniversary by bringing together the following participants at the start in Berlin.

The last edition of the Peace Race, reclassified as a H.C. event, took place in 2006, between Linz (Austria), Karlovy-Vary (Czech Republic) and Hanover (Germany).