Maxi Herber


Maxi Herber was a German figure skater who competed in pair skating and single skating. She is the youngest figure skating Olympic champion when she won gold in pair skating together with Ernst Baier at the 1936 Winter Olympics. The duo revolutionized pair skating, becoming the first team to perform jumps side by side.
Born in Munich, Herber was also an accomplished single skater, winning the German nationals three times, from 1933 to 1935. She skated for the Münchner EV club.
Herber and Baier married after their skating career ended in 1940. They had 3 children. After World War II they skated in ice shows. Later the couple owned a business. In 1964 they were divorced. As a result of the divorce, she had to depend on social services to survive. Supported by the "Deutsche Sporthilfe" she moved to Oberau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. Some years later Herber and Baier remarried, but were divorced again.
Herber suffered from Parkinson's disease. In 2000, she moved to the Lenzheim retirement home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Soon afterwards she had an exhibition of her watercolor paintings there. She died at age 86 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen; Herber had been Germany's oldest living female Olympic champion.

Results

Event193319341935193619371938
World Championships7th
European Championships4th7th4th
German Championships1st1st1st2nd

Event19341935193619371938193919401941
Winter Olympic Games1st
World Championships3rd1st1st1st1st
European Championships1st1st1st1st1st
German Championships1st1st1st1st1st1st1st