Georg Hackenschmidt - Early Life

Early Life

Georg Hackenschmidt was born in Dorpat, Russian Empire, on 1 August 1877, where he lived with his parents, Baltic German Georg Friedrich Heinrich Hackenschmidt and Estonian Swede Ida Louise Johansson, and a younger brother and sister. He later admitted that neither of his parents were particularly robust in stature with any unusual physical characteristics, although his maternal grandfather was said to have been a huge and powerful man.

From his earliest years, Hackenschmidt devoted himself to physical development, particularly at the Secondary Science School (Realschule of Dorpat, as Tartu was then known), where he took advantage of the gymnasium. He excelled in cycling, gymnastics, swimming, running, jumping and weightlifting. His feats of strength were astounding for his teachers. He lifted a small horse off the ground and lifted 276 pounds overhead with one hand. In a wrestler's bridge, he could reach out and grasp a 335-pound barbell, pull it to his chest from off the floor, and bench press it overhead, bridging on his neck. In 1902 he jumped 100 times over a table with his feet tied together. He set several records in weight lifting and was considered both the strongest and the best-developed man in the world.

Graduating from school in 1895, he entered the Lausmann factory, a large engineering firm in the city of Tallinn (then known as Reval), as a blacksmith's apprentice. He joined the city's Athletic and Cycling Club. He became an ardent cyclist and won prizes, but also developed a keen interest in wrestling and weight lifting. The turning point in his life was in 1896 when Georg Lurich, Hackenschmidt's compatriot Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman, came through the area with a small company, challenging any and all comers. Hackenschmidt took up the challenge and was beaten. German wrestler Fritz Konietzko came to Tallinn in 1897, and Hackenschmidt fared better this time.