Last Updated on September 11, 2021 by Netropolitan Museum
1953 European Championships at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins
The West German industrial city of Dortmund has a long history of hosting major figure skating events, with the first being the 1953 European Figure Skating Championships held at the Westfalenhallen. The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins has culled from its archives the lapel pin issued for that event—one that saw the legendary Carlo Fassi win the first of his two European titles.
Featuring a stylized and sleek snowflake in contrasting black and white as the central design element, the 1953 European Championships pin is unique in design. Few pins for major figure skating events incorporate a snowflake, which is unusual given that the sport generally is regarded as a wintertime activity. Along the outer circumference of the pin are representations of the 12 national flags of the event participants, which creates a colorful and visually interesting border treatment. To the inside of the flags, in all-capital black letters, are the event name, date, and location: “Europa-Meisterschaft im Kunstlauf, 23./25. Jan. 1953, Dortmund.” Generous white space around the snowflake allows all the elements to exist cohesively. On a silver-colored base metal, the pin measures approximately 1-1/2″ in diameter (3.8 cm).
Few pins for major figure skating events incorporate a snowflake design, which is unusual given that the sport generally is regarded as a wintertime activity.
The 1953 European Championships pin is one of only a few issued for the yearly event to feature the national flags of event participants, a design detail that would be much more difficult, or even impossible, to achieve today given the number of countries that now exist in Europe. And depending on which source is to be believed, that number of countries ranges from 44 to 51 (of course, perhaps not all of those countries are member nations of the International Skating Union).
Looking nearly as relevant today in style of design as it likely did nearly 70 years ago, the 1953 European Championships pin belies its age. If we all could only claim the same!
Enjoy Eiskunstlauf in Dortmund. 1953.
1953 European Figure Skating Championships Pin Gallery
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