1952 European Figure Skating Pins: Vienna Skates for You.

Last Updated on April 6, 2024 by Netropolitan Museum

Event was marked by perhaps the only pins ever customized for participants

The Blue Danube. Johann Strauss (I and II). Wiener Schnitzel. Sachertorte. The Vienna Philharmonic. Wiener Eislauf-Verein. The Austrian capital of Vienna is well-known for all these things and more, but it is the latter that plays into the 1952 European Figure Skating Championships, serving as host club for Europe’s premier event that was marked with large and beautiful lapel pins.

Pins Gallery: 1952 European Figure Skating Championships

Marking the occasion of the 1952 event are large and impressive pins that speak to a time when high-quality pins were produced that truly commemorated a championship. The first two pins were given to those with a role in the event while the second two were customized exclusively for an event official and a competitor.

The pin labeled “Teilnehmer” was likely given to someone with a functional role in the event since it appears the pins for competitors were personally customized. The pin labeled “Presse” would have been given to a newspaper journalist. Both designations are in German, the official language of Austria.

The second two pins are from the estates of a former competitor/official from Finland and a former competitor from Germany. First is the pin customized for Walter Jakobsson, which reads: “Ing. W. Jakobsson.” Jakobsson officiated at the 1952 event, and he and wife Ludowika Eilers-Jakobsson were the 1920 Olympic champions, 1924 Olympic silver medalists, and several times World Champions. In his native Finland, Jakobsson was an engineer with a leading crane manufacturer.

Second is the pin made for competitor Ria Baran, who, with husband Paul Falk, not only won this event but were the reigning World and European champions. They would go on to win gold at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo, Norway, and another world title in Paris, all within the span of just a few weeks. The customization reads: “R. Baran.” In the 1987 book Figure Skating Pins, by Robert and Nancy Quinn, the 1952 pin customized for the late Italian skating legend Carlo Fassi is shown.

The Vienna pins are among the largest known to have been issued to commemorate a figure skating event. In high detail, with the façade of the old building at the Viennese Skating Club as the focal point, the pin is a substantial memento of both the event and the location. The strong red background highlights the inscription and perfectly complements the coolness of the base metal. In the center are the event name, location, and date: “Europameisterschaft im Kunstlaufen Wien 4.-6. Feber 1952.”¹

The 1952 championships helped to mark the momentous occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Wiener Eislauf-Verein (Viennese Skating Club), one of the oldest skating clubs in the world. The event was contested on the expansive outdoor ice surface under the February skies. Just 15 years later, when celebrating its 100th anniversary, the club had the honor of hosting the 1967 World Figure Skating Championships, the last World Championship to be contested outdoors.

Enjoy this week’s figure skating pins blog: 1952 European Figure Skating Pins: Vienna Skates for You.

This blog was originally published at The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins on July 11, 2020, and has been updated with new and expanded information.

¹ Special thanks to Skate Austria for details about the 1952 pin.

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