Hans Stuck

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Hans Erich Karl Josef Stuck (pronounced "shtook"; sometimes called Hans Stuck von Villiez; 27 December 1900 – 9 February 1978)

Despite many successes in Grand Prix motor racing for Auto Union in the early 1930s, during the era of the famous "Silver Arrows", he is now mostly known for his domination of hillclimbing, which earned him the nickname "Bergkönig" or "King of the Mountains".

Pre-WWII career

Stuck's experience with car racing started in 1922 with early morning runs bringing milk from his farm to

In 1935, he won the Italian Grand Prix (along with second at the German Grand Prix; he also won his usual collection of hill-climb wins, again taking the European Mountain Championship. 1936 was leaner; he placed second in the Tripoli and German Grands Prix, finishing second in the competition for the European Championship. After Stuck missed a number of hill-climbs because of injuries suffered in accidents, that year the European Mountain Championship fell to his famous team-mate, Bernd Rosemeyer. 1937 was equally lean, bringing only second places in the 1937 Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix^[2] and 1937 Belgian Grand Prix.

1938 opened poorly; Stuck was either fired from, or quit, the Auto Union team (accounts from the two sides differ). After a series of injuries to other team drivers, as well as pressure from the German government (again, accounts differ as to what combination of factors was the cause), he was re-hired, and proved himself by winning a third European Mountain Championship, his last major pre-war success.

Post-WWII career

After the war, although Germans were banned from racing until 1950, Stuck obtained Austrian citizenship and immediately continued racing. A link with Alex von Falkenhausen (not to be confused with the contemporaneous general of the same name) led to Stuck driving for his team in Formula Two racing, although with little success.

He drove a

As an instructor on the Nürburgring, he taught his son Hans-Joachim the secrets of this challenging circuit.

Personal life

Stuck was born in Warsaw in 1900. Although his parents were of Swiss ancestry, they had moved to Germany by the time Stuck was born, and he grew up there.

He was called up for military service in World War I in 1917. In 1918, his older brother Walter was killed, along with Walter's commanding officer; as a result, Stuck met the commander's sister, Ellen Hahndorff, and they were married in 1922. After several years, Stuck's involvement in the fast life on the track as well as off it caused them to split up and divorce.

In 1931, he met

In 1939, he met Christa Thielmann, at that point engaged to Paula's youngest brother. Stuck and Paula divorced in 1948, and he married Christa that year. Their son, Hans-Joachim Stuck, was born in 1951. Christa died in 2014, at the age of 93.

Racing record

Complete European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Notes

• ^1 – Not listed in the Championship.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

References

Further reading

• Chris Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows: Mercedes-Benz versus Auto Union 1934-1939 (Osprey, London, 1986) pp. 30–37, 164-168
• Reuß, Eberhard: Hitlers Rennschlachten. Die Silberpfeile unterm Hakenkreuz. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2006,
  ISBN 3-351-02625-0
  .
• Seper, Hans, Pfundner, Martin, Lenz, Hans Peter: Österreichische Automobilgeschichte. Eurotax, Wien 1999,
  ISBN 3-905566-01-X
  .

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hans Stuck.

• Die Silberpfeile - Hans Stuck Archived 16 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• From Austria to Auto-Union and back
• Newspaper clippings about Hans Stuck in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW