Heinz Nixdorf and Sport

Heinz Nixdorf was an enthusiastic sportsman and sport sponsor. As a young man, he was a member of the sport club Paderborn SC Grün-Weiß 1920 e. V. In 1947 he took part in the East Westphalian athletics championship in Bielefeld and a year later ran with the team that won the »Around Paderborn« relay.

In 1960, Nixdorf watched the Summer Olympics in Rome, and in May 1967, he was in the Heidelberg Arena when Kurt Bendlin set a new world record in the decathlon. From 1979 to 1990, Bendlin was in charge of the sport and training programme at Nixdorf Computer AG.

As CEO, Heinz Nixdorf was actively involved in tennis, cross-country skiing and the card game »skat«. In 1968, he discovered sailing. His great love was the Star, a keelboat for two. Nixdorf was always on the rudder, while his driver Josef Pieper was at the front of the boat, occasionally having to hang well over the side. The pair took part in many regattas at home and abroad. In 1974, they won one stage at the Star World Championships in Spain, and eighth place overall. At the North American Championship in 1980, they won two stages and took fifth place in overall.

In 1984, Heinz Nixdorf sponsored a sport science professorship at Paderborn University which evolved into a separate institute in 1987.

However, his greatest contribution to sport is the Ahorn sport complex in the west of Paderborn, which includes an enormous hall, an arena with stands and other facilities. The topping out ceremony took place in 1983.