Jutta Müller
Figure skating coach
Honorary citizenship awarded on 12.12.2008
Honorary citizenship awarded on 12.12.2008
Jutta Müller, née Lötzsch, was born on 13 December 1928 in Chemnitz. She was initially a teacher of German and sport. But her love was roller skating and figure skating. In 1949, she became the GDR pairs champion. Jutta Müller later studied at the German University of Physical Education in Leipzig (DHfK Leipzig).Since 1955, Jutta Müller has trained young figure skaters and led them to the top of the world. First her daughter Gabriele Seyfert won two world championship titles in 1969 and 1970, then she coached Günter Zöller, Jan Hoffmann, Sonja Morgenstern, Anett Pötzsch, Simone Lang and Evelyn Großmann. She achieved her greatest coaching successes with Katarina Witt: two Olympic victories, four world and six European championship titles.
A total of over 57 medals at Olympic Games, World and European Championships can be attributed to her outstanding coaching achievements. This makes Jutta Müller the most successful figure skating coach in the world. With her personal commitment and her direct work in Chemnitz, Jutta Müller has made the sport of figure skating and the name of our city famous worldwide. Jutta Müller dedicated 40 professional years to figure skating training in Chemnitz and can point to an unrivalled record of her sporting work.
On 13 December 1998, she was the first person to receive the City of Chemnitz Award of Honour. The state of Saxony awarded her the Saxon Order of Merit on 2 November 2002.
For her life's work, the development of figure skating, the promotion of young talent in Chemnitz and her many years of commitment to our city, Jutta Müller was made an honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz on 12 December 2008.
Jutta Müller died in Berlin on 2 November 2023 at the age of 94.
Honour award for Jutta Müller
For the first time in the history of the City of Chemnitz, Jutta Müller was awarded the Chemnitz Prize of Honour on 13 December 1998 on the occasion of her 70th birthday.
The city council thus honoured her services to the development of the city of Chemnitz and the well-being of its inhabitants >>more
Ovations on his 90th birthday
In December 2018, the Chemnitz Ice Skating Club put on a special (pre-)birthday show in honour of Jutta Müller's 90th birthday at the annual Ice Fairy Tale.
Young skaters performed excerpts from free skating routines by Katarina Witt, Jan Hoffmann and Gaby Seifert in her honour. These three, as well as other top figure skaters, are among those who made the leap to the top of the world thanks to Jutta Müller's coaching expertise.
Many of her protégés came to the ice sports centre to celebrate her former coach's birthday: Katarina Witt, Jan Hoffmann, Evelyn Grossmann (now Klaudt), Constanze Gensel (now Bauer), and Martina Clausner (now Schuster) as well as her daughter Gaby Seyfert.
Homage to Jutta Müller
On 9 March 2024, the life and work of Jutta Müller was honoured in several ways. The ice sports centre was named after the former coach and an ice show rounded off the day.
The new nameplate, which stands in front of the ice sports centre at the entrance to Leipziger Straße, was unveiled by Lord Mayor Sven Schulze, Katarina Witt, Gabriele Seyfert and the Managing Director of EFC GmbH, Sascha Brandt.
The ice show "A tribute to Jutta Müller", organised by the Chemnitzer Eislauf-Club e. V. (CEC), began with show performances from the fields of pairs skating, ice dancing and synchronised ice skating with athletes from Chemnitz, Dresden and Berlin. Several speakers honoured the former coach, including Lord Mayor Sven Schulze, Katarina Witt and Gabriele Seyfert.
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