Hans Schnabel Bio From His Son

Here is my Dad's (wrestler Hans Schnabel) wrestling history in a nut shell. His name was Herbert Moeller and was born in Rye New York  in 1908. He was the son of immigrant parents who arrived in New York City (Ellis Island) from Germany in 1906. They brought their two sons Fritz and Otto with them. Shortly after my dad was born, his mother died due to the flu epidemic which struck NYC in 1910. Soon after, they moved to Conn. At age 8, he contracted Polio.The Disease weaken both legs, but efected his right leg more. It was a long recovery. His brothers would pull him in a cart for the first two yrs afterwards. During his recovery he slowly began to walk, but he was left with a club foot. He finally recovery fully from the disease and his right leg returned to a normal position (but he was always had concerns for his legs, that is the reason he always wore long sweats). As a teen he worked in a spring factory. Fritz and my Dad embarked on careers as mechanics. They opened a garage in Conn. and where successful, but my Father was interested wrestling and seeing the country. Professional wrestling started spreading through NY and Conn. Both Fritz and my Dad had the opportunity earning money in wrestling matches. They both decided to leave the mechanic shop for the more lucrative wrestling life. They decided to honor the mother and use her maiden name Schnabel. My dad used his nick-name Hans. He had a strong desire to become a great professional wrestler. Together or individually, The Schnabel Brothers moved through the professional wrestling world. during the early 30's they worked for promoter Jack Pfeiffer. Early on, they wrestled mainly in the New York area  and Ohio. In 1936, Hans had a shot at the World-Heavyweight Championship. He was signed for the title match, but shortly before the match, Hans became ill so   Dave Levin took his place and won the Title on a disqualification. Later that yr, Fritz and Hans left for South Africa. Fritz and Father continued wrestling through out the U.S. and they were joined by there older brother Otto. A partner of Otto's was a man from Denver, who wrestled under the name of George Schnabel, but he was no relationship.  1948, Hans and Fritz worked for promoter Fred Kohler and mainly wrestled on the west coast and in Chicago. 1949, Fritz then 45 yrs old didn’t have the desire my Dad did, so new partnerships were drawn up. In the early 50's he teamed up with his long time friend Lou Newman. They wrestled as the Iron Russians. He also worked with George Bollas (The Zebra Kid). The last match I have found was in May 1960. “Hans Schnabel” was now 52. His wrestling career spanned 26 yrs. He wrestled all across the United States, Hawaii, South Africa and Japan. From a young boy who had a very crippling disease  such as Polio, he  was able to overcome life's hard knocks and become one of Professional Wrestling's greatest Heels is a feet not often accomplished. He entered into the professional wrestling title record books several times through out his career.