The eighth annual Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria was influenced by the German flag controversy, which led to the teams of the Warsaw pact zone withdrawing from the tournament. In addition, Finland and Norway decided not to compete due to preparations for the upcoming 1960 Winter Olympics. Finland ultimately sent prospective athletes.

Quick Facts Four Hills Tournament, Venues ...

Four Hills Tournament
Venues	Schattenbergschanze, Große Olympiaschanze, Bergiselschanze, Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze
Location	Germany, Austria
Dates	30 December 1959 (1959-12-30) – 6 January 1960 (1960-01-06)
Competitors	46 from 8 nations
Medalists
Max Bolkart   Alwin Plank   Otto Leodolter
← 1958-59 1960-61 →

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The tournament was instead dominated by the host country and for the first time, the Four Hills were won by a West German ski jumper, Max Bolkart.

For ten years after its declared independence, the German Democratic Republic continued to use the German tricolour for official use. In October 1959, they finally adapted a distinctive flag, the East German coat of arms in front of the tricolour. The Four Hills tournament starting in December 1959 was one of the first sporting events on West German ground where East German athletes were supposed to compete under the new flag.

However, it was prohibited to display the new East German flag under West German law and the hosts refused to do so in Oberstdorf. The strong East German delegation including defending champion Helmut Recknagel refused to compete under the circumstances and withdrew. Teams of countries that accepted East Germany as a sovereign nation and thus their flag, withdrew in solidarity (Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union). Originally, it was announced that they would compete at the two events in Austria.

Austria, however, did not yet have diplomatic relations with the GDR and it was left to the local government to deal with the situation. Innsbruck mayor Alois Lugger decided not to display the East German flag either. Although he offered compromises, such as the use of the Olympic German flag or using no flags at all, the Warsaw pact teams declared their withdrawal on the day of the Innsbruck event and left the day after. ^[1]

Many notable absences include the teams from East Germany, the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway and the top athletes from Finland.

A French team, however, competed at the Four Hills for the first time.

More information Nation, Number of Athletes ...

Nation	Number of Athletes	Athletes
Germany	13	Hermann Anwander, Helmut Böck, Max Bolkart, Rudi Duffke, Alois Haberstock, Wolfgang Happle, Heini Ihle, Helmut Kurz, Georg Thoma, Helmut Wegscheider, Hubert Witting, Heinrich Zapf, Axel Zerlaut
Austria	14	Willi Egger, Klaus Fichtner, Walter Habersatter, Waldemar Heigenhauser, Willi Köstinger, Ernst Kröll, Lois Leodolter, Otto Leodolter, Peter Müller, Alwin Plank, Baldur Preiml, Rudi Schweinberger, Walter Steinegger, Ferdl Wallner
Canada	3	Jacques Charland, Gerry Gravelle, Luis Moser
Finland	2	Timo Kavelä, Markku Maatela
France	2	Claude Jean-Prost, Robert Rey
Sweden	4	Lars-Åke Bergseije, Holger Karlsson, Inger Lindquist, Folke Mikaelsson
Switzerland	3	Andreas Däscher, Ueli Scheidegger, Peter Wenger
Yugoslavia	5	Božo Jemc, Jože Langus, Miro Oman, Marjan Pečar, Jože Šlibar

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