This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the First Ruperto-Carola-Symposium \Fast Motions in Biomechanics and Robotics - Optimization & Feedback Control", held at the International Science Forum Heidelberg (IWH), on September 7 - 9, 2005. The aim of this symposium was to provide a forum for an interdisciplinary community of researchers from robotics, biomechanics, control engineering and applied mathematics to enhance the understanding of the control of fast motions in nature and engineering.