Uli Hoeneß
Half a century of club history and the most successful era in the history of the club is closely linked to one man. Uli Hoeneß has shaped FC Bayern like no one else as a player, general manager, board member, president and supervisory board chairman. He made the record German champions a global brand and won countless titles with the club.
“I don’t regret a single day. I’m not just a Bayern Munich employee but a devout fan,” Hoeneß said shortly before stepping down as the president of the club with the biggest membership in the world in November 2019.
As an FC Bayern player (1970-79), Hoeneß won the 1976 Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup three times, three Bundesliga titles and a DFB Cup. As a West Germany international he also won the 1974 World Cup and 1972 European Championship, as well as competing at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Born in Ulm on 5 January 1952, Hoeneß became the club's general manager at the tender age of 27 in 1979, having made 239 Bundesliga appearances and scored 86 goals. Hoeneß was FC Bayern München AG vice chairman from 2002 to 2009, responsible for the professional playing section, the youth section, sponsorship, licences and representing the company in the Stadion GmbH.
Hoeneß was seen as a visionary and pioneer in the Bundesliga even during his initial years as general manager, particularly in terms of TV and merchandising. Hoeneß received numerous personal awards. He was named Manager of the Year several times, was presented with the Bavarian Sports Award in 2006, the Bambi in 2009 and the Civil Courage award by the “Bündnis für Kinder” (Alliance for Kids) charity in 2010.
Hoeneß was elected FC Bayern München eV president and named to the supervisory board of FC Bayern München AG in 2009, holding these positions until 2014. In 2016 he returned to lead the club in both positions. At the Annual General Meeting in November 2019, he opted not to stand again for president and has vacated his position as chairman of the supervisory board.
Under Hoeneß as general manager, board member and president, FC Bayern won a total of 57 trophies, including the Champions League in 2001 and 2013, the Intercontinental Cup in 2001 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2013, the UEFA Cup in 1996, 24 Bundesliga titles and 14 DFB Cup triumphs. Hoeneß was also a strong proponent of the Bayern basketballers, and his presidency included a double for them in 2018.
Franz Beckenbauer (†)
The Kaiser, born on 11 September 1945 in Munich, won everything you can win as a player.
He played professionally for FC Bayern from 1965 to 1977 (396 Bundesliga matches, 44 goals). Franz Beckenbauer won the European Cup three times in a row with FCB, the Bundesliga and DFB Cup four times each, the European Cup Winners' Cup once, and also the World Cup.
The long-serving captain and multiple-time German Footballer of the Year (1966, 1968, 1974, 1976) was an honorary captain of the national team and FC Bayern and one of the world footballers of the 20th century alongside Pelé, Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona. As team manager, he led the Germany national team to second place at the 1986 World Cup before lifting the trophy four years later in 1990. He later also won the Bundesliga (1994) and UEFA Cup (1996) with FC Bayern.
Beckenbauer was president of FC Bayern München eV from 1994 to 2009 and chairman of the supervisory board of FC Bayern München AG from 2002 to 2009. Beckenbauer was appointed honorary president on 27 November 2009. He was also a member of the FIFA executive committee until 1 June 2011. After chairing the bid committee for the 2006 World Cup, he served as head of organisation for the tournament in Germany.
The world-class libero received numerous honours and awards, such as the Silver Laurel Leaf, the Bavarian Order of Merit and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Beckenbauer died on 7 January 2024 at the age of 78 in his adopted home of Salzburg.
Wilhelm Neudecker (†)
Senator Wilhelm Neudecker, born on 24 October 1913 in Straubing, was the driving force behind FC Bayern’s ascent into the footballing elite. A building contractor who was heavily involved in the reconstruction of Munich’s famous Frauenkirche after the Second World War, he became FC Bayern president in April 1962 when the club was still in the lower-tier Oberliga. By the time he left office 17 years later, the club’s trophy haul included the Intercontinental Cup, the European Cup, four German championships and four DFB Cup triumphs.
Neudecker paved the way for the glittering 1970s at FC Bayern. He hired coaches such as Zlatko Tschik Cajkovski and Udo Lattek, and signed top quality players including Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Sepp Maier, Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Paul Breitner.
Promotion to the Bundesliga in 1965 was only the first step in FC Bayern’s rise to the status of a world-leading club, confirmed with the Intercontinental Cup success in 1976. Neudecker also overhauled and modernised the club’s infrastructure. He hired Robert Schwan as the first professional general manager in German football, and supervised the amalgamation of the head office and training facility at the current Säbener Strasse site.
Neudecker served as chairman of the German FA (DFB) league committee from 1975 to 1986 and was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1978. He died in Munich on 24 December 1993 at the age of 80.
Kurt Landauer (†)
Kurt Landauer, born into a Jewish trading family on 28 July 1884 in Planegg, played for Bayern as a youth from 1901, but soon left Munich to train as a banker in Lausanne. Landauer concluded his apprenticeship in Florence, before returning to Munich in 1905. He was elected FCB President for the first time in 1913, but the outbreak of hostilities in World War I forced him to quit the position.
After returning from active service, Landauer served a second spell as FCB President from spring 1919 until March 1933, with a one-year break in 1922. Fuelled by Landauer's ideas and energy, Bayern grew into an internationally renowned club. The pioneering President, who favoured investment in the team rather than the construction of a stadium demanded by a section of the membership, rates to this day as one of the founding fathers of the club's widely-admired youth policy. FCB won the German championship for the first time in 1932 during Landauer’s period in office.
With the rise of National Socialism, Bayern were hit hard by the Nazi policy of 're-amateurising' German football, which had been moving towards professionalism in the preceding period. FCB were one of the driving forces behind the development, but the Nazis condemned professional football as "a Jewish plot". The Nazi authorities branded Bayern a "Jewish club”, even though only a small proportion of the membership hailed from a Jewish background.
In the changed political circumstances, Landauer felt obliged to resign on 22 March 1933. Shortly afterwards, he was forced out of his job as a department head with publisher Knorr & Hirth, finding menial employment elsewhere with the Jewish-owned Rosa Klauber laundry firm.
On the day after Kristallnacht, Landauer was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. He was registered at Dachau as prisoner number 20009. However, because he fought in the First World War, he was released 33 days later. Landauer emigrated to Switzerland on 15 March 1939. In June 1947, he moved back to Munich and was re-elected to the Bayern presidency in the same year. His final term of office ended in 1951. Ten years later, on 21 December 1961, Landauer passed away in Munich at the age of 77.
Siegfried Herrmann (†)
From reserve player to president - with many positions in between: Few people have shaped FC Bayern in as many ways as Siegfried Herrmann. He was born in Munich on 20 August 1886 and joined FC Bayern aged 17. He worked in an important position from 1907 onwards, being head of the youth section for two decades, jointly responsible for the successful promotion of talent. He then oversaw Bayern's development as vice president, secretary and chairman of the match committee under Kurt Landauer, culminating in the 1932 German championship.
Being the president may not have been his primary goal, but a mission. After Landauer's forced resignation on 22 March 1933, Herrmann succeded him and led the club in Landauer's spirit. During his one-year presidency he made sure FC Bayern could stay as true to its values as possible under the Nazi regime over the next few years. In 1934 he enshrined in the statutes that it was possible for persons of Jewish descent to remain club members. After his resignation - it is unclear whether it was forced or not - the assembly named him honorary president in 1934.
Herrmann had fallen into disfavour with the National Socialists long before 1933 due to his career and his position as inspector general. As head of the Munich police department's so-called political leadership, he was jointly responsible for banning Adolf Hitler from speaking in 1925. After the takeover he was immediately demoted to the criminal investigation department. In 1941 he was transferred to Vienna for discliplinary reasons. Up to that point he had supported FC Bayern in background positions as club archivist and members' representative.
The Munich police president brought Herrmann back to the city immediately after the end of the war in May 1945, making him one of the city's two heads of security for life. The FC Bayern members named him vice president in 1945. He kept the position - again under Landauer from 1947 to 1951 - until he was named provisional president, keeping the highest position at the club for another half year.
Herrmann remained loyal to the club until his death on 4 June 1971. He was also responsible for the 1950 anniversary chronicle, which shed light on the club's activities during the Nazi years in a self-critical manner - far beyond the scope of the sport.
Franz John (†)
Franz John was a "Bavarian" from day one. Without him, FC Bayern would perhaps not even exist in the club's current form. The Brandenburg native gave FC Bayern its name, and in the first weeks of the year 1900 he and his friend Josef Pollack made sure 17 young footballers left MTV München and its conservative gymnasts. The footballers followed John and the call for independence. Eleven of them founded "Fußballclub Bayern München" at "Café Gisela" near Odeonsplatz on 27 February 1900. Today's record German champions were born at 11:15pm on that day.
John, who was born in Pritzwalk on 28 September 1872, was a passionate sportsperson and perfectly suited to be the club's first president at the tender age of 27. It did not take long until the pioneer made FC Bayern the leading footballing force in Munich. Like many of the founding members, John was part of the Munich art scene. The son of a postal secretary lived and worked in Schwabing and Maxvorstadt, near the club's place of foundation. He worked as an artistic photographer at Atelier Friedrich Müller, one of the most prestigious studios for portrait photography.
John shaped the club with his visions even though he held the position only until 1903. Later, back in Berlin, he said: "My years in Munich were the best ones." He was named honorary president in his absence in 1925. The contact to FC Bayern became less and less frequent, but a tie remained between the club and its first president, during his lifetime and beyond. In 1936 he was awarded the golden badge of honour. In 1947, Bayern president Kurt Landauer wrote to him: "The way you led the club in its first years has been precedent-setting and authoritative for almost all later presidents. Your example was the guiding star, and your successes have proved we've been on the right path." Under John, the club was cosmopolitan, tolerant, determined, open to changes but also rooted from the start.
John was destitute after a bomb raid destroyed his studio in Pankow in 1943. His old friends from Munich provided him with food after the Second World War. He passed away on 17 November 1952, and years later, at the fans' initiative, FC Bayern erected a memorial at his derelict grave to commemorate the club's first president.