The story began with a slap. After a player from local rivals TSV 1860 Munich hit the 13-year-old Franz Beckenbauer, he decided he would join FC Bayern instead of the Lions. That was in 1958 and it was the start of an unrivalled career.
Since then, Beckenbauer has left his mark on FC Bayern like no other. He was promoted to the Bundesliga with the club in 1965, won the Bundesliga (1969, 1972-74) and DFB Cup four times each (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971), the European Cup three times (1974-76), European Cup Winners’ Cup once (1967) and the World Cup (1976). All with Bayern.
The Kaiser’s coronation
However, the 1974 World Cup title was the Kaiser's crowning glory. His elegance, his apparent weightlessness on the ball and his genius earned him this nickname. After 396 Bundesliga games with 44 goals, he left FC Bayern in 1977 to round off his career with the New York Cosmos and Hamburger SV.
But then began a second career for the multiple-time German Footballer of the Year (1966, 1968, 1974, 1976), initially as team manager of the Germany national team, with whom he achieved an outstanding feat, following his 1974 World Cup as a player by also being crowned world champion as a coach in 1990. His path then led him back to FC Bayern.
Return to Bayern
He stood in as coach at the record champions from 28 December 1993 to 30 June 1994 and from 29 April 1996 to 30 June 1996. He brought two titles to Munich in the 1993/94 Bundesliga and then the UEFA Cup in 1996. He had already been elected vice-president at the end of 1991, and from 1994 onwards, he led FC Bayern as president until 2009. As such, he played a key role in the club's further major successes. Following the club's transformation into a public limited company (2002), he was also chairman of the supervisory board.
Beckenbauer was not only in charge at FC Bayern but also a key figure at the German FA (DFB). He was elected vice-president in 1998 and under his leadership Germany successfully bid for the 2006 World Cup. With the Kaiser as head of the organising committee, Germany finally hosted a World Cup that went down in history as a "summer fairytale". Beckenbauer is the undisputed shining light of German football. And if he had an imperial throne, it would be at Säbener Straße.
Beckenbauer died on 7 January 2024 at the age of 78 in his adopted home of Salzburg.