Created on 14-10-2014 at 17:18 PM
When ‘Landauer - The President’ is broadcast on ARD on Wednesday evening (20.15 / 8 pm CET) it will be the climax of years of commitment by several hundred Bayern fans. Millions of TV viewers will then be able to follow the life, achievement and fate of the Jewish FCB honorary president Kurt Landauer (died 1961) who was hardly seen in public for decades - until the Schickeria fan group helped to revive his public profile. At the same time, the FCB fan organisation made a stand against anti-Semitism and racism. They were presented with the Julius Hirsch Award by the DFB on Tuesday.
“The commitment against all forms of discrimination and anti-Semitism is deeply rooted in the history of FC Bayern. I’m glad our fans have earned this acknowledgement. The creative choreography and actions of the Schickeria are a shining example of that. The Julius Hirsch Award represents deserved recognition for them,” said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who attended the award ceremony at the Hans Sachs House in Gelsenkirchen ahead of the Euro qualifier between Germany and Ireland.
The award was introduced by the DFB in 2005 in commemoration of the Jewish Germany international player Julius Hirsch who died at the Auschwitz concentration camp. It is awarded to clubs, organisations and people who campaign against exclusion, xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism. The Schickeria did exactly this with impressive Landauer choreographic work (October 2009, February 2014), lectures and an annual Kurt Landauer football tournament.
'A clear marker'
“The Schickeria have laid down a clear marker against all types of discrimination,” said DFB president Niersbach who headed the voting panel. “We want this award to encourage the Schickeria and other ultra groups to accept more responsibility in this area.”
Other awards went to:
- A community project in Dortmund that set out to discover what happened to 800 Dortmund Jews who were deported in 1942.
- The Adult Education Centre in Roth for the programme of events entitled Roth is colourful on the history of Jewish football in Germany.
- Mario Bendel who runs the Facebook group Football fans against the Right