FC Bayern is mourning the passing of Uri Siegel, the nephew of long-time club president Kurt Landauer, who died on Friday at the age of 97. With Ulrich Siegel, known as “Uri”, the city of Munich has lost a person who fought all his life against forgetting the horrors of the past, and Bayern has lost a loyal friend and important character.
He was one of the last survivors who “still knew and could talk about Judaism in Munich from the time before the National Socialists came to power”, said Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.
His parents, lawyer Julius Siegel and Henny Siegel (née Landauer) emigrated with him to Palestine in 1934 because of their Jewish heritage. There was a deep connection to Bayern throughout his life through his mother’s family. Uri’s uncle was honorary president Kurt Landauer, who shaped Bayern like few others and was president for 18 years over four spells between 1904 and 1951.
Like Landauer, Siegel survived the Holocaust abroad. Both of them returned to Munich after the war and led the way for reconciliation even then. In addition to his work as a lawyer, he also held important positions in the Jewish community and in city society.
The final decades of his life were devoted to the fight against forgetting. He also played an important role at Bayern. He was always at the club’s side in an advisory capacity and helped to restore the memory of Jewish members who had been forgotten for decades. “A world without him and his memories is a poorer one,” said Knobloch.
Bayern president Herbert Hainer also remembers a great person: “I had the privilege of meeting Uri Siegel personally on 27 January this year, the day of remembrance in German football. Despite his modest nature, he understood how to convey such important messages in just a few words, especially these days.”
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also added on learning of Siegel’s death: “With the passing of Uri Siegel, the last descendant of our honorary president Kurt Landauer has left us. For many years, he was a trustworthy and reliable advisor to the presidency and board of FC Bayern, for which we are very grateful to him. He will be sorely missed by FC Bayern.”
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