FC Bayern president Herbert Hainer has once again set an example for the club's culture of remembrance together with around 100 fans of the German record champions. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, the 68-year-old took part in a memorial service organised by the Israeli Consulate General, during which supporters of the club and a total of around 600 people undertook a bicycle tour between the two attack sites in the Olympic Park and the Fürstenfeldbruck air base. “We want to show today that remembering remains alive - and should keep people moving," said Hainer. All participants were given shirts in the Israeli national colours by the organisers, on which the names of the victims of the attack could be read in Hebrew and German.
At the end of the bike tour, Hainer, together with the Israeli Consul General Carmela Shamir, Family Minister Ulrike Scharf, Munich Deputy Mayor Katrin Habenschaden and Martina Drechsler, Deputy District Administrator of Fürstenfeldbruck, placed memorial stones according to Jewish custom. The cyclists from all age groups also followed this tradition after arriving at the memorial.
„We want to show today that remembering remains alive - and should keep people moving.”
Herbert Hainer
Remembrance work is enormously important for FC Bayern, Hainer explained at a round-table discussion at the start of the bike tour, which was also attended by the Minister of Culture, Professor Dr. Michael Piazolo, and the Bavarian Commissioner for Anti-Semitism, Dr. Ludwig Spaenle. "The attack during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich shook the world and still moves us today. Sport has the power to unite people. FC Bayern is very happy that so many members joined the bike tour to set a social example together. It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure a better understanding for each other and a communal togetherness in our world. As FC Bayern, we want to play an active role in this.”
In the run-up to the event, the German record champions had called on its members and fans to take part in the bike tour in memory of the victims of 1972. The theme of the tour was "Active together - remembering together". The aim was to symbolically link the two attack sites so that participants could also exchange ideas with each other along the 25-kilometre route.
Since 26 August, the special exhibition "50 Years of the Olympic Stadium - FC Bayern under the Tent Roof" at the FC Bayern Museum has shed light on the events at the venue where the German record champions enjoyed so much success from 1972 to 2005 before moving to the Allianz Arena.
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