FC Bayern president Herbert Hainer: 'A role model for reconciliation'

The statue of Kurt Landauer always receives visitors on its bench, which is shaped like a curved football stand as a symbol that there is room for everyone here. The memorial on the training ground at Säbener Straße has a special significance not only for FC Bayern fans: just a few weeks ago, another enquiry for a report came from Israel. Media representatives travelled from Tel Aviv especially to cover the former president of the German record champions because his life story extends far beyond Bavaria. On Sunday 28 July, it's exactly 140 years since Kurt Landauer was born in Planegg near Munich.

"His story is still alive and moving today," said FCB president Herbert Hainer about one of his most influential predecessors. "With his work, Landauer stands for an attitude and world view that will never fall out of time. He experienced the terror of the Holocaust, lost family members, friends and companions, had to flee Germany because of his Jewish roots – but he returned after the war and reached out to the people in his home city of Munich: a role model for reconciliation, a role model for overcoming even the deepest rifts and building something together. We will always be grateful to Kurt Landauer for that."

Paved the way for club's rise

The fans have been paying tribute to the honorary president for years with magnificent tifos in the Allianz Arena. The charity in his name, which emerged from the fan community, financed and implemented, among other things, the sculpture at the training ground, which Bayern would not be able to call home without its former president, because Landauer once did everything he could to ensure that the club could put down roots there. With him as president, Bayern celebrated its first German championship in 1932 – but above all, after returning to office after the war, Landauer was not only one of the key pioneers in the club's rise to becoming one of the biggest clubs in the world, but also stands for numerous chapters in the club's history that are not limited by the white lines of a football pitch.

In today's world, it is more important than ever to be involved in the culture of remembrance, said Hainer, adding: "Remembering alone is not enough." This is precisely where Bayern comes in, not least with its ‘Red against Racism’ initiative for diversity and against marginalisation of all kinds, as well as its work at the FC Bayern Museum, as the FCB president outlined: "The National Socialist crimes were also possible because too many people looked the other way. That's why it's crucial today to be active, to stand up and speak out against radical views in order to leave them no scope."

Remembrance work must "become a social engine", Hainer explained in a speech to the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria (IKGM) on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the beginning of the year. "We want to sensitise people to the mistakes of yesterday and fill remembrance work with life in order to contribute to the development of tomorrow." Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community, had said during joint Shabbat celebrations with FCB members and club representatives such as executive vice chairman Michael Diederich in recent years: "Kurt Landauer stood for dialogue, so let's talk to each other! Everything is on the line for a society when the past becomes the present again."

Knobloch: 'Kurt Landauer would be very proud of his club'

If you look closely at the bronze statue by Munich artist Karel Fron at the FCB training ground, you will see a crack in the concrete wall on which it sits: a symbol of the break in civilisation caused by National Socialism. He bridges this gap with his upraised hand. Because Kurt Landauer is a role model for overcoming rifts. And his story is one that outlasts those times and will live on.

In the eyes of Knobloch, the joint events with the German record champions have now "become a good tradition", she said during Holocaust Remembrance Day. "Remembrance has nothing to do with guilt but with responsibility, which we all share in an open society: some less – and FC Bayern more. The club and its fans have understood that. Kurt Landauer would be very proud of his club."

FC Bayern marked the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January together with the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria (IKGM) in the spirit of remembrance: