Michael Diederich visits Munich art gallery with FC Bayern Campus youngsters

The founding of FC Bayern in 1900 perfectly matched the spirit of the times in Munich as a centre of Art Nouveau. Creativity and innovation characterised life, and many new things were created, including a football club that was to have a significant influence on entire eras. Together with youth players from the FC Bayern Campus, our deputy CEO Michael Diederich explored how history that inspires great things is created.

A look into the founding era

At the entrance on the first floor of the Art Nouveau exhibition in the Hypo-Kulturstiftung art gallery in Munich city centre, “Made in Munich” is written in large letters. It is the subtitle of the collection of artworks, which is the largest in the world with over 450 objects, and also a great excuse for FC Bayern to visit. Deputy CEO Diederich and Dr Eva Zier, team leader for education in youth football at the FC Bayern Campus, gather their group of teenagers for a photo with double symbolic power. Both the girls and boys are part of the German record champions’ youth system. They too are made in Munich, and they too stand - in a figurative sense - for Art Nouveau. One day, they will design FC Bayern.

During the one-hour tour, Diederich repeatedly engaged with the talented youngsters from the Campus. He wants to know what moves them, what they take away from this unusual excursion, far away from football. “Of course they were surprised,” said the deputy CEO. “Why should we visit an exhibition like this now? We just want to play football.”

Such an attitude is understandable, according to Diederich, as young people have their own priorities. “But we wanted to take them on an excursion out of their world, to break out of it a little - and it was noticeable that the scepticism was fading more and more.” Not everyone becomes an art lover and Art Nouveau expert in one fell swoop, added Zier. “But such excursions are important, as they enable young people to think outside the box. We promote social contacts and broaden their understanding of areas beyond the football pitch.”

After the last objects have been viewed, Yll Gashi, who has been with FC Bayern for two years and is currently a striker for the U17s, stands together with a few other Campus youngsters. “A good pass or a dribble also has something to do with creativity,” he said about the parallels between football and the exhibition. Said Attalai, a striker in the U16 team, nods: “I found this visit inspiring. And I think it's cool that FC Bayern was founded at exactly that time. A lot of new things were being created back then. You definitely had to be courageous, overcome resistance and not be dissuaded. We have to take all of that to heart if we want to fulfil our dreams.” Diederich is convinced that “Even if the teens may have been a little irritated at first, this visit will certainly have a lasting effect.”

The need to be curious

Again and again, the group on the tour causes alarm - that happens when you are less familiar with your movements in an exhibition like this. And it is also proof that one or two people wanted to take a closer look at the various objects. Being curious is a necessity if you want to develop, says Zier with a smile as the siren is heard again. “Such visits can awaken personal interest in various topics,” she explains. “They open up new perspectives, stimulate creativity and invite reflection.” In addition, such an event with an FC Bayern board member is something very special for the girls and boys who are pursuing their big dream of a breakthrough at the Campus: “This experience helps to break down fears of contact and promotes dialogue between those responsible and the young people.” FC Bayern as a family.

Diederich spends a particularly long time at one display case with a few players. It shows pieces of jewellery such as brooches and belt buckles made by Fred Dunn. Dunn ran a studio for applied metalwork from the 1900s, in the 1920s he was director of the Bavarian Arts and Crafts Association. And this is where the Art Nouveau exhibition merges tangibly with FC Bayern. He was actually also club president from 1913. This is no coincidence, as a glance at the club's chronicle underlines, in which it was written as early as 1901 that the club “always emphasised the artistic and elegant”. Dunn was born an American in New York in 1872 and moved to Munich at the age of six, where he was eventually granted German citizenship. He initially played baseball on the Theresienwiese before taking up football and joining FC Bayern, which was founded in 1900.

Juliane Schmid looked at the artefacts in the exhibition with interest, including those by Dunn. “It's extraordinary to play for a club like FC Bayern, which has such a long history,” says the 20-year-old goalkeeper, who joined FCB five years ago. “And just like in this exhibition, a lot of things are created at FC Bayern that remain.” The youngsters can recognise many parallels between Art Nouveau and their club, suggests Zier: “Both areas require dedication and the ability to show and express one's talents. In Art Nouveau in particular, like football, there is a lot of creativity in expression. Art nouveau is often characterised by dynamic movement and innovation, similar to football, where movement, creativity and an innovative understanding of the game play a decisive role.” Attalai finds the colours used by the artists interesting, while Tim Ebert from the U15s likes the architecture, as the midfielder explains. “I think I'll try painting something at home,” says Said. “Reading a book or going to the mountains also broadens your horizons,” adds Tim.

A poster advertises the Ethos restaurant - a vegetarian one, as the picture says. “Pretty cool, even at that time,” is the comment of the Campus youngsters. Diederich also takes something home with him from such excursions, says the board member: “I'm no different to the girls and boys here. You never stop learning in life.” He tries to discover inspiration and new perspectives for himself. Zier explains the educational purpose further: “You question your own views and think about how we can further integrate different worlds into the education of our girls and boys. A comprehensive general education ensures a broad horizon and promotes independent thinking. In my opinion, these are the most important tools that our talents should develop at FC Bayern Campus alongside their sporting skills.”

Since its foundation, FC Bayern has always been a home for people who developed things, were open-minded and wanted to move things forward. Dunn is just one of these creative FCB protagonists of the time. Franz John, the first president, was a photographer, and the chronicles of the founding years also list other creative minds who made a name for themselves. Goalkeeper Otto Ludwig Naegele studied at the Munich Art Academy, founding member Arthur Ringler later became known as the city architect of Innsbruck, and long-serving captain Paul Francke was not only one of the spokesmen on the founding day, but also immortalised himself as a postcard painter. One of these copies from 17 June 1900 is still the second oldest exhibit in the FC Bayern Museum today.

All facets of history

Part of the history of FC Bayern is also dealing with all facets of the people of their time. Ringler, Naegele and Dunn later joined the Nazi party - the latter even described the art of Art Nouveau as “degenerate” in an essay in 1936, thereby passing a damning judgement on his own work. FC Bayern certainly did not turn a blind eye to these developments. Despite the unprecedented history of reconciliation by the Jewish president Kurt Landauer, there were victims and perpetrators at the club, which was analysed by the independent study by the Institute of Contemporary History. The club incorporated the findings, not least in its museum in the Allianz Arena. Writer Hans Carossa once wrote a summary of Art Nouveau: “That unprejudiced, broad-minded Munich, which allowed so many talents to sprout and blossom, had always seemed to me to be a beginning, the first stage of a spiritually determined age, and it took me a long time to realise that this era of free development had only been an exceptional state that would never return.”

This makes the spirit of Art Nouveau, which is currently on display in the exhibition at the Munich Kunsthalle, all the more appreciated in this day and age. FC Bayern was deliberately founded in 1900 as FC, with an English ‘C’ for ‘club’, to reflect the cosmopolitanism of the founding members. “I'm glad we took this trip,” summarised Diederich. “What we've seen here today, what's behind it all, opens up new perspectives and makes you think.” According to the deputy CEO, Art Nouveau means “not just reproducing or replicating something that is already there, but designing something, creating something, not always relying on the old patterns. That suits our young people at the FC Bayern Campus - and it also fits in with today's world, beyond football.”

This text appeared in the latest edition of members' magazine '51'