Episode 4: German friendship in Pennsylvania & Miami

FC Bayern’s Community Exploration journeys into immigrant and diaspora communities across North America connected by football, heritage, and belonging. Guided by the club’s players, we trace how football connects to culture, family, and the places people call home.

In this fourth and final episode, the journey ends in Pennsylvania and Miami, following David Bettenhausen and Benjamin “Benji” Gebauer as they reflect on German heritage, football, and the friendship built between them.

For David, the story begins in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a coal-mining town where his German ancestors first arrived in America. Generations later, returning to Hazelton opened a deeper understanding of his family’s path, from the work that brought them to Pennsylvania to the presence of his grandfather, who helped David feel connected to his German roots. Through old records, family memories, and the history preserved in Hazleton, David begins to see how much of his own life is connected to the people who came before him.

Football has always been part of David’s story. What began as a childhood spent playing the game has continued through Mundial Partners, the company he started to help grow football culture in America. That work connects naturally to this larger story, where sport becomes a way to understand identity, community, and the places people come from.

Benji’s story brings another layer through his own connection to Germany. Raised in the U.S. with much of his family still in Germany, his relationship with FC Bayern began through his father, who would bring him Bayern jerseys after work trips abroad. Over time, the club became part of how Benji stayed connected to Germany, from watching matches as a kid to experiencing games at the Allianz Arena.

David and Benji’s friendship began through football and grew through the trust they built around it. FC Bayern is part of that bond, connecting David’s German roots with Benji’s lived connection to Germany, from watching matches together to sharing the game whenever they can.

Together, David and Benji reflect two different relationships to German identity in America. One is rooted in generations of family history in Pennsylvania, the other in a more immediate connection to Germany, but both find common ground through sports, friendship and the shared experience of supporting FC Bayern.

Watch Episode 3 here: