Herbert Hainer: ‘A role model for democratic responsibility and moral courage’

As a football-loving democrat and member of the resistance against the Nazis, Willi Buisson’s life story is an extraordinary one – one that was brought to an abrupt end by his execution at the hands of the Nazi regime in September 1940. A commemorative plaque has now been unveiled at 5 Gümbelstraße in Munich. Among the speakers addressing around 100 invited guests was FC Bayern president Herbert Hainer, as Buisson was a club member from 1926 to 1929, played football for the club and was active in its management.

As president of FC Bayern, “I am very grateful to be able to speak to you today,” said Hainer as he began his speech at Munich’s Löhe Haus before members of the district council and the city council, the organisers Marion Goers from the German Resistance Memorial Centre and Diana Bäse (Deputy Chair of the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold Bund aktiver Demokraten e.V.) as well as guests including the historian and biographer Dr Rüdiger Zimmermann, a delegation from the Kurt Landauer Foundation, pupils from the two nearby schools, and Buisson’s descendants. A commemorative plaque does not merely commemorate a person from the past, said the president: “It also poses the question: what can we learn from him for the future?”

Hainer explained that Buisson “was not only an active footballer for FC Bayern but, as entertainment officer, he fostered a sense of togetherness. His passion was clearly not just for the game but also for the sense of community that a club fosters, both then and now. In this, he captures the very essence of a club. A club thrives on trust, on the certainty of belonging. Not just when you win, but especially when you need support.” A club like FC Bayern must “always be a home for everyone. It must convey what openness to the world, tolerance and respect mean. Willi Buisson was a man with values that enrich club life then as now.”

Hainer went on to explain that Buisson had also recognised early on “what the National Socialists were going to do and that only a few had mustered the courage to oppose these developments so resolutely.” Hainer quoted from Buisson’s farewell letter written immediately before his execution: “Now I am steadfastly walking the path that, true to my worldview and my convictions regarding the party, the Reichsbanner and emigration, leads me to the scaffold.” This sentence demonstrates his clarity and steadfastness, said the FCB president. “Willi Buisson could have remained silent or conformed. He chose not to. This makes him, particularly in today’s world, a role model for democratic responsibility and moral courage.” Buisson demonstrated “that taking a stand is particularly important when it becomes dangerous. He reminds us all that exclusion and injustice must never go unchallenged.”

Buisson’s story is also a message to FC Bayern and to all sports clubs, said Hainer. “A club is more than just a place where matches are won and lost. It is part of society. It can exclude people or give them a home. It can reinforce prejudices or build bridges. We must ensure that people can feel they belong, regardless of their background, religion or beliefs. We must remain vigilant when others are belittled or marginalised. And we must have the courage to stand up for human dignity and democracy at all times.” Amid prolonged applause, Hainer said he would repeat this emphatically time and again: “FC Bayern will not go along with it when anti-democratic forces divide our society. Those who exclude others lose in sport as in life!”

The commemorative plaque for Buisson “directs our gaze not only backwards, but above all forwards. It calls on us to carry on his values,” said Hainer. “I stand here as president of FC Bayern and promise you that Willi Buisson’s values will always drive FC Bayern forward. Particularly in light of today’s political climate, I say it is easy simply to be against something. But it is far more important to stand up for something together: for human dignity, freedom, respect and for a community in which every person has their place.”

FC Bayern has gone to great lengths to come to terms with its history during the Nazi era, Hainer explained. “Remembering must never become a matter of convenience. It prevents us from romanticising, trivialising or distorting the past, and it helps us to be more vigilant in the present.” As part of its Red Against Racism initiative, the club regularly organises various projects, always with the aim of facilitating encounters, just as Willi Buisson once championed: “When we get to know one another, it becomes difficult to speak of people in terms of prejudices and stereotypes. Because when people meet, interact and talk to one another, they come to understand one another. That is how we can make a difference together.”

Buisson is also honoured on the memorial wall in the newly restructured FC Bayern Museum at the Allianz Arena, alongside more than 150 other victims of the Nazis. There is a photograph of him standing next to the former president, Kurt Landauer, at a cup presentation, wearing the FC Bayern crest on his chest. At the time, neither of them knew what the future would bring. Hainer’s conclusion: “The memorial plaque for Willi Buisson preserves a memory. Our shared stance preserves his legacy.”