To honor the memory of the Kaiser, the city of Munich has decided to change the address of the Bayern Munich stadium. From now on, the Allianz Arena will be located at Franz Beckenbauer Square 5.
For Dieter Reiter, the mayor of the Bavarian city, it is the “the greatest honor that the city of Munich can bestow posthumously and a sign of the deep respect and esteem we have for Franz Beckenbauer.“
An exceptional being
Born just after the end of the Second World War, the child of a postal worker, who grew up in the working-class district of Giesing, is “started from nothing“, according to his own words, to eventually reach the stars: German champion, winner of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and winner of the World Cup, among others.
Impressive on the pitch, Franz Beckenbauer was also impressive off it: “When he entered a room, it lit up“, recalls Julian Nagelsmann, the former coach of Bayern Munich.
And it is precisely because he was an exceptional person that the Kaiser saw his number 5 retired forever within the Bavarian club. Because “no one will ever be able to reach it”declared Uli Hoeness, the honorary president of Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer’s long-term companion, during the club’s general meeting last December.
A statue in his honor
The Kaiser who should soon have his statue in front of the Allianz Arena: this is what the Kurt Landauer foundation – named after a former president of Bayern – is currently working on, which had already arranged to install a statue of bronze by Gerd Müller, another legend of the Bavarian club.
Finally, the German Super Cup will now be called the “Franz Beckenbauer Cup”. So that the name of the greatest German footballer of all time is never forgotten.
