The exhibition, conceived by the Centrum Judaicum in Berlin, was first shown there after the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Now it is also on display at the BORUSSEUM, the Borussia Dortmund Museum, starting from November 5, 2017!
The exhibition highlights the significance of Jews in German football. Jewish footballers, coaches, journalists, and officials played a key role in popularizing football in Germany. They were pioneers of German football, celebrated, revered, and respected as role models embodying the spirit of fair play. Their revolutionary visions and methods set standards that influenced German football for a long time. For example, when FC Bayern Munich won the German championship for the first time in 1932, Jewish club president Kurt Landauer and Jewish coach Richard "Little" Dombi were celebrated as heroes in Munich.
Who today remembers striker and national player Julius Hirsch (1892-1943), who became German champion with Karlsruher FV among others? Or Gottfried Fuchs, whom future national coach Sepp Herberger called "my idol" and "the Franz Beckenbauer of my youth"? The gifted center forward scored ten goals in a single match against Russia at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm—a record in Germany that remains unbroken to this day.
In 1933, their successful careers were abruptly ended. The Nazis ensured that Jewish athletes, coaches, and officials were excluded and ostracized from clubs. Until November 10, 1938, Jews were only allowed to play in Jewish clubs, after which all sports activities for them were banned. They shared the fate of all European Jews, being persecuted and in many cases murdered in concentration camps. Thus, the exhibition reflects the fate of Jewish footballers.
After World War II, German Jews never again played a comparable role in German football. Their achievements were suppressed and forgotten. The exhibition "Kickers, Fighters, Legends" aims to recall this chapter of German football history while also addressing current developments in football in its concluding section.
The Centrum Judaicum Berlin enabled a reproduction of the exhibition, funded by the DFB Cultural Foundation. Through the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation, this exhibition is available free of charge.