A bronze statue immortalising Franz Beckenbauer, one of football’s most influential figures, was unveiled outside Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on Thursday in a ceremony attended by German football royalty.
The tribute to ‘Der Kaiser’, who passed away in January 2024, was revealed on what would have been his 80th birthday. The life-sized statue depicts the legendary sweeper in his iconic, elegant pose with the ball at his feet. It stands on the stadium’s main esplanade, just metres away from a monument to his close friend and legendary teammate, Gerd Müller.
“This memorial is a piece of FC Bayern’s DNA cast in bronze,” said club president Herbert Hainer during the ceremony. “Life is fleeting, football is fleeting, but legends endure.”
Beckenbauer’s widow, Heidi, was joined by generations of his former teammates and colleagues. Figures such as Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Paul Breitner were present, alongside key members of the West German team that Beckenbauer managed to World Cup glory in 1990, including captain Lothar Matthäus.
Beckenbauer, who died at the age of 78, is credited with revolutionising the role of the defender and is one of only three men in history to have won the FIFA World Cup as both a player (1974) and a manager. He was the defining figure of Bayern Munich’s rise to a European powerhouse and later served as the club’s long-time president. He also headed the organizing committee for the successful 2006 World Cup in Germany.
The memorial, like the one for Müller, was an initiative of the Kurt Landauer Foundation and was created by Munich-based Italian artist Matilde Romagnoli.
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