Ottmar Walter

Ottmar Walter
Ottmar Walter in July 2005
Personnel
Surname	Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter
birthday	March 6, 1924
place of birth	Kaiserslautern ,  German Empire
date of death	June 16, 2013
Place of death	Kaiserslautern,  Germany
size	177 cm
position	Center Forward
Juniors
Years	station
1933-1941	1. FC Kaiserslautern
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1941-1942	1. FC Kaiserslautern
1943	Holstein Kiel
1943-1944	Cuxhavener SV
1946-1959	1. FC Kaiserslautern	275 (295)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1950-1956	Germany	21 0(10)
1956	Germany B	1 00(1)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1967-1968	VfR Grünstadt
1 Only league games are given.

Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (born March 6, 1924 in Kaiserslautern ; † June 16, 2013 there ) was a German football player . In the 1950s he played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern and the German national soccer team . With his club he was German champion in 1951 and 1953 and with the national team he won the football world championship in 1954 . He was a brother of Fritz Walter .

career

Association until 1945

The third-born of a total of five siblings from a Kaiserslautern host family came to the 1. FC Kaiserslautern student team at the age of eight. He previously took his first steps in football in street football ("Kanälchers"). From the 1941/42 season, the trained auto mechanic was part of the “Red Devils” league team in the Gauliga Westmark . To win the championship in 1942, he contributed 15 goals alongside brother Fritz (40 goals), Werner Baßler (21 goals), Ernst Liebrich and Werner Kohlmeyer . In May 1942, he and his teammates gained their first experience in the final round of the German soccer championship . In the 7-1 win against SV Waldhof Mannheim, he stormed the left wing and scored two goals. Fourteen days later, on May 24th, the "Walter-Elf" learned the playful superiority of the "Knappen-Elf" of FC Schalke 04. With 9: 3 goals, the "Royal Blues" around Ernst Kuzorra and Fritz Szepan made the eleven out of the Palatinate. Schalke won the sixth German championship on July 5 with a 2-0 win over First Vienna FC 1894 Vienna .

As a volunteer, Ottmar Walter was a member of the Navy from July 1942 until the surrender in 1945 . He was stationed in Breda in the Netherlands and in Den Helder, in Kiel-Wik for a course, in Cuxhaven and Brest. He was taken prisoner on September 17, 1944, from which he was released on October 2, 1946.

As a war guest player , he played for Holstein Kiel and Cuxhavener SV . The open player from the Palatinate stormed for the first time for the Kiel "Storks" on March 28, 1943 in a 10-1 friendly win over FC St. Pauli. In the final round of the German championship in 1943, he took third place with Kiel with a 4-1 win against Vienna Wien (Karl Decker, Rudolf Noack). In the second round, the 4-1 win against defending champion Schalke 04 stood out on May 30th. In the semifinals (June 13th), the future German champions Dresdner SC prevented the “storks” from entering the final with a 3-1 win in Hanover. Two months later, on August 15, 1943, Walter reinforced Cuxhavener SV in the cup game against the eventual winner LSV Hamburg and scored the goal at 1: 3.

Due to the performance shown at Holstein Kiel, in six games he scored three goals in the finals, Reich coach Sepp Herberger invited him to a national team course, which it did not come back to; During a battle on the English Channel in World War II , he was injured by three shrapnel on his right knee , which is why doctors diagnosed him with a sports disability , which later turned out to be false. Walter spent the next time in English and American captivity. At the beginning of 1944 he had played in the Gau Osthannover with the "Cuxhavener SV team, which consisted without exception of guest players".

Oberliga Südwest, 1946 to 1958/59

After his release from captivity on October 2, 1946, he returned to Kaiserslautern. In the autumn series of 1946 , which was later canceled , he played in five league games and scored as many goals. In January 1947, the second season was restarted in the French zone, now in a northern and a southern group - differently known as the 1st League Southwest Germany, also known as the Honorary League or the Oberliga - with eight clubs each. With 23: 5 points and 75:15 goals, FCK won the 1946/47 championship in the northern group and in June 1947 also won the two finals for the zone championship against southern champions VfL Konstanz (8: 1, 8: 4 ) by. The top scorer list in the northern group was headed by the Walter brothers with 24 goals (Fritz) and Ottmar with 22 goals. The Lauterer enjoyed the unofficial coaching of the former Reich coach Sepp Herberger. When a season in the form of an autumn and spring round from September 28, 1947 to September 12, 1948 with 14 clubs in the southwest was played for the first time after the end of the Second World War in 1947/48, Ottmar Walter distinguished himself at the renewed championship of the FCK with 51 Gates out. In 13 home games, the protégés of player-coach Fritz Walter achieved a record of 26: 0 points and 96:10 goals. In the first final round of the German championship after the Second World War, the team from "Betzenberg" made it into the final. The "Walter-Elf" lost the final on August 9, 1948 in Cologne against 1. FC Nürnberg with 1: 2 goals. Ottmar scored three goals in three games in the finals. His last of a total of 36 finals with 29 goals for FCK, the enthusiastic, running and header-strong center forward completed on April 19, 1958 in Frankfurt, in a 3-3 draw after extra time against 1. FC Köln.

The highlights of his club career at FCK were winning the two German championships in 1951 and 1953 . He contributed both goals to the 2-1 final win on June 30, 1951 in Berlin against Preußen Münster. With 295 goals in 275 games, he is not only the record scorer in the Oberliga Südwest but also in the history of the German Oberliga. In 42 final rounds of the German championship, he scored 32 goals for Kaiserslautern and Kiel. The balance of all competitive games for FCK is given by the club as 321 competitive games and 336 goals, although the exact number is difficult to reconstruct. With the game on April 19, 1959 at Borussia Neunkirchen, Ottmar Walter said goodbye after 18 years - first season 1941/42 - from the league team of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

In his brother Fritz's farewell game on June 21, 1959 against Racing Club Paris (4-2), he laced his kick boots again.

National team, 1950 to 1956

Walter wore the DFB jersey 21 times between 1950 and 1956 and scored ten goals. He was part of the first post-war course of the national team candidates from November 14th to 19th, 1949 in Duisburg under Sepp Herberger. On November 11, 1950 he was the center forward of the selection of southwest Germany in the representative game in Ludwigshafen against southern Germany. Eleven days later, on November 22nd, he was attacked by the Herberger-Elf who were allowed to return to the international stage in Stuttgart in front of 115,000 spectators against Switzerland, exactly eight years to the day after the last international game. Together with Bernhard Klodt , Max Morlock , Fritz Balogh (he played for the injured brother Fritz) and Richard Herrmann , the Lauterer center forward formed the offensive in the World Cup system practiced at the time . The German team won the game with 1-0 goals.

The highlight of his career was winning the soccer world championship in 1954 with the German team in the final on July 4th in Bern against Hungary , which ended 3-2 for Germany . Ottmar Walter scored once in qualifying for the World Cup and four times during the World Cup. His appearance and assertion against the international experts in the ranks of the quarter-final opponent Yugoslavia ( Zlatko Čajkovski , Ivica Horvat , Vujadin Boškov ), the semi-final opponent Austria ( Ernst Happel , Gerhard Hanappi , Karl Koller , Ernst Ocffekt , Walter Schleger ) and in the final against the von Stopper Gyula Lóránt's defense of the “Golden Elf” was his contribution to the “ Miracle of Bern ” that should not be underestimated . In the AGON World Cup history, Volume 5, Football World Cup 1954 Switzerland, the authors state: “The almost blind understanding (especially with corner kicks) with his brother Fritz made Ottmar, who had a strong header, a source of danger for the opposing defense in every game. […] In the semi-final against Austria he was one of the best, in the final he played rather inconspicuously, but repeatedly caused unrest in the Hungarian defense. For his opponents he was a phantom throughout the tournament, whom they chased in vain - no one was able to take Ottmar off. "

With the international match on May 26, 1956 in Berlin against England (1: 3), Ottmar Walter said goodbye after 21 appointments from the senior national team. His actually last game for a DFB selection, he completed on November 21, 1956 in Zurich in the ranks of the B national team against Switzerland. In the 2-1 success he scored one goal.

After the career

After several knee operations, he ended his career as a football player in 1959 . In the post-war period Walter worked as a courier driver for the food office. From December 8, 1953, he operated a large gas station, which he had to hand over in 1970 after the end of the contract. During this time he attempted suicide, about which he later said: “That was a short-circuit act that I cannot understand in retrospect.” Until his retirement in 1984 he worked for the city of Kaiserslautern. In 1986 he received an artificial knee joint. After the death of his brother Fritz, he was increasingly involved in representation tasks - various ceremonial acts half a century after winning the 1954 World Cup; Public relations for Sönke Wortmann's film “The Miracle of Bern”; Big World Cup exhibition in the Palatinate History Museum in Speyer; Smaller show in the Lauterer Kammgarn cultural center - integrated by the DFB.

On the occasion of his 80th birthday, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit and the honorary shield from the DFB. The entrance gate to the north stand in the Fritz-Walter-Stadion , which is named after his brother Fritz, was renamed Ottmar-Walter-Tor - also on the occasion of his 80th birthday. In 2005 a regional multiple unit of Deutsche Bahn received its name.

Due to an Alzheimer's disease , Ottmar Walter last lived in a nursing home in Kaiserslautern. Ottmar Walter died at the age of 89 and, like his brother Fritz, was buried in the Kaiserslautern main cemetery. Walter had been married since 1948. He left behind his wife, a son and two granddaughters.

time of the nationalsocialism

In his study of the traditional West Palatinate club in the time of National Socialism, Markwart Herzog states: “ With regard to football players, a remarkable result of this investigation is that the Walter brothers, who were so immensely important for the history of 1. FCK, have shown themselves to be completely apolitical athletes, who were not party members and never exposed themselves to Nazi propaganda through public statements. "

literature

• Günter Rohrbacher-List: “In the heart of the Palatinate”. The history of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Publishing house Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 2007. ISBN 978-3-89533-583-9 .
• Markwart Herzog: "The 'Betze' under the swastika". 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the time of National Socialism. Publishing house Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 2009. ISBN 978-3-89533-541-9 .
• Lorenz Knieriem, Hardy Grüne : Player Lexicon 1890 - 1963 . In: Encyclopedia of German League Football . tape 8 . AGON, Kassel 2006, ISBN 3-89784-148-7 .
• Werner Skrentny (Ed.): The fear of the devil in front of the pea mountain. The history of the Oberliga Südwest 1946–1963. Klartext, Essen 1996, ISBN 3-88474-394-5 .
• Jürgen Bitter : Germany's national soccer player: the lexicon . SVB Sportverlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00749-0 .

Web links

Commons : Ottmar Walter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Mourning the footballer: World champions Ottmar Walter and Heinz Flohe dead ; Focus Online, June 16, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Rohrbacher List: In the heart of the Palatinate. P. 357.
3. ^ Rohrbacher List: In the heart of the Palatinate. P. 36.
4. ↑ Markwart Herzog: The betze under the swastika. Pp. 170/171.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Markwart Herzog: The betze under the swastika. P. 170.
6. ↑ Cuxhavener Tageblatt of August 16, 1943 in the synopsis with Herzog, p. 170.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Spiegel Online : Mourning for Ottmar Walter: The man who got up again and again , June 16, 2013.
8. ↑ These numbers actually have to be added to those in the info box
9. ↑ Hardy Greens: Encyclopedia of German League Football. Volume 1: From the Crown Prince to the Bundesliga. 1890 to 1963. German championship, Gauliga, Oberliga. Numbers, pictures, stories. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1996, ISBN 3-928562-85-1 , p. 280.
10. ↑ Werner Skrentny (Ed.): Teufelsangst vorm Erbsenberg. P. 149
11. ↑ Werner Skrentny (Ed.): Teufelsangst vorm Erbsenberg. P. 207
12. ↑ All the best, Ottes! ( Memento from May 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Article on the 1. FC Kaiserslautern website from March 6, 2012
13. ^ Rohrbacher List: In the heart of the Palatinate. P. 58.
14. ^ Christian Jessen, Volker Stahl, Erik Eggers, Johann-Günther Schlüper: Football World Cup 1954 Switzerland. The miracle of Bern. AGON Sportverlag. Kassel 2003. ISBN 3-89784-218-1 . P. 90.
15. ↑ Dirk Schindelbeck .: Right in the middle instead of just being there? On the development dynamics of football, media and commerce ; Federal Agency for Civic Education, June 17, 2004.
16. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's national soccer player. The encyclopedia. P. 523.
17. ↑ Markwart Herzog: The "Betze" under the swastika: 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the time of National Socialism ; Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt, 2004; ISBN 978-3-89533-541-9 ; P. 118.
18. ^ Heinrich Breyer: The sailor in the Holstein dress ; in: Die Rheinpfalz - Pfälzische Volkszeitung, No. 299 of December 24, 2011, p. 10.
19. ↑ He's flirting with the sisters ; The Rheinpfalz - Pfälzische Volkszeitung, local section Kaiserslautern, No. 302, p. 1.
20. ^ Knerger.de: The grave of Ottmar Walter
21. ↑ Bad deals ; Der Spiegel 5/1969 of January 27, 1969; P. 103
    Martin Heuser: The heroes of Bern: Portrait of Ottmar Walter: “Ottes, you will not disappoint me” ; ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ard.de, accessed on June 16, 2013. 
22. ↑ Markwart Herzog: The betze under the swastika. P. 264.