Billy goat Hennes

Hennes VIII (2018)

Billy Goat Hennes VII. (2005)

The billy goat Hennes is the mascot of the soccer club 1. FC Köln and the most traditional living mascot of a German professional club.

Emergence

On February 13, 1950 exactly two years after the association was founded, handed over the ringmaster Carola Williams with the actual ideas Johann Thelen, who was employed at the time as ringmaster, at a in their winter quarters Williamsbau held carnival meeting the club a young billy goat with the addition that 1. FC Köln is still missing a lucky charm. The gift was accepted and the animal was named "Hennes" after the player- coach Hennes Weisweiler . The often rumored anecdote that Weisweiler was peed on by the little goat at the handover is not supposed to be true.

Within a few years, the billy goat, which was always present at the home games of 1. FC Köln, became a permanent object of identification for the club. The team was nicknamed "The billy goats" and the billy goat was eventually included in the club's coat of arms.

Further development

Electrically powered Hennes mobile (2018)

Hennes VIII with his supervisor Ingo Reipka

In 1959 the animal was housed on a farm in the Müngersdorf district of Cologne . With the construction of the new club facilities at Decksteiner Weiher in the Sülz district , Hennes moved into a shed at the new "Geißbockheim". Founding President Franz Kremer was often seen in person on the sidelines with the billy goat on a leash.

When the first billy goat died in 1966, the question of how to continue the tradition arose. Hennes Weisweiler had meanwhile left the club and trained the competition. After trying “Oscar” and “Heinzchen”, the old name “Hennes” was quickly reverted to, with the addition “the second”, as is customary in Cologne with carnival princes.

1. FC Köln's billy goats are not bred separately and are not related to each other. If a billy goat dies, a new one is selected.

The death of Hennes II, who was found lifeless in his stable one morning in 1970, caused a stir. According to the supervisor at the time, the cause of death was a shepherd dog that had entered the enclosure. Murder rumors persist among the fans of 1. FC Köln, such as death from poisoning by fans of Borussia Mönchengladbach . The club decided to have the animal stuffed for the club house, where it has been seen ever since. For fear of further incidents of this kind, the billy goat was housed with farmer Wilhelm Schäfer on his farm in the Widdersdorf district. Since then, the animal can only be seen at home games and special occasions at the club.

After winning the double in the 1977/78 season, Hennes IV was carried in a vehicle in the motorcade .

After the death of the long-time breeder and carer of the Cologne billy goats, Wilhelm Schäfer, on June 11, 2006, Schäfer's wife continued this office with the help of Ingo Reipka.

On May 28, 2008 it was announced that Hennes VII. Could no longer be present at 1. FC Köln games for health reasons ( osteoarthritis ). This ended the term he began in 1996. Hennes VII was euthanized and stuffed on March 13, 2009 due to his advanced illness.

His successor, Hennes VIII., Was elected from four candidates by the club members on the 1. FC Köln website by online voting. "Bock ohne Namen" from the Bergisch Gladbach district of Romaney prevailed with almost 70 percent of the approximately 8,000 votes cast and was officially presented on July 24, 2008.

Hennes has lived in Cologne Zoo since August 2014. He is housed there in a facility modeled on a Bergisch farm .

At Europa League games in 2017, he was not allowed to stand near the players bench as usual due to UEFA regulations. In December 2017, Hennes jokingly applied for eligibility to play because the club was suffering from a staff shortage due to injured players.

Due to his age, Hennes VIII was retired after five years at the beginning of the 2019/20 season and has been living in his enclosure ever since. At the same time, the board of the association determined internally with Hennes IX. a successor. An online vote did not take place due to complicated health regulations when choosing the billy goat. The new animal belongs to the breed of colorful German noble goats and looks more like the mascots from the 1950s.

Hennes as a media figure and advertising medium

The continuously increasing commercialization of the football business over the past few decades has also affected the club's mascots. Formerly only a lucky charm, Hennes became a fixed point in the club's marketing strategy. There are countless fan articles that depict him, depict him in stylized form or refer to him or his name. The media hype about Hennes has increased, and the marketing campaigns of 1. FC Köln used him as an eye-catcher , especially in the years after 2000 . Hennes VII was the main actor in several of the club's cinema commercials. In October 2006 the association fundamentally changed its marketing strategy and corporate design , so that Hennes no longer plays a prominent role here - unlike in the fan article sector . Hennes produced a limited number of Steiff branded soft toys .

In addition, Hennes VII played a murder victim in the Sat.1 crime series SK Kölsch . He also worked on Sat. 1 in an episode of Pastewka in which he was hit by Bastian Pastewka in his car.

When more and more football clubs introduced mascots in the form of people dressed up as animals at the end of the 1990s, 1. FC Köln also sent an employee in billy goat costume to the edge of the field in addition to Hennes. However, this was not accepted by many fans and occasionally even objects were thrown at it. After a few years he was withdrawn and since then has only appeared in the FC Kids Club, the FC fan club for children.

In 2003, with the support of a sponsor, the association had a webcam installed in front of Hennes' stable so that the billy goat could always be observed, at least in theory. Their operation was stopped after a few years.

In the comedy film Die Superbullen , Hennes is kidnapped and the police officers Tommie and Mario (Tom Gerhardt and Hilmi Sözer) are supposed to find him again.

Data

Billy goat Hennes VIII.
As an advertising figure for Gaffel-Kölsch

Terms of office

1950–1966: Hennes I.
1966–1970: Hennes II.
1970-1975: Hennes III.
1975–1982: Hennes IV.
1982–1989: Hennes V.
1989-1996: Hennes VI.
1996-2008: Hennes VII.
2008-2019: Hennes VIII.
since August 2019: Hennes IX.

Accommodation and care

1950–1959 with Wilhelm Siepen, Marsiliusstrasse, Cologne
1959–1966 with Peter Filz, Cologne-Müngersdorf
1966–1970 at Geißbockheim, supervisor: Günter Neumann
1970–2006: Hof Schäfer, Cologne-Widdersdorf, supervisor: Wilhelm Schäfer
2006–2014: Hof Schäfer, Cologne-Widdersdorf, supervisors: Hildegard Schäfer and Ingo Reipka
from 2014: "Clemenshof" animal enclosure in Cologne Zoo