Parisian soldier elf

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The Paris Soldiers' Elf was a soccer team that was founded in occupied Paris during the Second World War in 1940 and played its last match on the day of the third anniversary, December 19, 1943.

Origin, Effect and End

General

The literature before Herzog's investigation into football during the Nazi era mentions the Paris soldier eleven only marginally and without any serious research. In Bitter's encyclopedia from 2000 it is succinctly noted that “there was a strong selection of football-playing German soldiers in the French metropolis during the Second World War, which was peppered with national players.” Fischer / Lindner's statements also vary in the book about the "Strikers for Hitler" in the subsection about the military teams only in general and on the surface. For example, they explain: “Some military teams only played friendly matches, others took part in the German championship - or held soldiers’s championships in occupied territories, for example in France; The famous Parisian soldier eleven played there, which was exclusively made up of - mostly well-known - German kickers, Fritz Walter played a few matches, the Schalke master player Hans Bornemann , many. The Paris soldiers were born shortly after the occupation of France by German troops in 1940 - by Major Hermann from Kornwestheim near Stuttgart. She was considered a role model for other German soccer teams in France. Finally, a separate soldiers' championship was even held in the knockout system, the so-called 'Championship of the West'. In the final of 1942 on November 8th, the Parisian soldiers' eleven and Burgstern Noris faced each other - in front of allegedly 40,000 spectators in the Parisian Prinzenparkstadion. "

In addition, you can find out more in detail from Löffelmeier : "The Paris soldiers won a dramatic encounter with three goals from the national player Albert Sing 4-2." In addition, in Löffelmeier's digression about the military teams, it is still recorded: "After the final from 8. November 1942 an attempt was made to merge the two finalists into a 'Wehrmacht eleven France', but only a few games with a combination of both Wehrmacht teams came off. Fritz Walter's last match in the Parisian team - combined with Burgstern players - is almost legendary. It was played on December 6, 1942 in front of 20,000 spectators in the Prinzenparkstadion against a local team from Munich. At the break, the Wehrmacht team France was already 3-1 in the lead, but the Munich team were able to shorten it to 3: 4 with goals from the sixties Ludwig Janda (2) and Ernst Willimowski and finally earned an own goal by club defender Willi Billmann Compensation come. On the side of the Wehrmachtself, national players Albert Sing (Kickers Stuttgart), Werner Günther (SC Rot-Weiß Oberhausen) and a player named Hack from SpVgg Fürth, who was discovered shortly afterwards by the sports magazine Kicker as Fritz Walter - much to the displeasure of the national sports leader . Herberger had advised Fritz Walter to use this pseudonym in order to undermine the desires of the Reichssportführung with a view to proving top athletes from the front. "

Special investigation of the military teams of Burgstern Noris, the Paris soldier elf and the red hunters

Markwart Herzog then presents a thorough history of these soldiers 'teams in his elaboration “Sporting soldiers' battles in the great war 1939–1945”. He prefers to mention that in the war years (1939–1945) numerous football teams on German soil and in the occupied territories advanced to military prestige objects, which were organized to attract the public and practiced by top conscripts. Football was integrated in new forms of military mass entertainment. There were military teams that organized in the National Socialist Reichsbund für physical exercises (NSRL) and took part in championship and cup competitions, but there were also teams that were made up of soldiers from very specific units and only took part in internal Wehrmacht competitions or propaganda games. The Paris soldiers' eleven and Burgstern Noris are “gaps” in football history: like the Red Jäger, they have their place in military history, not in the traditions of civilian club sport. Nonetheless, they are of the greatest interest for civil football, not least because numerous prominent players were able to live their passion in such teams even during the "total war" and keep fit, Herzog explains. In these military football teams, the alliance between football and the military, which goes far back into German sports history, finds its most intense symbiotic concentration - and at the same time its end.

Just as Burgstern Noris is largely the result of the initiative of two intelligence company chiefs, the Paris soldier elf is inextricably linked with the name of an intelligence officer: Richard Herrmann. He looked after his military soccer team from the first game to the last. In addition to the red hunters, the Paris soldiers' eleven was the most popular German military elf during the war years. The sources are much better than that of Burgstern Noris. Herrmann kept a meticulous record and documented the history of his eleven in two large-format albums with 94 and 98 pages respectively, which are in the DFB's archive.

Richard Herrmann was born on November 1, 1914 in Kornwestheim . His sporting career led the Swabian as a track and field athlete through the gymnastics club in his hometown (1923–1935) to the 1st FV Salamander Kornwestheim. He was an excellent long and middle distance runner. In 1936 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and in March 1940 he was transferred to the 3rd Company Air News Regiment "Legion Condor" No. 3 in Bad Orb. After the occupation of Paris, he gained a great reputation as the unofficial sports officer of the Paris soldiers' eleven. In 1940 he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1942 to first lieutenant. After 1945, Herrmann was one of the "men from the very beginning" in various functions in rebuilding sport in his hometown. His professional career followed a steady path: after completing his commercial apprenticeship at Bausparkasse Wüstenrot, Herrmann was employed in the banking industry for his entire life, initially at the Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg, later at the Landesbausparkasse Baden-Württemberg as district manager in the Ludwigsburg district.

On June 14, 1940, German troops took Paris without a fight, and France capitulated on June 22. The 3rd Company Air News Regiment "Legion Condor" No. 3 moved into Paris on June 19 and moved into quarters in the suburb of St. Cloud near the Prinzenpark Stadium (Velodrome du Parc des Princes). The company commander at the time, Captain Pusch, transferred the official sport to Herrmann. When a regular official sports business had established itself in Paris and a number of good footballers were stationed in the Seine metropolis, who asked Herrmann to be allowed to play in the team of his company, the decision matured to expand the company team to become a Parisian soldier and relatives of everyone in Paris deployed branches of service to be taken into account. Unlike Burgstern Noris and the Rote Jäger, the Paris soldiers' elf was not assigned to any particular troop unit. Herrmann noted the units, superiors and field post addresses of popular players from the Reich and updated this data continuously in order to be able to draw from a large reservoir of football stars. On the basis of this information and the optimal possibilities of the communication technology that he had as an intelligence officer, he was able to keep a mass-effective entertainment program running in the context of troop support over three years with handball, football, concerts and other spectacles, which turned out to be lucrative and effective media business.

According to Herrmann, the suggestion to transform the company selection into the Paris soldiers' eleven came from the sports journalist Heinrich "Heinz" Ott. Herrmann as organizer and Ott as journalistic propagator worked hand in hand and helped sport as a means of entertainment and troop support to achieve considerable success. Otts articles promoted the performances of the Paris soldiers' eleven, fueled the demand of the audience and made an important contribution to the spread and marketing of the reputation of the Herrmann-Elf. Similar to how the Brussels newspaper Burgstern supported Noris in the search for new players, Herrmann was able to land first-class reinforcements with Otts 'help through calls in soldiers' newspapers . The Schalke master player Hans Bornemann , who belonged to Herrmann's company, was a great help in the founding phase in particular : he advised Herrmann, who was not a football player, on team line-up and processing player applications. In addition, Bornemann took part in almost all matches of the Paris soldiers' eleven as a captain and was also responsible for training, where he was occasionally supported by Paul Oßwald .

Herrmann obtained addresses and vacancies for the air force units in order to draw top players to Paris for individual games or to have them stationed there for a longer period of time. This was most likely possible with Air Force soldiers such as the national player and later sports magazine and kicker editor-in-chief Hans Fiederer (SpVgg Fürth) or goalkeeper Rudolf Schönbeck (Prussia Berlin), who were transferred directly to Herrmann's company. Such transfers were much more difficult for army personnel. An attempt by Reich trainer Sepp Herberger to have the infantryman Fritz Walter stationed with the Paris Air Force failed. The Lauterer football idol played four games for the Paris soldier eleven, this is what Herzog specifies in his further elaboration "The 'Betze' under the swastika": From September 1941, Walter was set off for a total of four "propaganda games". Opponents were the FC Schalke 04, a soldier eleven of the military commander in Belgium / Northern France, a Frankfurt city selection and his fourth and last match under the pseudonym "Hack (SpVgg Fürth)" in December 1942 against a Munich soldier selection.

With the infrastructure and logistics of the military and the civilian possibilities of marketing, communication technologies and mass media available in Paris, the competitions as modern, commercialized entertainment events could be raised ever larger and more professional. The football events were integrated into a whole range of leisure activities: handball games were held in the preliminary program, and the music corps of the air news regiment provided the musical entertainment. In addition, the audience was offered other media-effective productions: Occasionally, the games were opened spectacularly by throwing a ball from a Fieseler Storch.

As early as March 23, 1941, at the second game of the Paris soldiers in front of 20,000 visitors against a team from the Munich Luftgau Command, it became clear how profitable such events could be. The admission fees were used to cover advertising costs, stadium fees, players' travel expenses, the portion of the opposing teams and the purchase of sports equipment and devices. Herrmann transferred any additional sums to the War Winter Aid Organization and the Red Cross. The most successful, financially lucrative and entertaining event in this respect was the match against FC Schalke 04 on October 19, 1941 in front of 40,000 spectators, for which the Paris soldiers' team was reinforced with Fritz Walter and Karl Hohmann . In terms of organization, eight special trains were used for the soldiers pouring in from all parts of France. Schalke won the German football championship in the 1941/42 war season on July 5, 1942 in Berlin with a 2-0 win against First Vienna Wien , with the captain of the Paris soldiers' team, Hans Bornemann, at the side of Otto Tibulski , Fritz Szepan , Ernst Kuzorra , Hermann Eppenhoff and Adolf Urban were in the Eisantz.

On December 19, 1943, on the day of the third anniversary, the Paris soldiers played their last game. After the surrender of the 6th Army in the Stalingrad pocket and the preparations for “total war”, entertainment events like those Herrmann organized on a large scale were unthinkable.

Résumé

Herzog stated that the events organized by Herrmann were no ordinary football games that lasted 45 minutes twice; because they integrated various forms of civil mass entertainment and modern leisure culture, spectacular military sensations and political propaganda into a well thought-out unit. They were prestigious troop support sports festivals with pronounced commercial intentions and characteristic features of the modern entertainment industry.

attack

On August 5, 1942, the team was assassinated with hand grenades during training by the Resistance , in which the 22-year-old national player Hans Fiederer was seriously injured and lost his right leg.

Game listing based on the Herzog article

  • March 23, 1941; the 2nd game against the Luftgaukommando Munich
  • June 2, 1941; against the city eleven Nuremberg / Fürth
  • August 17, 1941; Game against Hannover 96; 6: 4 victory after 1: 4 deficit
  • October 19, 1941; 14. game; against FC Schalke 04, 1: 3, in front of 40,000 spectators
  • June 14, 1942; 15. game; against eleven of the military commanders in Belgium / Northern France (break due to transfer of Herrmann to Deauville-Trouville)
  • November 8, 1942; Game against Burgstern Noris for the “Championship of the West”; 4-2 victory
  • December 6, 1942; Game against the Munich team (the last game by Fritz Walter under the pseudonym "Hack" (SpVgg Fürth)
  • September 26, 1943; Game in Berlin against Berlin city selection; 3-1 victory
  • December 19, 1943; the 39th and last game of the Paris soldiers against selection of the Gau Westmark; 10-0 victory

Used players

Hans Bornemann, Albert Sing, Fritz Walter, Hans Fiederer, Wilhelm Blickle, Ostermeier, Hans Fickenscher, Jakob Streitle, Josef Rasselnberg, Hans Appel, Karl Hohmann, Ernst Willimowski, Hans Uebelein, Josef Uebelein, Georg Poprawa, Werner Günther, Willi Billmann, Robert Bernhard, Rudolf Schönbeck, Eduard Schaffer, Paul Scholz, Rudolf Reinhardt.

literature

  • Markwart Herzog (Hrsg.): Football at the time of National Socialism. Everyday life, media, arts, stars. Verlag W. Kohlhammer. Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-17-020103-3 . Pp. 88-111.
  • 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 .
  • Antonöffelmeier: The "lions" under the swastika. The TSV Munich from 1860 under National Socialism. Publishing house Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 2009. ISBN 978-3-89533-645-4 . Pp. 168-170.
  • Gerhard Fischer, Ulrich Lindner: Striker for Hitler. On the interplay between football and National Socialism. Publishing house Die Werkstatt. Göttingen 1999. ISBN 3-89533-241-0 . Pp. 226-232.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 105
  2. ^ Jürgen Bitter: Germany's football. The encyclopedia. Sports publishing house Berlin. Berlin 2000. ISBN 3-328-00857-8 . P. 483
  3. ^ Gerhard Fischer, Ulrich Lindner: Striker for Hitler. P. 228
  4. ↑ Anton Löffelmeier: The "lions" under the swastika. P. 169
  5. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 67
  6. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 68
  7. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 88
  8. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. Pp. 90/91
  9. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 92
  10. ↑ Markwart Herzog (ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 93
  11. ^ Markwort Herzog (Ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 94/95
  12. ^ Markwort Herzog (Ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 96
  13. ^ Markwort Herzog: The "Betze" under the swastika. P. 176/177
  14. ^ Markwort Herzog (Ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 99
  15. ↑ According to the Deutsche (r) newspaper in the Netherlands of October 20, 1941, there were 35,000 in the game against Schalke (1: 3), "a colorful mix of German soldiers and Parisian football fans"
  16. ^ Klaus Querengässer: The German Football Championship, Part 1: 1903-1945. Agon Sportverlag. Kassel 1997. ISBN 3-89609-106-9 . P. 215
  17. ^ Markwort Herzog (Ed.): Football at the time of National Socialism. P. 110
  18. ↑ Uwe Schellinger: The small "miracle of Friesenheim" football history and village history 1953 to 1963 in: The Ortenau: magazine of the historical association for central bathing. 89th annual volume , Verlag des Historisches Verein für Mittelbaden, Offenburg 2009, p. 250, ( digitized version )