Sepp Herberger

Sepp Herberger
Sepp Herberger (1957)
Personnel
Surname	Josef Herberger
birthday	March 28, 1897
place of birth	Mannheim-Waldhof ,  Germany
date of death	April 28, 1977
Place of death	Mannheim ,  Germany
position	striker
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1914-1921	SV Waldhof Mannheim
1922-1926	VfR Mannheim
1926-1930	Tennis Borussia Berlin
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1921-1925	Germany	3 (2)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1928-1929	SV Nowawes 03
1930-1932	Tennis Borussia Berlin
1932-1934	West German game association
1936-1942	Germany
1950-1964	Germany
1 Only league games are given.

Josef "Sepp" Herberger (born March 28, 1897 in Mannheim-Waldhof , † April 28, 1977 in Mannheim ) was a German football player and coach . As a player he was active in the 1920s for the clubs SV Waldhof and VfR Mannheim as well as Tennis Borussia Berlin and was appointed to numerous selection and three international matches. He became famous as an imperial or national coach of the German national football team , for which he was responsible 1936-1942 and 1950-1964. The highlight of his career was winning the title of the 1954 World Cup , the final of which went down in football history as the “ Miracle of Bern ”.

Childhood and youth

Herberger's parents, Josef and Lina Herberger, came from a rural area halfway between Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Josef Herberger (1856–1909), offspring of a Wiesental farming family, had to work as a day laborer because it was not enough for his own farm. During this period there was overpopulation in the countryside, and like many small farmers and day laborers, Josef Herberger and his young wife Lina moved to Mannheim, forty kilometers away, in 1887, where industry expanded like no other city in the Grand Duchy of Baden. At that time, the family already had four children: The two elders, Maria and Johann, came from Josef Herberger's first marriage. His first wife died shortly after giving birth to their first son. The girls Anna and Ida emerged from their second marriage to Lina Kretzler, and when the Herbergers were already living on the Waldhof near Mannheim, Berta (1888) and Josef (March 1897, almost ten years later) had two more children.

Sepp Herberger (1956) on the right

The last one of the former 19 buildings of the mirror colony where Sepp Herberger grew up.

Herberger's father found a job as a worker in the mirror manufacture of the French glass manufacturer Saint Gobain . Even if the surrounding settlement with the company's own houses, school and shops in the immediate vicinity of the factory was considered to be a progressive residential area, there were cramped and poor living conditions in Rue de France 171 (later renamed Spiegelstrasse): the family of eight had only two rooms available . Sepp Herberger grew up in a relatively clear, almost village-like environment. Around 630 workers and their families lived in the mirror colony , most of whom came from Catholic and rural backgrounds. He scored in his first years of schooling consistently to the best in class and moved to the fourth grade at the public school , a precursor to school . On August 21, 1909, the head of the family, Josef Herberger, died at the age of 53 from an unhealed flu. The family then lost the right to live in the factory estate and moved several times to the Waldhof. The twelve-year-old Sepp had to leave the community school and go back to the elementary school because his mother was unable to pay the school fees.

Sepp Herberger graduated from school in 1911 and then worked as an unskilled worker in construction and in industrial plants for his and that of his mother - the older siblings had meanwhile founded their own families. Herberger later never commented on this difficult time, in which he and his mother must have lived on the edge of the subsistence level. Reports from contemporary witnesses show that Lina Herberger was one of the poorest people on the Waldhof. In March 1916, shortly before his 19th birthday, Herberger was drafted into the army ; unlike many of his peers, he had not volunteered. After basic military training on the Heuberg in the Swabian Alb, Sepp Herberger was transferred to Grenadier Regiment No. 110 in Mannheim. He had his first front line assignment in April 1917, but according to his own statements he was never directly involved in combat operations, presumably he was mainly used in the staff and as a radio operator. He was spared war injuries and imprisonment, and on January 4, 1919, Sepp Herberger returned home.

The soccer player Sepp Herberger

SV Waldhof 07, until 1921

Sepp Herberger's first contact with football took place far away from the parade ground where the first Mannheim football clubs, established in the last years of the 19th century, played their games every Sunday. The boys in the mirror settlement had their playing field between two elongated blocks of houses with high, windowless walls; the gates were drawn in chalk on the walls. Before joining the football club, Sepp Herberger had successfully exercised at TSV 1877, which was founded by employees of the Spiegelfabrik. Since the gymnastics clubs were hostile to the increasingly popular football, many young people turned their backs on them and turned to the sports clubs. Sepp Herberger made his first steps in a football club at the Catholic Youth Association (KJV) Mannheim, to which he belonged at the age of 14. The Karlsruhe national player Gottfried Fuchs , who Herberger saw play for the first time in Mannheim in 1909 ( Phönix Mannheim - Karlsruher FV 2: 2), he later described as the idol of his youth. Like Sepp Herberger, Fuchs played in the storm. Later, probably in 1911, Herberger moved to the Waldhof sports club, which since its founding in 1907 had grown into an important social institution in Mannheim's working-class district.

After only a few games in the third and second team, the only 16-year-old was allowed to play for the first team of SV Waldhof on New Year's Day 1914. Before the First World War , Herberger was not part of the regular line-up of the “First”, who first became champions in the A-class in 1913/14, then also western district champions and southern German champions in the A-class . He played his first competitive game for SV Waldhof on June 20, 1915. On this day, the Waldhöfern succeeded in a "spring round Mannheim / Ludwigshafen" - a regular association game operation only took place during the war - for the first time a victory against the City rivals VfR Mannheim . As an opponent, the striker Herberger faced a defender named Otto Nerz . It was probably the first encounter between these two men, who from 1926 onwards, as the first and second coach, shaped and shaped the German national football team for over 40 years.

The sporting rise of SV Waldhof, which had become apparent shortly before the start of the war, continued after the resumption of gaming in 1919. The team, to which Herberger was now a regular player, qualified for the new top local division in the Odenwaldkreis without any problems. In the race for the 1919/20 championship, Waldhof and VfR were tied. The playoff on the neutral pitch of MFC Phönix 02 turned out to be the best-attended soccer game the city had ever seen: ten to twelve thousand spectators watched on the edge of the field as the Waldhöfer defeated VfR 4-1. For Sepp Herberger, this game, which took place on his 23rd birthday, was the first highlight of his career, he contributed three goals to this success. SV Waldhof qualified as champions of the Odenwaldkreis both in 1920 and 1921 for the final round of the southern German championship, but failed here at 1. FC Nürnberg , which not only set football standards in southern Germany, but also became German champions. Nevertheless, the SV Waldhof team not only impressed its supporters, but also the reporters in those years. They created the term "Waldhof School" for the precise flat passing game at a high technical level. The strongest part of the team was the so-called "Drei-H-Sturm", consisting of Sepp Herberger, Karl Höger and Willi Hutter . On September 18, 1921, the three Mannheim attackers played together in the national team. For Herberger it was the first appointment in the German selection, he scored two goals in the 3-3 draw in Helsinki against Finland.

The professional gambler affair

Sepp Herberger had become a sought-after player for other clubs, especially for Mannheim's local rivals VfR and FC Phönix , which SV Waldhof had left behind in the past two seasons , thanks to his achievements in the post-war years . Herberger did not play for the Waldhöfer because of his call to the national team on the first matchday of the 1921/22 round, which took place at the same time. On the occasion of the international match, the Mannheimer General-Anzeiger announced in its preview "Herberger (Phönix Mannheim)" and added that the Phönix team is currently preparing for the round while training. Herberger had never played for Phönix, and this should not happen, because on the second matchday following the international match, on September 25, Herberger did not play for VfR Mannheim against MFC Phönix 02 (3: 1) for Phoenix, but for the home team.

The trigger for the change of the Waldhöfer Herberger and Höger to Phönix was a hand money of 10,000 marks each, which the two national players received for the transfer - at that time this sum was three times the annual salary of a skilled worker. Herberger had already returned the money after a week, also because those responsible for the Phoenix had not kept previous promises regarding trainer training. Instead, he went to VfR Mannheim, where the new sports teacher Otto Nerz and the club's management had decided to make the club the number one in Mannheim football again. However, the move had also been made palatable to him with material advantages - a job at Dresdner Bank and a rent-free apartment with new kitchen equipment.

Phönix reacted angrily about Herberger's decision and charged him and themselves for violating the amateur statutes. Herberger was then banned from the association for life. Herberger appealed against the judgment, whereupon the ban was reduced to one year in March 1922, so that he was back in the VfR Mannheim list in autumn 1922.

VfR Mannheim, 1922 to 1926

After the suspension was lifted, Herberger was not welcomed with open arms at VfR, even if coach Otto Nerz stood up for him. Not only because of the “professional player affair”, but above all because of his origins from the “proletarian district” of Waldhof, in the eyes of some club members he did not fit in with the middle-class VfR. At the Waldhof, on the other hand, he was resented for having stepped over to his arch-rival, of all things, so that every VfR away game at SV Waldhof turned out to be a gauntlet for Herberger. Even his brother Johann broke off contact with him after hearing about the change. Herberger did not allow himself to be dissuaded from his path during this phase, neither did he deny his roots in the working class with the “bourgeoisie”, nor did he justify the new sporting perspective with the Waldhöfern.

In terms of sport, Herberger soon took over the game direction after his return in autumn 1922, and he became the dominant personality of the team. The highlight of his four years at VfR was winning the southern German championship in 1925 : Herberger scored eight goals in the eight finals, including the decisive goal for the 1-0 win against the reigning German champions 1. FC Nürnberg . In the final round of the German championship in 1925 , however, the VfR failed early, while the FCN was able to defend its previous year's title.

The trade press was full of praise for Herberger, the kicker described him as "the best center forward in Germany" and Der Fußball commented on April 21, 1925:

“He is undoubtedly a first-class storm leader and technically a very excellent player, [...] doubly noticeable due to his almost inconspicuous figure, which for a footballer seems almost impossible. He is the type of player who works with the mind, who does not gamble blindly, but rather considers his actions carefully. "

In the summer of 1926, Herberger left VfR Mannheim for Berlin, shortly after he had completed the last of his 40 selection games for southern Germany. During the 1924/25 season, Herberger had also been nominated for two other missions for the national team. In the encounter against Italy in November 1924, which was lost 1-0, he broke his arm, four months later the third appeal was in the game against the Netherlands.

TeBe Berlin, 1926 to 1930

Herberger had already made his way to Berlin in 1925 to take part in a four-week course for coaches run by the DFB. Otto Nerz, his Mannheim role model and sponsor, who had meanwhile completed his studies at the German University for Physical Education and was now teaching there, invited him to this. Mink fell ill with peritonitis shortly before the start of the course and DFB President Felix Linnemann , whom Herberger had met four years earlier on the international trip to Finland and whom he had told about his career aspiration to become a sports teacher, decided on the spot to appoint Sepp Herberger to head the course. Herberger later described this vocation as his "great moment" and a decisive moment in his life. The head of the university, Carl Diem , who had observed Herberger's lectures and practical work on this course, then offered him a course of study that Herberger could take on without a high school diploma due to an exception rule for particularly gifted people.

Herberger moved to Berlin in the summer of 1926 to begin his studies. His new club was called Tennis Borussia Berlin , although the chairman of Hertha BSC , Rindersbacher, a native of Mannheim, wanted to persuade Herberger to switch to his club. Hertha was one of the best German football teams at the time and had reached the German championship final for the first time months earlier. But Otto Nerz, who first worked as a player and then as a coach of Tennis Borussia alongside his studies, persuaded Herberger to go to TeBe. As an indirect “remuneration” he was also offered a job with a monthly salary of 350 marks at the bank “Fürstenberg und Klocke”, the owners of which were among the association's patrons . At VfR, Herberger was not left with good hair for this move, he was accused of having switched to Tennis Borussia just because of the money - although everyone knew that he had come to VfR four years earlier for exactly the same reasons.

With the engagement of Herberger, who also acted as an "honorary" coach in the first year until Walter Hollstein was hired, the club management of Tennis Borussia aimed to stand up to Hertha. Represented in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg since 1923, the team under coach Nerz had developed into one of the best Berlin teams by 1926. Hertha, which reached the German championship finals six times in a row from 1926 onwards and took the title twice, proved to be too strong despite TeBe's efforts. After all, Herberger's team managed to keep the championship race exciting to the end in 1928 and 1929: Hertha only prevailed in a decider for the league title.

In the summer of 1930, Sepp Herberger finally ended his career as a player. The 33-year-old had completed his studies as a “qualified gymnastics and sports teacher” and now wanted to work as a trainer. After his last competitive game, the 1: 4 defeat in the final round of the German championship against SpVgg Fürth, the "Football Week" commented:

“ And another pillar of the tennis team swayed a lot. One that has already become a bit decrepit, as far as it is about the contest of big football matches: Herberger. "

Record as an active player

Herberger's greatest success as a player was the southern championship he won in 1925 with VfR Mannheim. In selection teams he ran a total of 40 times for southern Germany and 16 times for the Berlin city selection. The fact that he only made three appearances as a national player was due to the fact that he accepted the cash from the MFC Phoenix. Despite his pardon in 1922 and the subsequent services at VfR, the DFB game committee responsible for the nomination initially ignored him. He was also unlucky that, after he was finally allowed to play for the national team again at the end of 1924 and beginning of 1925, these three appearances remained, because in the mid-1920s only a few international matches were played for cost reasons: there were between 1925 and 1927 there is a maximum of four encounters a year. Since Herberger was not eligible to compete in the 1928 Olympic Games as a reamateurised professional player, Reich trainer Otto Nerz no longer called him into the German selection.

From Herberger's family environment, the following came to football after him: His eight years younger nephew Jakob Hörner (1905-1958), son of Herberger's sister Ida, came from MFC Phoenix to SV Waldhof before he moved to 1. FC Pforzheim and there Was district master. The nephew Paul Halter (1913–1992) stormed in the first team of SV Waldhof around 1930. Peter Bauer (1913–1946), son of Herberger's sister Anna, started together with the later international striker Otto Siffling in the youth of SV Waldhof. Johann Herberger - a great-nephew from his father's hometown - was active in the 1940s and 1950s, among others, at 1. FC Nürnberg , FC Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart , was German runner-up and was later appointed to DFB courses by Sepp Herberger from 1937 to 1944 . Johann Herberger was employed as a coach in New York, where he coached Fritz Herberger (born 1931), who played in one of the major football leagues in North America. Walter Blum (1921–1944), son of Sepp Herberger's great cousin Helene Blum, grew up in Mannheim-Waldhof as an avid street footballer and, like Herberger, lived briefly both in the mirror colony and in Max Rath's house in F 3, 13, albeit with a time delay. so that both probably didn't know each other. As a “half-Jew” he was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp with prisoner number 104905 , where he died of tuberculosis at the age of 23 in the presence of his friend Ernst W. Michel. In 2012 and 2015 stumbling blocks were set for him in Geldern and Mannheim.

From club to Reich coach, 1930 to 1945

Trainer at TeBe Berlin and the West German Football Association

Memorial plaque on the house at Bülowstraße 89, in Berlin-Schöneberg

Memorial plaque on the house at Waldschulallee 34, in Berlin-Westend

What Sepp Herberger had not achieved as a player-coach, he was able to achieve as a full-time coach of Tennis Borussia Berlin: winning the Berlin city championship. In the 1930/31 round everything went as usual: TeBe secured the championship in Season B of the Oberliga by a large margin, but was defeated by Hertha BSC in the finals as in the previous three years. In 1931/32, the opponent in the finals was not Hertha, but Minerva 93 Berlin . Against the surprise team from the Tiergarten district , which had left series champions Hertha BSC behind them with three points in Season A, Sepp Herberger's team became Berlin football champions for the first time with a 4: 2 and a 2: 2 in the finals .

At this point it was already clear that Herberger would be leaving Berlin in the summer of 1932. As early as the spring of 1932, he had been offered the position of association coach at the West German Game Association (WSV). The post had become vacant because the previous coach Kurt Otto , a former fellow student and good friend of Herberger, had switched to FC Schalke 04 . Herberger was still under contract with Tennis Borussia, but this expired at the end of the season, so he accepted the offer and started on August 1, 1932 at the Duisburg-Wedau sports school. In 1932, the West German Game Association comprised an area that went far beyond what is now the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Herberger was responsible for the screening and training of young talents as well as for courses for top players and the compilation of the association selection. Most of the West German selection was also part of the national team, so Herberger's work for Reichstrainer Nerz was of particular importance. The national team, which on October 22, 1933, a good year after Herberger took office, defeated Belgium 8-1 in Duisburg , consisted for the first time exclusively of players from West Germany. Herberger had discovered and promoted a large part of the actors.

When the National Socialists came to power only a few months later, the structures also changed fundamentally in sport. The seven regional associations of the German Football Association broke up gradually, the clubs were " brought into line " and the game operation now in the 16 districts of the German Reich Federation for Physical Education , the new umbrella organization for sports, organized. The DFB continued to exist as an organization on paper until 1940 in order not to endanger membership of the world football association FIFA and thus participation in world championships. In fact, from 1934 onwards, all responsibilities in German football were the responsibility of the DRL Football Department. The leaders remained the same: Felix Linnemann , DFB President since 1925, became head of the specialist office in 1934 and Otto Nerz was still responsible for the national team.

Herberger, who joined the NSDAP on May 1, 1933, assisted Reichstrainer Otto Nerz after the dissolution of the West German association, who had learned to appreciate Herberger's legwork in his function as association trainer. After the successful World Cup in 1934 , which the German team finished in third place, Nerz worked towards the next big event, the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Since England was absent, as was the case at the 1934 World Cup, and world champions Italy could only send their amateur team, the expectations of the German team were high. But the hopes for a gold medal in the Olympic football tournament were not fulfilled. On August 7, 1936, the German team lost in front of the "Führer" outsider Norway and was eliminated early.

The power struggle with Otto Nerz

When the first international match after the Olympic Games took place in Warsaw on September 13, 1936, the Football Department appointed Sepp Herberger as the national team's supervisor. Otto Nerz, who was on vacation at the time of the game, was not ready to give up his position without resistance; at the subsequent encounters he sat on the bench again. Although Nerz, whose gradual retirement was planned as well as Herberger's successor, had already started his service at the Reich Academy on April 1 of that year , Nerz wanted to remain head of the national team in addition to his full-time activity - Herberger should according to his ideas remove the practical work on the field and get the title "Reichstrainer" for it. On November 2, 1936, Herberger was appointed Reichstrainer, but Nerz remained his superior after being appointed "Referent for the national team". The ambitious Sepp Herberger was not satisfied with this role, so that a power struggle developed between the two, which dragged on until Otto Nerz's official and final resignation in May 1938.

In preparation for the next big goal, the 1938 World Cup in France, the coaching duo relied on the core team of the 1934 World Cup, supplemented by young players such as Kitzinger and Kupfer von Schweinfurt 05 or the Schalke Gellesch and Urban . From this squad, Herberger and Nerz put together a team that won ten out of eleven matches in 1937, including the three qualifying games for the World Cup. Out of these games, the friendly game in March in Wroclaw stood out, in which Germany beat Denmark 8-0. The German team, which went down in the annals as the " Breslau-Elf ", not only convinced with the result, but also impressively refuted the prejudice that German footballers can only run and fight, but not offer technically and tactically demanding football. In the spring of 1938, Nerz and Herberger already had their squad for the World Cup in their heads for the most part and were looking to the upcoming tournament with full confidence, although Urban and Helmut Schön were out due to injuries.

But politics ruined their plans. After the annexation of Austria on March 13, 1938, according to the ideas of the rulers, a large German team should appear at the World Cup. According to the ideas of the politicians, it should be composed equally of the "Altreich" and the "Ostmark", that is, six players from one and five players from the other of the existing teams. In view of the different game systems of the teams that had existed up to then, the mutual antipathies of the players and the time available of only a few weeks, this was a difficult undertaking. Otto Nerz used this opportunity to finally resign from his coaching position on May 12th. Herberger defended himself in vain against this requirement, and Linnemann replied unequivocally to his objections:

“ In our case too, the togetherness with the Austrians who have returned to the Reich must be given visible expression to the outside world. Only one team can go to France - and a big German one. [...] The Reichsführer wishes a 6: 5 or 5: 6. History expects that of us. "

The 1938 World Cup

Herberger only had ten weeks to put together a team. For May 23, he called 22 players , 13 Germans and nine Austrians, now representatives of the "Ostmark", to the Duisburg-Wedau sports school. This remained the team's quarters for the time of the World Cup tournament, and there was a lack of foreign currency for accommodation in France . On June 2, only 15 players, accompanied by the Reich trainer, a masseur and an official, traveled by train to Paris, the rest of the team had to play the last sixteen game for cost reasons - the World Cup final was, as in 1934, in the knockout. System carried out - track against Switzerland on the radio. In some of the trade press, “we lack the understanding for this measure,” said Ernst Werner in the Football Week . The German team that ran up in Paris consisted of six Germans and five Austrians and had never played together in this line-up. The fact that Fritz Szepan was not nominated met with a difficultly concealed incomprehension, but apparently it was not Herberger's sole decision.

The game took place in the Prinzenpark in Paris , and as soon as they arrived the local spectators showed who they would support during the game: bottles, eggs and tomatoes were thrown at the German team. After 90 minutes the score was 1-1, and since neither team scored a goal in overtime in the sweltering heat, a replay had to be scheduled; a penalty shootout to determine a winner was not yet common at the time. Five days later, Herberger sent a team that had changed to six positions - but he stuck to the “6 + 5 rule” in this game too. This time Szepan also stormed for Germany, as did the sick “Pepi” Stroh , but against the strong Swiss, even a 2-0 lead was not enough. Herberger's eleven were defeated by the Confederates 2: 4 in a very hostile atmosphere and were eliminated from the competition.

After the failed World Cup in 1938, it took three months for the national team to play again. Herberger used the time to unite the two teams hastily combined at the World Cup - now without the compulsion of a “6 + 5 formula”. The next sporting goal was the Olympic Games in Japan in 1940 and FIFA Germany had announced the prospect of hosting the next World Cup in 1942. The partly aging team - top performers like Szepan, Janes, Goldbrunner and Lehner were now over 30 years old - urgently needed to be “rejuvenated”. Talents such as Hans Biallas from Duisburg, Willi Arlt from Riesa and the recovered Dresdner Schön came to their first international appearances in autumn 1938, while the Viennese Peter Platzer and Franz Binder , who had previously played for Austria, made their debut for the "Greater German" team. The first serious test after the World Cup took place in Florence in March 1939, where Germany met world champion Italy. It went well for Herberger's newly formed team despite the 3-2 defeat.

Football in the war years

Even before the unleashing of the Second World War on September 1, 1939, several international and test matches that had already been agreed were canceled due to the worsening political situation. In particular, France, England and the Netherlands were no longer willing to make sporting comparisons with Germany. Despite the international isolation and the events of the war, the German team played more often than ever between 1939 and November 1942: 15 games took place in 1939, ten games in 1940 and 1942 and nine in 1941. Opponents were allies such as Bulgaria, Yugoslavia or Italy or neutral or occupied states (Bohemia-Moravia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland). The acts of war in Germany led to an interruption of the league game operations, but the national team started a game against Hungary in Budapest on September 24, three weeks after the start of the war. A lack of physical form and condition of the players, as well as a lack of preparation, led to a 5-1 defeat, the highest since 1931.

Around 1940 a conceptual dispute arose over the so-called World Cup system between Reichstrainer Herberger and Karl Oberhuber, the Bavarian NS sports department leader and chief adjutant of the Bavarian Gauleiter Adolf Wagner . Oberhuber felt the World Cup system played by Herberger (the basic positions of the players here resemble the typeface of the capital letters W and M), in which the middle runner was withdrawn compared to the earlier game system, as a system that "had been overcome by the years of pacifism of the past System before 1933 ”and advocated a strongly offensive scheme that would transfer the Blitzkrieg to the football field. The controversy, which was also picked up by the specialist magazines “Der Kicker” and “Fußball”, ended in late summer 1941 after Oberhuber was ousted.

Even if he had been a member of the NSDAP since 1933 and always came to terms with the system, Herberger could not gain anything from the general enthusiasm for the war. Immediately after the outbreak of war he felt paralyzed, as in earlier situations in his life he had to realize:

“ When my work was ready to bear fruit, it was completely destroyed. First of all, brutally stopped. "

Shortly after the start of the war, the political leadership had issued instructions to continue international sports operations, but Reichstrainer Herberger presented this task with considerable problems, because when the majority of his players were drafted into the Wehrmacht , all connections were initially severed. Little by little, his charges got back to him. Herberger now not only cared about the sporting well-being of his players, but tried to keep them away from the front and to have them transferred to safe posts. To this end, he used his numerous contacts, such as the one with Hermann Graf , who had belonged to the extended squad of the national team and was now in charge of the Rote Jäger military team.

Immediately after Goebbels had given his speech on the " total war " on February 18, 1943 , Reich Sports Leader Hans von Tschammer und Osten issued the following orders:

“ 1. The physical training of the people is important to the war effort. […] 2. Sports events and competitions of a local and neighborhood character are to be carried out up to the Gaustufe to maintain the will to work and perform. [...] 3. Country competitions, international competitions, championships in the Reichsstufe etc. are to be canceled until further notice, because front soldiers are no longer available and people who are on duty should no longer be given leave of absence. "

Since no more international matches were allowed to take place, the appearance of the national team in November 1942 in Pressburg against Slovakia , which ended with 5: 2 and thus the 100th victory of the German team, the last for eight years. For most of the players in this game it was their last appearance as a national player, with the exception of Fritz Walter and Andreas Kupfer , none of them played for the German team after the war.

Game operations in the leagues continued, albeit under increasingly difficult conditions, and Herberger traveled to clubs across the country to help them see and organize further training courses. In addition, Herberger received a new task as a troop supervisor in occupied Norway. He was also in Oslo when Herberger's apartment in Berlin-Schöneberg was bombed on January 29, 1944. Before the increasing bombing raids on Berlin, his wife had long since fled to live with her parents in Weinheim, and Herberger also moved to Bergstrasse; he had applied for permission to do so as a precaution. He was only recalled to Oslo in June 1944. In the meantime, Herberger had held a course in Luxembourg in April to “start over” when building a national team; On the way back, Herberger's train was shot at by low-flying planes. In June he attended the final of the 1944 German soccer championship . The final in front of 70,000 spectators in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, in which the Dresdner SC defeated the Luftwaffe Sports Club Hamburg, was the last until 1948 , because regular games were hardly to be thought of in the German Reich.

Herberger was drafted as a soldier on September 25, 1944, but his service at Dievenow Air Base (presumably at Luftnachrichtenschule 6 (See)) lasted only a few days, then he was discharged due to illness.

National coach, 1950 to 1964

Establishment of the national team after the Second World War

Exactly eight years to the day after the last international game against Slovakia in 1942, the first international game after the war took place on November 22, 1950 in Stuttgart against Switzerland . The German Football Association had been re-admitted to the FIFA World Cup two months earlier at a meeting of the Executive Committee in Brussels, and the Confederates - as they did after the First World War - made themselves available as the first international partner for the German team. In front of 115,000 spectators in the overcrowded Stuttgart Neckar Stadium, the DFB-Elf prevailed 1-0 with a hand penalty converted by Herbert Burdenski from Bremen in the 42nd minute.

The Reich trainer a. D., Sepp Herberger, was officially appointed to the office of national trainer in February 1950 after his denazification process - he was classified in the group of "fellow travelers" and given an atonement for 500 Reichsmarks - after on January 21 in Stuttgart the legally binding re-establishment of the DFB had been established. In mid-November 1949, however, he had already held his first post-war course for building up the national team at the Duisburg-Wedau sports school . Before that, the former Reichstrainer had already been employed by Carl Diem as a football lecturer at the new Sports University in Cologne from June 1, 1947 , where he conducted courses for football coaches until the summer of 1950. Herberger had the opportunity through the regional selection games of the state associations - the beginning was made by southern Germany against western Germany on March 24, 1946 in Stuttgart - and the widespread commencement of league games from the 1947/48 season - the south started on November 4, 1945 to observe the players in regular competitive play that could be considered for his new national team. He was even closer to the action in the post-war years when he briefly took over training at several clubs where national team candidates played, including Eintracht Frankfurt, VfR Mannheim, Stuttgarter Kickers and, above all, 1. FC Kaiserslautern . However, Herberger turned down offers from various clubs to work permanently as a coach.

For the sports teacher, 1. FCK and his favorite student Fritz Walter became a substitute for the national team. The outstanding class of Fritz Walter and the good performance of the Betzenbergelf in the early years of the Oberliga era - German champions in 1951 and 1953 and runner-up in 1948, 1954 and 1955 - encouraged Herberger to hold on to the "Lauterer Block" around his captain and playmaker Midfield. He knew how to build a world-class team around the leading player Walter, who was an all-rounder and mastered tasks in both defense and offensive areas. That is why he tried to eliminate the potential for interference in advance of the 1954 World Cup - Atletico Madrid made his model student in 1951 an offer of 225,000 DM for two years, plus a monthly salary of several thousand - and Herberger let all the connections play that “the Fritz “got his laundry and a toto headquarters and was satisfied, and also kept in close contact with his wife Italia.

When the international game began with the international match against Switzerland, Herberger had five players in his formation with goalkeeper Toni Turek , Bernhard Klodt , Max Morlock , Ottmar Walter and the injured missing captain Fritz Walter, who four years later at the 1954 World Cup tournament should count among the regulars. In 1951 the players Werner Kohlmeyer , Werner Liebrich , Josef Posipal and Helmut Rahn made their debut with him and in 1952 Horst Eckel , Erich Retter and Hans Schäfer joined them. The last to join the Herberger team was the Fürth outrunner Karl Mai in the World Cup qualifier on October 11, 1953 against Saarland .

In addition to his personnel selection, which turned out to be successful at the latest at the World Cup tournament in Switzerland, his regular visits to the clubs and his appealing letters to the players were further means of improving the performance of his national team candidates. Fritz Walter reproduces such a "speech" in his book about Herberger with the following words:

“ Men, if the others in your club train on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then you add Monday, Wednesday and Friday. When others think of their pleasure, you think of your physical condition. If you want to achieve something in sport, your whole way of life has to be based on it. It goes without saying that smoking, drinking and unreasonable eating are out of the question for a budding national player. "

While Herberger was still able to survive the defeats against Turkey on June 17, 1951 in Berlin and against Ireland on October 17 of the same year in Dublin during the phase of rebuilding the national team without any criticism worth mentioning, this changed massively after the 1-3 Loss on October 5, 1952 in Paris against France. "The defeat in Paris was received almost like a national misfortune", wrote Friedebert Becker in "Kicker". The resignation offer from Fritz Walter, the sensitive 32-year-old captain had locked himself in a darkened room after the weak game of the German team and his personal "black day" at the Stade de Colombes and offered the national coach his resignation, was against it the first serious crisis in rebuilding the national team. Thanks to his persuasiveness and the help of Italia Walter, he was able to convince his “favorite student” of the importance of his further involvement, and the Lauterer was again the headquarters of the German in the following 5: 1 success on November 9 in Augsburg against Switzerland Game.

World Cup qualification 1954

On March 22nd, the 14th international match against Austria took place in Cologne after the resumption of international play, before the Herberger protégés started the qualifiers against Norway and Saarland on August 19th in Oslo . Fans and critics were only convinced by the 5: 1 success against Norway on November 21 in Hamburg. After the 3-1 victory on March 28, 1954 in Saarbrücken against the Saarland, which was looked after by Helmut Schön, the commentators' criticism prevailed despite the participation in the World Cup.

When 1. FC Kaiserslautern surprisingly lost the final of the German soccer championship with 1: 5 goals against the north German outsider Hannover 96 on May 23, 1954 in Hamburg and in the 22-man squad of the DFB for the World Cup, five Lauterer, but none The only actor from the master of 1954, the criticism increased in malice. The "Spiegel" commented on the situation as follows:

“ Herberger is in love with a couple of outdated idiots from Kaiserslautern who have been punished by Hanover - probably because of their Catholic faith. "

Now the national coach benefited from the fact that he had meanwhile become a master in his ability to positively reinterpret disasters. He stuck to his selection out of conviction and motivated the losers in Hamburg to show the critics that they had qualified for the World Cup squad in terms of sport and character. Herberger preferred to have men in the preparatory training camp around him who, out of disappointment, anger and annoyance, were eager to polish up their recently battered reputation, instead of resting on fresh laurels full of contented frugality.

On May 26th, just three days after the final of the German soccer championship, the two-week preparation course for the world championship began at the Grünwald sports school in Munich. Here Herberger introduced his players to the international level through a sophisticated training plan: fitness, technical, tactical, motivation and solidarity. Fritz Walter wrote:

“ In the first few days we were so exhausted that we fell into bed dead tired. After a week we could already cope with a lot. And towards the end of the course we felt light and free. The body was set to perform at its best. It was the same with theory. Our future opponents were no longer unknown to us. We had become familiar with them on the blackboard and through film screenings. Herberger had pointed out their strengths and weaknesses. It was not for nothing that he had studied it thoroughly beforehand. "

World Cup tournament in Switzerland

Housed in the Hotel Belvédère in Spiez on Lake Thun, the team of national coach Herberger began the world championship tournament on June 17, 1954 in the Bern Wankdorf Stadium against the seeded team from Turkey. On the right wing he preferred the combination soccer player "Berni" Klodt to the individualist Helmut Rahn and Josef Posipal from Hamburg acted as head of defense . After goals from Schäfer , Klodt, Ottmar Walter and Morlock , the players from the Bosporus were defeated 4-1 goals. Three days later, on June 20, in the St. Jakob Stadium in Basel, in front of 55,531 spectators, the second match in the preliminary round was against the clear tournament favorites Hungary. In a tactical decision, Herberger bet on a play-off against Turkey, which would have to decide on progress in the event of a defeat, and did not play against the Magyar “miracle eleven” around Ferenc Puskás, to the disappointment of the numerous German spectators. Turek, Laband, Mai, Klodt, Morlock and Schäfer paused from the victorious Turkey game and Hungary won the game high with 8: 3 goals. On June 23, the national coach's plan worked. In the Hardturm Stadium in Zurich , his protégés prevailed in the decider against Turkey after a strong attack performance with 7-2 hits and were thus qualified for the quarter-finals.

Opponents were the technically adept “Balkan ball artists” from Yugoslavia on June 27 at the Stade des Charmilles in Geneva . The international class of the outside runners Zlatko Čajkovski and Vujadin Boškov was known and the attack with Miloš Milutinovic , Rajko Mitić , Stjepan Bobek , Bernard Vukas and Branko Zebec could pose big problems for every opponent on a good day. The team was rated highly by the national coach, almost as high as the Hungarians in terms of play. Herberger decided on a game of reinforced defense, he relied on lightning-fast counterattacks, the excellent physical condition of his team and the certainty that his players were willing to implement his tactics in a disciplined manner. After the happy 1-0 lead for Germany through Ivica Horvat's own goal in the tenth minute of the game, the Yugoslavs started a vehement assault. Goalkeeper Turek improved himself into brilliant form and the tactically reinforced defense around Liebrich prevented a goal from being conceded. Helmut Rahn showed the quality his coach had hoped for in the 86th minute and finally decided the game for Germany with a powerful shot from sixteen meters. Herberger's counterattack tactic had proven its worth, the DFB-Elf moved - completely unexpectedly for the international professional world - into the semi-finals against Austria.

The "Viennese city selection" of the players from Rapid , Austria and Vienna had only just lost two friendlies in Vienna with 2: 3 and 0: 1 against the Hungarian attacking artists in the run-up to the World Cup tournament and showed that with them in Switzerland was to be expected. With Gerhard Hanappi , Ernst Happel , Ernst Stojaspal and above all Ernst Ocffekt , there were also individual top performers in the Austria representation who alone guaranteed top football. But here, too, Herberger showed himself to be a master in motivation, tactics and the inclusion of many little things - restful accommodation for distraction and relaxation; Masseur Deuser and shoe specialist Dassler ; Coordinated food and drink for competitive athletes and sufficient restful sleep - on the way to a high sporting goal. In addition, the way the Austrians played was a good match for the German team, because they were still used to achieving success primarily through the playful moment. Consistent man coverage in the World Cup system was not their thing, stamina and strict adherence to tactics ranked behind the art of playing. After the well-deserved 6: 1 success in Basel on June 30th in front of 58,000 spectators, the Herberger-Elf was certified to have "set their playful highlight at this World Cup". The Walter brothers, in whom Herberger had put his trust, scored four goals in this game. The team of national coach Herberger was surprisingly in the final of the 1954 World Cup, which was played against Hungary on July 4, 1954 in the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.

Herberger relied on the semi-final line-up in the final and had carefully adjusted his players to the personal strengths and weaknesses of the favored opponent. With all due respect and admiration, he had definitely identified weaknesses in the Hungarians' game. He had seen her for the first time in 1952 in the final of the Helsinki Olympics against Yugoslavia, was in the legendary 6: 3 victory of the "miracle team" in 1953 at Wembley Stadium in London and saw her one last time before the World Cup in April 1954 in Vienna against Austria . Herberger's conclusion: “The defense is vulnerable.” Above all, he had studied their attacking tactics with the “hanging” center forward Nándor Hidegkuti and found the right answer in his defensive system. Horst Eckel had to shadow the attacker who was retreating into midfield and making the game from there and Stopper Liebrich then had to take care of Puskás, who was mostly only in the front attack line, with his striker quality. The Fürth May had to guard the World Cup top scorer Sándor Kocsis . Herberger saw the main defensive weakness of the Magyars on their right defense side, where the offensive József Bozsik always went forward and left gaps and alleys in the defensive network of the Hungarians, the final opponent was vulnerable. When the favorite was already in the lead with 2-0 goals after eight minutes, the German supporters feared a repeat of the 3-8 defeat from the preliminary round among the 64,000 spectators. But the German final formation didn't break up, they hit back and equalized before half-time. In the 84th minute of the game, Helmut Rahn even scored the 3-2 winner and Germany became world champion with one of the greatest sensations in World Cup history.

Herberger's detailed plans had worked out, he had correctly assessed the strategic situation and his tactical decisions had proven to be correct. He himself drew the following conclusion for the past World Cup:

“ When we went to Switzerland, none of the participants from all nations, who were mostly professionals, were in better condition than our players, and no team or player was better prepared for the tasks ahead than ours. "

The "Spirit of Spiez"

Memorial for the five Kaiserslautern World Cup heroes from Bern with Herberger quote.

The reason for the 3: 2 final success has been invoked again and again in retrospectives, the “spirit of Spiez”, that irrefutable solidarity that determined the atmosphere in the Hotel Belvédère on the shores of Lake Thun. Fritz Walter explains in his book about Herberger:

“ The boss was also quite satisfied in other ways. Our accommodation, the Hotel Belvédère in Spiez on Lake Thun, seemed ideal to him. It had a large garden with lounge chairs. We could go boating as often as we wanted. The third floor was reserved for players, coaches, doctors and masseurs; Functionaries and other members of the expedition lived one floor below. Nothing distracted. The whole focus was on the upcoming games. [...] The germ cells for the proverbial spirit of camaraderie in our national team were the rooms to which we were distributed by Herberger - in a clever way. He didn't care who came to whom. […] The boss didn't think much of training encounters like the Uruguayans, Brazilians or Hungarians fought against Swiss city teams. He said the unbalanced balance of power at such meetings could easily lead to the wrong standards being applied. 'You must burn!' He had always asked his players to do that. We really 'burned' in Switzerland. We couldn't wait for the first deployment. "

In his capacity as a psychologist, Herberger had managed to arouse feelings of camaraderie and to make the team into a stable unit in a fortnightly training camp in the Munich suburb of Grünwald and during the weeks in Spiez, where he was with his players under first-class conditions he had modeled around his extended arm on the field, Fritz Walter, since 1950. The old international Albert Sing commissioned by Herberger - at the time coach of Young Boys Bern - discovered the quietly located Hotel Belvédère. A nicely designed park, large meadows, riverside paths, a small bathing beach and a jetty invited to walks and paddle rides - diversion was the key between the World Cup games. It was a suitable place to recharge your batteries before and between the games and to let your mind wander. But Spiez was not only a stroke of luck in terms of leisure time, but also geographically. Most of the venues were easily accessible by bus from this optimally located base station. Sepp Herberger had sworn his players in Spiez into a "community of victims". In this very limited event, the tone was pathetic and sentimental. Willingness to work, subordination, camaraderie and devotion were the central terms of the "boss". It was the public and social language of the German post-war period. Herberger's power of persuasion, however, arose less from speech or from his instinct and feeling; rather, the collective of the football team had become for him a guideline and a moral authority, a support and a refuge for security. The long-time Herberger observer Friedebert Becker wrote:

“ In his 'almost hypnotic, fatherly camouflaged, fatherly-meant influence on the players', Herberger understood how to 'transform' a player's ego in his sense almost unnoticed. And in a very simple, clever way. "

The drive home

The world championship team returned to Germany on such a train.

The German Federal Railroad provided the victorious agency with its classiest model at the time for the journey home, the VT 08 diesel multiple unit , which took the national team as a special train with a red multiple unit and the giant letters on the long side “FOOTBALL WORLD CHAMPION 1954” over the stations on July 5th Singen, Radolfzell, Konstanz, Friedrichshafen, Lindau (overnight there), Immenstadt, Kempten, Günzach, Kaufbeuren, Buchloe and Fürstenfeldbruck on July 6th to Munich. It was a “triumph train” from Spiez to the Bavarian capital. The drive home was accompanied by frenetic cheers on the route and especially in the stations. Arrived in Munich on the afternoon of July 6th, the DFB delegation drove in twelve open Mercedes convertibles to Marienplatz, where Mayor Thomas Wimmer awarded the team the city silver plaque in the town hall. Then the world champions showed up on the balcony of a huge crowd. The state government's ceremony in the State Chancellery followed before socializing in the Löwenbräu basement was the main focus. After a short night's sleep at the Grünwald sports school, everyone involved finally started their actual journey to their various hometowns on July 7th. There, receptions and celebrations were followed by individual honors in Kaiserslautern, Cologne, Nuremberg, Fürth, Hamburg, Essen, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund.

The coach of the world championship team, Sepp Herberger, was welcomed in Hohensachsen - his house was now on “Sepp-Herberger-Straße” - with a torchlight procession as world champion and new honorary citizen. 30,000 people were waiting for him on the market square in Weinheim. For Herberger, the honors meant recognition for the work he had done, which is why he gladly and gratefully accepted them. On July 18, Herberger and his team flew to Berlin for a reception by Federal President Theodor Heuss . They were received by the Berlin Senate in Schöneberg Town Hall before the Federal President's ceremony took place in the afternoon in the Olympic Stadium, which was attended by 80,000 spectators. From Berlin we finally went to Bonn, where the presentation of the Silver Laurel by Federal Interior Minister Gerhard Schröder was carried out on July 19.

The deep fall of the world champion

Herberger (right) with wife Eva and Klaus-Peter Kirchrath (1955)

For the German surprise world champion in the second half of 1954, the four international matches against Belgium, France, England and Portugal were a sporting duty on the schedule. For the experienced national coach it was clear that all opponents would make a special effort against the reigning world champion - especially against such an unexpected one - in order to be able to adorn themselves with the laurel of having defeated the current title holder. His players could only live up to the burden of the world championship title if they were to tackle the international games in the best physical condition and attitude over the next four years. The national coach, who was planning far-sightedly, was fully aware of this, but he was also aware of the problems on the part of his players. The preparation for the World Cup tournament had been a physical and mental effort, and the long road to success at the World Cup itself had drained the substance. Herberger had granted his players the week-long celebrations that followed, but feared that the fitness they had trained would suffer massively and could only be restored with a great deal of effort and personal commitment from the individual through special training in addition to the not always sufficient club training of the regional German league system . The strict, paternal-understanding and disciplined national coach could only hope that all of his World Cup protégés would be able to do this again after this absolute climax of their careers, with ultimate consequence. His maxim on the problem was clear:

“ Top performance in sport and a fun life are like fire and water. One cannot serve two masters alike. Either ... or! Either one or the other. Both together do not get along! "

Without the injured world champions Toni Turek, Horst Eckel, Fritz Walter and Hans Schäfer - they were represented by Fritz Herkenrath , Herbert Erhardt , Ulrich Biesinger and Berni Klodt - Herberger and the German national team lost their first international match after winning the title on September 26th in Brussels with 0-2 goals against Belgium. The players were physically as well as mentally far from the optimal condition of the Swiss weeks. Herberger noted:

“ Belgium did not become a fame for our team. Everyone was out of step; everything that made us great seemed to have been forgotten in the past few weeks. The result wasn't that bad. "

This continued in the following game on October 16 in Hanover against France. Eckel, Rahn, Fritz Walter and Schäfer were missing from his regular line-up on the World Cup days. The home game was lost with 1: 3 goals and only the two young debutants Uwe Seeler and Klaus Stürmer from Hamburger SV could be seen as hopes.

Before the game against England on December 1 in London, things turned out to be far worse: Rahn, Morlock, Fritz Walter and Kubsch saw the first cases of hepatitis among Swiss drivers and the players were out for months. Herberger was forced to attack the “old master” with an attack by the newcomers: Gerhard Kaufhold , Michael Pfeiffer , Uwe Seeler (second international match), Jupp Derwall and Alfred Beck . Herkenrath and Gerhard Harpers completed their second international match in goal and as a left wing runner. The protégés of national coach Herberger also lost the third game after winning the world championship. The English prevailed with 3: 1 goals. The misery grew into the worst personal crisis in Herberger's career. The scandal debate (the Hungarian team captain Ferenc Puskás sparked a press war with his suspicion of doping) and the illnesses signaled a bitter time.

National coach Sepp Herberger (right) in conversation with the state coach of the GDR, Oswald Pfau (1956)

Of 17 international matches, the world champion won just four games up to 1956, and those in turn against opponents who were weak at the time (Portugal, Ireland and twice against Norway), many of them in "embarrassing casts". The low point was reached with the two defeats in November 1956 against Switzerland and Ireland, when they lost the games with 1: 3 and 0: 3 goals within four days after disappointing appearances. With a 4: 1 as a “Christmas present” in the game against Belgium on December 23, 1956 in Cologne, the national team picked up speed again. The games they won against Austria and the Netherlands followed in the spring of 1957 and this series was only interrupted by the 1: 3 defeat on May 22, 1957 in Stuttgart against Scotland. The test against the Scots took place immediately before the start of the final round of the German championship in 1957 and the national coach could therefore only fall back on the two Dortmunders Alfred Kelbassa and Alfred "Aki" Schmidt from the player pool of the participating clubs . The beginning of the 1957/58 world championship season was hopeful with the successes against Sweden and Hungary and culminated in the convincing 2-0 win on March 19, 1958 in Frankfurt against Spain. Herberger had found his formation for the World Cup in Sweden in defense with Herkenrath, Georg Stollenwerk , Juskowiak, Eckel, Erhardt and Szymaniak. The defensive network held its own against the Spanish interior trio with László Kubala , Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis Suárez . The Cologne Stollenwerk played for the first time on the right defensive position and "Ertl" Erhardt finally decided the fight for the central role in the World Cup in his favor with his performance. On the offensive, honorary captain Fritz Walter celebrated his comeback as a lagging center forward. Herberger assistant Helmut Schön had observed him at the Oberliga Südwest match against TuS Neuendorf and judged that "in this condition Fritz Walter is always the best striker of the national team". The last time the captain of the world championship eleven from 1954 was on November 21, 1956 in the 1: 3 defeat against Switzerland was internationally active. This also clarified the question of the playmaker for the World Cup in Sweden for Herberger, despite the 37 years of Lauterer's life. When Helmut Rahn - the DFB had expelled him from the national team after an accident under the influence of alcohol on July 31, 1957 and pardoned him on March 18, 1958 - hinted at top form on March 26 at the B international match in Basel against Switzerland, worries about the lack of goal danger on the offensive also diminished.

The defending champion at the World Cup in Sweden

The national coach conducted the World Cup course from May 12 to 24, 1958, as in 1954, again at the Munich-Grünwald sports school. After that, 17 players were nominated directly for the tournament in Sweden, including Horst Eckel, Helmut Rahn, Fritz Walter, Hans Schäfer and Berni Klodt, five members of the "close core" of the 1954 World Cup, as well as the then substitute goalkeeper Heini Kwiatkowski and not in Fürth “Ertl” Erhardt who was used during the Swiss days. The newcomers to the World Cup were goalkeeper Fritz Herkenrath , the defenders Erich Juskowiak , Heinz Wewers , Georg Stollenwerk and Karl-Heinz Schnellinger as well as in midfield and attack Horst Szymaniak , Alfred Schmidt, Uwe Seeler , Hans Sturm and Alfred Kelbassa. The winger Hans Cieslarczyk from SV Sodingen was nominated.

In the group matches against South American champions Argentina, Czechoslovakia and Northern Ireland, the DFB-Elf again underlined with their performances that Herberger was able to send his tournament teams into the race in top form, highly motivated, powerful and tactically brilliant to the minute. The favorite South Americans were beaten 3-1 and the two 2-2 draws against Czechoslovakia and Northern Ireland were enough to get into the quarter-finals. The strength of the team lay in the defense and through playmaker Fritz Walter, the top Helmut Rahn and Uwe Seeler were always good for a goal. The Yugoslav representation around Stopper Branko Zebec also had to experience this on June 19 in Malmö. With a goal from Rahn, the Herberger-Elf moved into the semifinals. With this, the German national team had achieved more than was previously believed.

On June 24th the semi-finals took place in Gothenburg against the hosts Sweden in front of 50,000 spectators. In an emotionally charged game, which then even disrupted relations between the two countries for a short time, the Swedes defeated the Herberger protégés with 3-1 goals. “There was a lot going against us, and there was certainly a lot that wasn't athletic,” said Herberger afterwards, “but in the end we lost on the football field. With a bit of luck we could have moved into the final again. "

The 1958 tournament had shown that the 1954 victory was no accident. Herberger cemented his reputation as a shrewd tactician with fourth place - after the bleak appearances in 1955 and 1956, this performance was far more than was hoped for before the tournament. From then on it was celebrated as the “Bundessepp”.

Qualification and World Cup in Chile in 1962

In contrast to the sharp drop in sporting performance after the tournament in Switzerland four years earlier, the national coach and the national team continued international matches at a stable level after the World Cup in Sweden. The fact that this took place in sporting terms without any noticeable loss of quality, although he now finally had to do without his favorite student Fritz Walter, surprised the national coach himself. There were no series of defeats, on the contrary, the qualifying games for the 1962 World Cup in Chile against Northern Ireland and Greece were unbeaten 8-0 Points completed. Already in the first game to Sweden, on September 24, 1958 in Copenhagen against Denmark, Helmut Haller made his debut as a highly talented offensive talent in the national team. There were also Helmut Benthaus and Albert Brülls and after the 7-0 win against the Netherlands on October 21, 1959 in Cologne, the national coach stated:

“ Our international match in Cologne will go down in the history of our international matches as a major celebration of German football. "

He praised everyone, was satisfied with himself, just as the Germans were satisfied with themselves, things were looking up in the Federal Republic. The general tenor of the sports press was, "Seppl Herberger will fix it". When Herberger celebrated his 25th anniversary as coach and supervisor of the German national team on October 8, 1961, the DFB in Warsaw honored him with a coffee table at the international match against Poland, at which he was courted like a monarch. He was celebrated in the press for four big teams that he brought out as national coach: the Breslau-Elf in 1937, the team from the first years of the war, the world championship eleven in 1954 and the team that represented Germany in Sweden in 1958. The first three games of the World Cup qualification for Chile had already been successfully contested, with Willi Schulz , Leo Wilden , Jürgen Schütz , Gert Dörfel , Jürgen Werner and Hans Nowak , other hopeful newcomers had joined the national team.

Herberger and the DFB also embodied the motto: "No experiments", in keeping with the cultural and political zeitgeist in the Federal Republic of those days. This basic attitude resulted in Herberger's negative attitude towards the European Cup of Nations , which was held for the first time from 1958 to 1960 , the first attempt by Organizing a European Championship, he thought it was a "pure waste of time". Herberger's self-assessment of being “sergeant and general at the same time” and the characteristics of Herberger described by Leinemann, “who had always struggled with players who seemed too self-confident and independent to him, expected more imperious than ever a kind of unspoken emotional submission before he attributing someone to his circle ”, also contributed to the fact that his favorite players Haller, Schnellinger, Brülls, Szymaniak and Seeler threatened to slip away from him in their attitude to life and with their wishes and dreams long before Herberger turned his back on his severely punitive behavior became aware. Slowly the advantage of his years of switching and acting at his own discretion in the authority structures under which he had lived and triumphed since the time of the emperor was to change into the opposite in the last phase of the post-war period. Old forms and power structures loosened up, the young people were still conformed and friendly, but they did piss off at times, obedience was no longer their second nature. The football players, too, became more relaxed in their way of life, more demanding in their claims and more critical of the power structures in the club and the DFB. Even those players who basically adored him no longer agreed with Herberger's rigid and moralizing style. The relationship between Herberger and the national team was also subject to the liberalization of social life.

In the last international match before the World Cup in Chile, on April 11, 1962 in Hamburg against Uruguay, Herberger suddenly experimented. He surprised with three debutants - goalkeeper Wolfgang Fahrian as well as Jürgen Kurbjuhn and Willi Koslowski - while the last ever present Hans Tilkowski , Richard Kreß and Günter Herrmann were missing. In addition, after a three-year break, Hans Schäfer returned to the national team. According to Herberger's plans, he was to become Fritz Walter of Chile. Since he had never found an alternative for his Lauterer playmaker and the honorary captain had rejected the attempt by the man from Hohensachsen to persuade him to return to the national team, in the end only the man from Cologne was left. The two-time World Cup participant in 1954 and 1958, Hans Schäfer, had won the final of the German championship with his 1. FC Köln on May 12, 1962 with 4-0 goals against the defending champions 1. FC Nürnberg with 4-0 goals and also impressed with 3-0 -Success against Uruguay.

In the 22-strong World Cup squad, there was no room for Kreß, for Uwe Seeler's Hamburg teammates, namely playmaker Klaus Stürmer and flank giver Gert Dörfel on the left wing, not even for Dortmund's Jürgen Schütz and Friedhelm Konietzka or for the one in the Netherlands at SC Enschede, but then injured Helmut Rahn, who played a very strong role at the World Cup in Sweden. From April 30th to May 11th, Herberger held his World Cup course in the Schöneck sports school and then flew with his selection to South America to lodge in Santiago de Chile behind fences and walls in the shielded military school "Bernardo O'Higgins". When Herberger announced the team line-up before the starting game against Italy on May 31, the much-invoked team spirit, harmony and psychological balance of the Chile drivers were clearly disturbed. Herberger had nominated the newcomer Fahrian instead of the regular goalkeeper Tilkowski and Tilkowski did not accept that without complaint. Herrmann didn't play either, but another Cologne player, Hans Sturm , returned to the team after four years and strengthened the defense as a nominal right-winger. After a tough fighting game, which was characterized by rigid man-to-man tactics with the aim of not losing, the Italians with their prominent indoor storm with Gianni Rivera , José Altafini and Omar Sívori parted with 0-0. Draw. The Herberger protégés prevailed against Switzerland with 2: 1 goals. But it was a lackluster and hard-won work victory. Against the local Chileans, the Germans won their last group game 2-0 three days later, and they celebrated their place in the quarter-finals with a big hello.

In addition to his compact defense, the national coach had tactically called in Horst Szymaniak as a “defensive” half-striker in order to be able to assert his “zero” ideology. Against Yugoslavia he tried the same tactic, again the "German Italian" ran up as a half-striker and strengthened the defense. In addition to center forward Uwe Seeler, Helmut Haller, Albert Brülls and senior Hans Schäfer acted in the supposed offensive. Rapid winger characteristics could not be attributed to any of the three. The Yugoslavs won the game with 1-0 goals thanks to a force shot by the outside runner Radaković in the 86th minute. Even if Herberger claimed that he did not want to play defensively in Chile, it had become obvious that his team at this World Cup was only looking to "destroy" the opposing game. The national coach was not alone with this maxim, in fact, a lack of offensive readiness shaped the entire World Cup tournament. Double stoppers and tight man coverage was the motto, limiting oneself to mere destruction was the focus of the weeks in Chile.

Herberger himself judged his team's performance after the tournament:

“ We came back with the opinion that we had achieved something by making it to the quarter-finals. We consider winning the group a success. "

In Germany, on the other hand, early retirement and defensive tactics were viewed as a clear failure, and malicious and devastating criticism fell on him. Herberger's trainer memorial began to crumble.

Resignation as national coach

When the DFB delegation arrived at Frankfurt Airport on June 17, 1962, the 65-year-old national coach only saw how the team's performance, to his surprise, was rated at the World Cup in Chile in Germany. As soon as he got off the plane in Frankfurt, he found himself surrounded by reporters who confronted him with critical questions. Herberger was bluntly blamed for the “failure” in Chile, asked about his resignation and suggested that he resign. The journalists wanted to know how the rebellion against him in Chile had come about, how he explained the miserable mood in the German team and why he had used such a stubborn defensive concept as a tactic. Overnight, the “Magician of Bern” became the “Mason of Santiago”.

Herberger was hurt like never before in his life. The criticism hit him all the harder because he was happy with how he did in Chile. It took Herberger weeks to regain his old vitality. But the offense had a lasting effect and the uncomfortable questions accompanied him over the next few months.

It was only a little calm when he won the first international match after the World Cup tournament with 3-2 goals against the World Cup quarter-final opponent Yugoslavia in Zagreb on September 30, with the debutants Friedhelm Konietzka , Stefan Reisch , Heinz Strehl and Horst Trimhold provided fresh momentum in the attack of the national team. Two more international matches were played on October 24 (2: 2 against France) and on December 23 (5: 1 against Switzerland) before the game year 1962/63 with the match on May 5, 1963 in Hamburg against the reigning soccer world champions Brazil ended with a 1: 2 defeat. In the first half of 1963, no international matches were scheduled so that the major league clubs could concentrate fully on their qualifications for the new Bundesliga from the 1963/64 season. The replacement at the top of the DFB - Peco Bauwens , Herberger's long-time companion, was replaced by Hermann Gösmann on July 28, 1962, the day the Bundesliga was decided - played a role in ensuring that the previous "unconditional approval of Herberger and relaxed about all of his decisions, ”said Leinemann, describing the situation around Herberger and the national team in mid-1962. Although Herberger had already spoken to the leading men of the DFB about his successor before the World Cup in Chile and he had long been ready to resign was, he was so annoyed by the critical and sometimes hurtful reception of parts of the press after his return from Chile and the public speculation that followed that he was forced to react defiantly and made the following statement:

“ The preparations for the 1966 World Cup in England are still in my hands. We haven't talked about that yet. When I step down, I decide. The DFB gives me a completely free hand. "

But with that the director got messed up, the matter became a sure-fire success. When the new DFB President Gösmann spoke about Herberger's personalities in front of the north German sports press and Jakob Koenen, a man from the DFB's inner circle, dropped a sentence about Herberger's resignation a year later in a press conference, the national coach shared the DFB President of his immediate resignation. In contrast to Koenen, Gösmann apologized formally to Herberger and asked the "Bundes-Sepp" to stay in office until the 1966 World Cup in England. Herberger did not take his decision back and the DFB announced on November 23, 1963 in a press release the resignation of the national coach at the end of the 1963/64 season.

In the first year of the new Bundesliga, 1963/64 , seven international matches were played. The last two encounters in May and June 1964 against Scotland and Finland respectively served to say goodbye to national coach Sepp Herberger. With Reinhard Libuda , Werner Krämer , Wolfgang Overath , Wolfgang Weber and Klaus-Dieter Sieloff , the new concentration of forces in German football, the single-track Bundesliga, provided top-class youngsters for the national team in the first year of its existence.

The national coach said goodbye to the German football audience on May 12th in Hanover on the occasion of the international match against Scotland. His successor Helmut Schön had already taken a seat in the coaching bench . The game ended in a 2-2 draw and Herberger finally said goodbye with a 4-1 win against Finland on June 7 in Helsinki. The circle had come full circle: In Finland, the Waldhof player played his first international match as a national player on September 18, 1921 and scored his two international goals, forty-three years later he resigned as national coach at the age of 67.

Record as national coach

Coaching office	Term of office from first to last international match	Days	Games	Victories	draw	Dutch	Points	Gates	TD
Reich trainer	Nov. 15, 1936 to Nov. 22, 1942	2290	065	40	12	13	092:38	204: 93	+111
National coach	Nov 22, 1950 to 0June 7, 1964	4946	097	52	14th	31	118: 76	219: 146	+ 073
total			162	92	26th	44	210: 114	423: 239	+184

After the professional career

During his time as a Waldhof player, Herberger married Eva Müller from Weinheim on April 30, 1921 , whom he probably met immediately after the war; "Ev" was working as a maid on the forest farm at the time. The honeymoon went to Switzerland, not as a pair, but with the team, because SV Waldhof played two friendly matches there; Herberger had previously had to postpone the marriage twice because of "football obligations". The marriage, which remained childless, lasted until Herberger's death. After the Second World War, the couple lived in Hohensachsen near Weinheim in their house, which they had started building in 1951. In 1952, however, Ms. Ev had to cope with the actual move-in on her own. The national coach looked after his amateur national team at the Olympic Games in Helsinki. Herberger returned to a new house. Leinemann also noted a later statement by Herberger about the successful distribution of roles between the two, with which they lived contentedly for decades:

“ If it is true that in a happy marriage, the man outside and the woman in the house have a say, we have had a model marriage for 40 years. "

At the time of his resignation Herberger was 67 years old and lived with his wife "Ev" in the "Herberger" house in Hohensachsen on the western slope of the Odenwald. It was public, literally “like in a dovecote” there was a constant coming and going. Nevertheless, he devoted himself to writing his memoirs, which he had already announced after the 1954 World Cup, as well as a book about the Bundesliga and the history of the national team. By the 20th anniversary of Bern at the latest, in time for the 1974 World Cup, he wanted to have his “Memories” ready, but he found it difficult to write and soon doubted “whether I can still do it in my life” because “I have too much material, not too little ”. In the end, he was never able to complete his personal biography, which was to comprise several volumes, but left behind an extensive collection of drafts, notes, letters and newspaper clippings sorted into several hundred files.

In public he still appeared frequently, readily gave interviews and enjoyed his popularity. His joy in storytelling and his proficiency in effectively staging his own person were of benefit to him. He was forgiven for the fact that he often became grumpy and poisonous with increasing age. "You know, I was able to make my sayings," he admitted in an interview, and in fact many of his bonmots ( "The ball is round" , "The game lasts 90 minutes" or "After the game is before the game" ) are open become winged words of footballer's language.

As an autodidact, Herberger acquired knowledge of psychology, philosophy and strategy through extensive literature studies in his growing library, which at his death consisted of 1,500 books, in order to borrow and work out analogies that he considered to be football games, tactics and leadership Trainer could apply in practice. Herberger found inspiration in particular with Dale Carnegie and Carl von Clausewitz, but also with Mao and Macchiavelli . Many of his well-known aphorisms go back to this reading study.

In 1972 Herberger campaigned for the DFB to invite the former national player Gottfried Fuchs as a guest of honor at the association's expense to the opening game of the Munich Olympic Stadium. The association refused the request, pointing out that "a precedent would be created that could also bring considerable burdens in the future". Herberger's youth idol Fuchs, who had been pen pals with the former national coach since 1955, was one of the only two Jewish national players in Germany.

On March 28, 1977, in the presence of the former national trainer, the Sepp-Herberger Foundation was founded in the knight's hall of Mannheim Palace , to which the DFB contributed an asset base of one million marks. This makes it the oldest football foundation in Germany. After the death of Herberger's wife Eva (1989) - regulated by will - the proceeds from the sale of Herberger's house in Weinheim and 1.4 million marks in securities from the Herberger's estate flowed into the foundation's assets. The foundation is committed to football for the disabled, rehabilitation of prisoners, the promotion of young footballers in schools and clubs as well as the DFB social welfare organization.

Sepp Herberger died in 1977 four weeks after his 80th birthday and the establishment of the foundation. During the broadcast of a German international match against Northern Ireland, he suffered a heart attack, which he died a few hours later in the municipal hospital in Mannheim. His grave can be found in the cemetery of the Weinheim district of Hohensachsen .

Meaning - résumé

Special stamp on the occasion of the 100th birthday

Political scientists and sociologists regard the “Victory of Bern” as the actual “founding date” of the Federal Republic of Germany, which emerged in 1949, as a contribution “to the development of a FRG national feeling”. Winning the 1954 World Cup is primarily thanks to Herberger's determined work, who knew how to maintain his old network with both the national players and the leading personalities of the DFB. His success as a coach was based on the one hand on having obedient and hardworking players gather around one another. On the other hand, Herberger was also a meticulous worker and perfectionist who didn't like to leave anything to chance. With his development work from June 1, 1947 to the summer of 1950 as a football lecturer at the new sports university in Cologne, where he taught the sports students and also conducted courses for football coaches, he laid the qualitative foundations for club work in the football leagues after the Second World War besides for the theoretical dissemination of his training theory. With the trained coaches he expanded his network of relationships across the whole of Germany, and in every regional league he was able to rely on coaches whom he had personally trained and who were mostly proud of having attended the Herberger courses in Cologne. The triumph of the DFB team at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland is inextricably linked to Sepp Herberger. After the long lasting sporting low after the World Cup days in Switzerland at the World Cup in Sweden in 1958, having made the national team internationally competitive again by moving into the semi-finals, was a confirmation of his outstanding skills as a national coach.

But there was also the second side in the life of the former Reich and national coach. He subordinated everything to the absolute will to pursue a career, and this career was only possible for him in football. Since he could subordinate himself when necessary and get along with anyone when necessary, he was able to survive even under National Socialism. Herberger was someone who could survive in any political system because he could fit in for the sake of football and his pursuit of a career in football. In the denazification process, he said on record: "I have only ever lived my sport, only had my professional training in mind and never had the time to deal with politics." He tried to maintain his position as Reich coach under all circumstances which is why he was ready to the maximum possible external conformity with the regime. The mitigating tone of the statement, "The rigid view of his personal career did not allow him to think outside the box of football", can hardly be in line with the personality traits attributed to him at Leinemann, "He became cunning, cunning, opportunistic, poisonous, bucky-legged, sometimes he flared up, sometimes he adapted himself, and sometimes he withdrew through silence, he smiled, he was angry, he talked dizzy about his surroundings, but he never lost sight of his goals “. Jürgen Bitter quotes Jürgen Leinemann in his book "Die Meistermacher" on Herberger's role in National Socialism with the following insight:

“ On the one hand he made unabashed pacts with the party superiors in the Reich Office for Physical Education, on the other hand he kept his distance from the party in his practical behavior. "

Havemann attributes to Herberger, "in his fixation on football he suppressed the fact that he made a pact with National Socialism and that he benefited significantly from it in terms of his professional development." Germans ". He stood for someone who subordinates himself and himself, does not bother, behaves apolitically, but ambitiously and diligently tinkers with success and then remains modest in success. His virtues and character traits "even served - with Herberger as with millions of other Germans - as a model of justification for one's own opportunism in the Nazi state."

Honors

Seppl-Herberger-Platz, Mannheim

• 1954: Honorary citizen of the municipality of Hohensachsen (today: City of Weinheim )
• 1957: Golden Order of Merit of the DFB (highest German football award)
• 1962: Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1967: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1977: special postmark of post and foundation of Sepp Herberger Foundation by the DFB.
• 1977: Ring of Honor of the City of Mannheim
• In 1997 - in Weinheim station - an ICE train of the Deutsche Bahn was christened Herberger's name; Deutsche Post also issued a special 100 Pfennig stamp with Herberger's portrait.

Seppl-Herberger-Stadion in Mannheim-Waldhof

• Named after Sepp Herberger are the Seppl-Herberger-Platz and the Seppl-Herberger-Sportanlage (formerly Stadion am Alsenweg ) in Mannheim-Waldhof , the Sepp-Herberger-Stadion in Neuenkirchen- St. Arnold , which he personally inaugurated in 1968, the stadium in Weinheim, the elementary school in Weinheim-Hohensachsen and numerous streets in the entire Kurpfalz region . In the Electoral Palatinate, his nickname was always "Seppl", as well as in his father's home community in Wiesental , where the local FV 1912 Wiesental plays in the Seppl-Herberger Stadium, which is located on the Seppl-Herberger-Ring. The office of the Badischer Fußballverband in the Schöneck sports school on Karlsruhe's Turmberg is located on Sepp-Herberger-Weg.
• On May 6, 2008, Herberger was inducted into the Hall of Fame of German Sports as one of five former NSDAP members .
• In Düren , the square in front of the SV Düren stadium was named after Herberger.
• 2018: Admission to the first eleven of the "Hall of Fame" of the German Football Museum .

In art

In 1972, the vinyl record "Sepp Herberger march" marching band appeared "Raiders of the Counts of sheet" of arc , the proceeds of the action problem child zugutekam. In the feature film Das Wunder von Bern by Sönke Wortmann , which describes the events surrounding the World Cup victory in 1954, Herberger is played by Peter Franke . In the musical of the same name (performed in Hamburg from 2014 to 2017), Herberger is portrayed by Michael Ophelders. The action thriller Run Lola Run (1998) begins with quotes from Sepp Herberger. Michael Herberger, a great-great-nephew of the national coach, is a founding member of the Sons of Mannheim as well as producer and keyboardist of Xavier Naidoo .

literature

Biographies

• Jürgen Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. One life, one legend . Heyne, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-453-87986-4 .
• Hans-Georg Merz: Herberger, Josef. In: Baden biographies. NF 2. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-17-009217-0 , pp. 128-130. (on-line)
• Karl-Heinz Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. A Seppl-Herberger biography . Regional culture publishing house, Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, ISBN 3-929366-39-8 .
• Ludwig Maibohm : Sepp Herberger: Football - his life . Wilhelm Limpert-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1973.
• Lothar Mikos, Harry Nutt: When the ball was still round - Sepp Herberger - a German football life. Ullstein Taschenbuch Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-593-35690-2 .

Herberger as a national and national trainer

• Marvin Chlada : So spoke Sepp Herberger. A football primer. Fangorn Verlag, Adelshofen 1999, ISBN 3-9803679-9-1 .
• Markwart Herzog : "Blitzkrieg" in the football stadium - the game system dispute between Nazi sports official Karl Oberhuber and Reich trainer Sepp Herberger. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-17-022217-5 .
• Jürgen Buschmann, Karl Lennartz, Hans G. Steinkemper: Sepp Herberger and Otto Nerz. The chief thinkers and their theories. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2003, ISBN 3-89784-195-9 .
• Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling (Ed.): The history of the national soccer team. Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89533-443-X .
  • Hardy Greens: 1933 to 1945: victories for the Führer. Pp. 83-117.
  • Werner Skrentny: 1945 to 1958: return to world class. Pp. 121-167.
  • Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling, Hubert Dahlkamp: 1958 to 1966: The great changing of the guard. Pp. 169-208.
• Werner Skrentny: Sepp Herberger. In: Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling (ed.): Strategists of the game. The legendary soccer coach . Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-89533-475-8 , pp. 126-134.
• Fritz Walter: The boss - Sepp Herberger. Copress-Verlag, Munich 1964.
• Anton Kehl (Ed.): "I was obsessed, ... one who was out after the last moment." Sepp Herberger in pictures and documents. List, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-471-79346-1 .
• Wolfgang Friedrich: Anecdotes about Sepp Herberger , Bechtle Verlag, Munich, 1967.
• Gottfried Fuchs on the way into exile / An exchange of letters with Herberger. In: Werner Skrentny: Julius Hirsch. National player. Murdered. Biography of a Jewish footballer. Die Werkstatt, Göttingen, 2012, ISBN 978-3-89533-858-8 , pp. 226–236 and pp. 281–293.
• Manuel Neukirchner: Herberger's world of books: The unknown pages of the trainer legend. The workshop, Göttingen, 2017, ISBN 978-3-7307-0340-3 .
• Jürgen Buschmann, Karl Lennartz and Hans Günter Steinkemper: Sepp Herberger and the Cologne Sports University - A Documentation . Academia-Verl., Sankt Augustin, 1997, ISBN 3-89665-069-6 .

Novels

• Eva Ludwig and Melanie Kabus: Sepp Herberger and the miracle of Bern. Wißner-Verlag, Augsburg, 2003, ISBN 3-89639-372-3 .

Web links

Commons : Sepp Herberger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Sepp Herberger  - Quotes

• Literature by and about Sepp Herberger in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website of the DFB foundation "Sepp Herberger" (sepp-herberger.de)
• Portrait, dates and biography of Sepp Herberger in the Hall of Fame of German Sports

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 19.
2. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 34.
3. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 35.
4. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 22.
5. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 23.
6. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 31.
7. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Wulzinger: Herberger's hero . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 2012, p. 107 ( online - April 2, 2012 ).
8. ↑ Different information is given in the literature on the year of entry, the most common being 1911 according to Schwarz-Pich. See Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 36.
9. ↑ At the time, the A-Class was the second highest level in the Association of South German Football Associations, which awarded a challenge cup for winning the South German A-Class Championship. See Zeilinger: The pioneering days of the football game in Mannheim 1894 to 1917. Mannheim 1992, p. 152 ff.
10. ^ Gerhard Zeilinger: The pioneering days of the soccer game in Mannheim 1894 to 1917 . Mannheim 1992, ISBN 3-89426-044-0 , p. 174.
11. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 38.
12. ^ Matthias Arnhold: Josef "Sepp" Herberger - Goals in International Matches . RSSSF.com . June 20, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 54.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 63.
15. ↑ Quoted from Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 64.
16. ↑ According to other information, Herberger already played for Tennis Borussia Berlin in 1925, but in fact he played the 1925/26 season at VfR Mannheim to the end, his official deregistration from Mannheim to Berlin took place on September 30, 1926. See Schwarz-Pich: Der Ball ist round , Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 71.
17. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 74.
18. ↑ According to club history - 100 years of tennis Borussia Berlin , Berlin 2002, p. 27 - Herberger was the player-coach of the first team, according to other information he only coached youth teams during his playing days.
19. ↑ quoted from Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 87.
20. ↑ Ernest W. Michel: Why did you do this to me? In: Spiegel online. August 31, 2006.
21. ↑ auschwitzstudygroup.com
22. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 96.
23. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 84.
24. ↑ ^{a b c} Hardy Greens: 1933 to 1945: victories for the leader. In: Schulze-Marmeling (Hrsg.): The history of the national soccer team. Göttingen 2004, pp. 83–117.
25. ↑ Herberger's international match statistics corrected. In: dfb.de. German Football Association , April 17, 2019, accessed on April 18, 2019 . 
26. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 126 ff.
27. ↑ "So they actually managed to leave national players at home thanks to the merits of Goldbrunner, Münzenberg and Siffling." Football Week of June 7, 1938, p. 2.
28. ↑ cf. ibid, p. 2 f.
29. ↑ https://www.11freunde.de/artikel/wenn-nazis-fussballtaktiker- Werden
30. ^ Attack on Herberger . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 2012, p. 138 ( online - February 6, 2012 ).
31. ↑ Herzog: "Blitzkrieg" in the football stadium - The game system dispute between the Nazi sports official Karl Oberhuber and Reich trainer Sepp Herberger , Stuttgart 2012, p. 29
32. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 180.
33. ↑ Published in the Berlin “ 12 Uhr Blatt ” on February 20, 1943; quoted from Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round , Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 237.
34. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Werner Skrentny: 1945 to 1958: return to world class. In: Schulze-Marmeling (Hrsg.): The history of the national soccer team. Göttingen 2004, pp. 121–167.
35. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 295.
36. ↑ Walter: The boss. Munich 1964, p. 85.
37. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 400.
38. ↑ Walter: The boss. Munich 1964, p. 13.
39. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 306.
40. ↑ Walter: The boss. Munich 1964, p. 112.
41. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 316.
42. ↑ ^{a b} Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 321.
43. ↑ quoted from Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 322.
44. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 134.
45. ↑ Walter: The boss. Munich 1964, p. 113.
46. ↑ Volker Stahl: The spirit of Spiez. In: Jessen / Stahl / Eggers / Schlüper: The miracle of Bern . AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2003, ISBN 3-89784-218-1 , pp. 118-122.
47. ↑ quoted from Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 327.
48. ^ Alfred Georg Frei: Finale Grande. The return of the soccer world champions in 1954. Transit-Buchverlag, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-88747-092-3 , pp. 7-22.
49. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 186.
50. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 340.
51. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 341.
52. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 380.
53. ↑ quoted from Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 383.
54. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 387.
55. ↑ quoted from Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 388.
56. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 390.
57. ↑ Hardy Greens : Football EM Encyclopedia. 1960 to 2012. 2nd edition. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 2008, ISBN 978-3-89784-350-9 , p. 40.
58. ↑ ^{a b} Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling, Hubert Dahlkamp: 1958 to 1966: The big changing of the guard. In: Schulze-Marmeling (Hrsg.): The history of the national soccer team. Göttingen 2004, pp. 169-208.
59. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 396.
60. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 392.
61. ↑ cf. Constellations against Uruguay and previously in the Kicker Almanach 1964, pages 63 f.
62. ↑ Herberger seemed at times to think about a comeback not only by Schäfers but also by Rahns in Chile, but nothing came of it because of his broken leg in February; see. Het Parool of February 23, 1962 , accessed on July 19, 2018
63. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 413.
64. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 418.
65. ↑ quoted from Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 418.
66. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 200.
67. ^ Roberto Mamrud: Josef "Sepp" Herberger - International Matches as Coach . RSSSF.com . June 20, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
68. ↑ Schwarz-Pich: The ball is round. Ubstadt-Weiher 1996, p. 52.
69. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 300.
70. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 60.
71. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 299.
72. ↑ Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 455 f.
73. ↑ Christian Eichler: Football tactics with Plato, Mao and Co. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. March 24, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019 . 
74. ↑ Freddie Röckenhaus: Inspired by Mao's guerrilla tactics. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. March 24, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019 . 
75. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Sepp Herberger
76. ↑ Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling (ed.): The history of the national soccer team. P. 138.
77. ^ Jürgen Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. Munich 2004, p. 276.
78. ^ Jürgen Leinemann: Sepp Herberger. P. 175.
79. ↑ Jürgen Bitter: The master makers. Verlag wero press, 2004, p. 35.
80. ^ Nils Havemann: Football under the swastika. Campus Verlag, 2005, p. 326.
81. ^ Lothar Mikos: Career at any price: Sepp Herberger. In: Lorenz Peiffer, Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling (ed.): Swastika and round leather. Verlag Die Werkstatt, 2008, p. 339.
82. ↑ Colorful memory of the title coach. In: Mannheimer Morgen . July 18, 2015, p. 19. (online)
83. ↑ Düren Spielverein honors Sepp Herberger. In: Aachener Nachrichten. January 22, 2004. aachener-nachrichten.de
84. ↑ Eleven football legends and a coach icon ( memento of the original from November 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
85. ↑ naidoo-herberger.de