Professional Soccer Player. 1954 FIFA World Cup Champion. A defender, he played 293 first-division games for the clubs Arminia Hannover and Hamburger SV, scoring 30 goals. He was also selected to play for Germany 32 times (1 goal), including the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, which Germany won 3-2 over Hungary in an upset known as "The Miracle of Bern" ("Das Wunder von Bern"). He was born into an ethnically German family in Romania, part of the so-called "Donauschwaben." He came to Hannover, Germany, at 16 during the war, at the insistence of the Nazi authorities, who wanted him to either join the army or return "home" to Germany. There, while undergoing apprenticeship as a machinist, he played for local teams, ending up in the then German first division (Oberliga) with Arminia Hannover in 1947. He remained in Germany after the war, at his mother's recommendation, as the Soviet Union was drafting youth from his former home for forced labor camps. In 1949, his coach moved to Hamburger SV and took him with him. There, he played the remainder of his career, reaching the finals of the German Cup in 1956 and the finals of the German Championship in 1957 and 1958. He was selected to the European All-Star team that played England at Wembley in 1953. He was first called up to the German national team in 1951 and played his last match for Germany in 1956. He retired at 30 due to his business career, where he was the business agent for a furniture company. His son Peer later played professionally in the Bundesliga (the current German first division) for Eintracht Braunschweig.
Professional Soccer Player. 1954 FIFA World Cup Champion. A defender, he played 293 first-division games for the clubs Arminia Hannover and Hamburger SV, scoring 30 goals. He was also selected to play for Germany 32 times (1 goal), including the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, which Germany won 3-2 over Hungary in an upset known as "The Miracle of Bern" ("Das Wunder von Bern"). He was born into an ethnically German family in Romania, part of the so-called "Donauschwaben." He came to Hannover, Germany, at 16 during the war, at the insistence of the Nazi authorities, who wanted him to either join the army or return "home" to Germany. There, while undergoing apprenticeship as a machinist, he played for local teams, ending up in the then German first division (Oberliga) with Arminia Hannover in 1947. He remained in Germany after the war, at his mother's recommendation, as the Soviet Union was drafting youth from his former home for forced labor camps. In 1949, his coach moved to Hamburger SV and took him with him. There, he played the remainder of his career, reaching the finals of the German Cup in 1956 and the finals of the German Championship in 1957 and 1958. He was selected to the European All-Star team that played England at Wembley in 1953. He was first called up to the German national team in 1951 and played his last match for Germany in 1956. He retired at 30 due to his business career, where he was the business agent for a furniture company. His son Peer later played professionally in the Bundesliga (the current German first division) for Eintracht Braunschweig.
Bio by: Kenneth Gilbert
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