2nd league
Hertha President Bernstein dies at the age of 43
Hertha BSC mourns the loss of its president Kay Bernstein. photo
© Andreas Gora/dpa
Kay Bernstein once stood as an ultra in the Hertha curve and later became president of his favorite club. Now he died unexpectedly at the age of 43. Club and fans are in shock.
The unexpected death of President Kay Bernstein left Hertha BSC in a state of shock and caused great sadness beyond German football. The club boss died at the age of just 43, as the Berliners announced.
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“The entire club, its committees and employees are stunned and deeply dismayed,” wrote the second division team. Please respect the family’s privacy following this terrible event. The Berliners did not provide any further information. The president visited the team at the training camp in Spain at the weekend.
There was great sympathy throughout football Germany. “We mourn with the entire Hertha family and wish the relatives in particular a lot of strength,” wrote the German Football League (DFL) on X, formerly Twitter. Numerous clubs expressed their condolences.
“Kay Bernstein has already left a formative mark in his unfortunately far too short tenure at Hertha BSC. The terrible news of his death was also a shock for us at Union, and we share the pain and sadness of the Hertha family,” wrote the president from city rivals 1. FC Union Berlin, Dirk Zingler, to Hertha.
Great sympathy
There were also many reactions from politics. “With his Berlin journey, he has only just managed to reunite fans and the club. My thoughts are with his family and friends in these difficult times,” wrote Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner, who is himself a big Hertha supporter.
Bernstein was particularly popular with the organized part of the Hertha annex. In his youth he was an ultra himself and a lead singer in the curve. With his charitable commitment, the fans also caused a stir nationwide.
Bernstein, who moved from Dresden to Berlin-Marzahn in his youth, then set up an event and communications agency. He also changed places in the stadium: from the east curve to the main stand. When the end of the increasingly difficult era of predecessor Werner Gegenbauer became apparent, Bernstein announced his candidacy. “We were well on the way to becoming irrelevant to people,” he told dpa in an interview at the end of 2022. “And that was something I couldn’t allow because it broke my heart.”
Election as a slap in the face for the establishment
The fact that he was actually elected in the summer of 2022 was also a slap in the face for the Hertha establishment, some of which blatantly wanted to push through his opponent Frank Steffel. Public doubts as to whether he was up to the job were great.
Bernstein threw himself into the task with all his might. “Full-time and challenging,” he said. He made the club and the office more approachable again. Not only with his omnipresent Hertha training jacket, but also with his open manner. He also appeared as a critic of the excesses of modern football.
There was no shortage of crises. The connection with the unpopular investor Lars Windhorst ended with a major scandal. The US investment company 777 Partners took over his shares and brought the club much-needed money. Hertha was relegated from the Bundesliga for the seventh time and had to worry about its license for weeks.
Mood improved significantly
Nevertheless, Bernstein and his supporters managed to significantly improve the mood around the club. A bond developed between fans and team that endured failures. Numerous Hertha legends such as Pal Dardai and Zecke Neuendorf returned.
After a weak start to the second division season, the Berlin path, which was also announced due to financial bottlenecks, with a lot of focus on talent from our own youth, increasingly paid off towards the end of the first half of the season. Bernstein missed the general meeting in October after an accident at the office and was connected via video from the hospital. After a break, he appeared in public again.
As president, he was particularly pleased about the increased cohesion in the club. “There is so much wonderful charitable power out there. We want to support that even more,” he said. At Hertha, the identification figure leaves a big gap.