Big city dreams, relegation battle, dispute with the investor: things have often been turbulent at Hertha lately. Entrepreneur and ex-ultra Kay Bernstein has been president since June – and is changing the internal climate.
It is a voluntary position that takes up a lot of time, but for Kay Bernstein it also feels like a calling. The presidency at Hertha BSC takes up “very, very many hours” every week. “Full-time and challenging,” says the 42-year-old, who has been in office since the end of June, of the German Press Agency.
“Growing up there is a question of: How do you deal with the expectations and how do you deal with them in the family? Then really use the time you have.”
Despite all the effort, he doesn’t seem to be running out of enthusiasm. He’s probably still too young for that, he says. “I still have the energy. The people and their gratitude give me the energy to continue on the path.”
Amber – “Fan, Kutte, then Ultra”
There is a lot of football romance in Bernstein’s story: at the end of the 1980s he moved from Dresden to Berlin-Marzahn, as a teenager a friend took him to Hertha – and he couldn’t let go. “Fan, Kutte, then Ultra,” he is quoted as saying. Bernstein becomes the lead singer in the east curve and gets involved with the club, always with the ultras, also on things that are only marginally related to football.
This social commitment is still important to him today. “There is so much wonderful charitable power out there. We want to support that even more,” he says of one of his goals for Hertha. But he also deals with conflicts with the institutions. He was temporarily banned from the stadium three times. Dieter Hoeneß, long-time Hertha manager, told rbb: “I fought several bouquets with Kay Bernstein, although I have to say that I liked him even then, although he caused us some concerns.”
Bernstein builds up an event and communication agency, he also changes places in the stadium: to the main stand. When the end of Werner Gegenbauer’s era, which had become increasingly heavy, became apparent, Bernstein announced his candidacy. “We were well on our way to not caring about people,” he said. “And that was something I couldn’t allow because it broke my heart.”
“He has the Hertha DNA, that’s positive”
The fact that he is actually elected is also a slap in the face for the Hertha establishment, which in parts openly wanted to push through its opponent Frank Steffel. The concerns immediately after the election are there: An ex-ultra with no experience in leading a Bundesliga club, can he do that? They have now largely dispersed.
Kay Bernstein is not a steamy chatterer, he takes a moment to reflect before answering some of them. He addresses problems clearly. And he has made the club and the office more approachable again, not only with his ubiquitous Hertha training jacket.
Bernstein takes the fans on a bike ride to the stadium and gives the employees kebabs for his birthday. “He has the Hertha DNA, that’s positive. He knows exactly what it means to give everything for the club,” said original Berliner Kevin-Prince Boateng in August about the new president. Managing Director Fredi Bobic also seems to work well with him.
Bernstein did what he promised. Tried to take everyone, to communicate more clearly. He calls it “cultural change” himself. Togetherness has grown. “But that was also a hard piece of work on confidence-building measures to get there,” says Bernstein. What should Hertha stand for under him in the capital? “For honest, emotional, enthusiastic football. For social responsibility in the city,” he says.
Association sporty and financially before hard times
Unlike the turbulent past few years, things remain relatively calm around the club, even when there are failures or other problems. The espionage affair involving investor Lars Windhorst was Bernstein’s first major crisis, and so far this has also been managed with ease. “I wouldn’t call it a crisis at all, but rather a baptism of fire and a test of how to deal with it sensibly. And I can say for myself that being president feels even more like a calling,” he says.
Despite all the positive developments, there is still a lot of work to be done. The next few years will hardly be easy. In terms of sport, the team under Sandro Schwarz performs much better. But the cold numbers say: 15th place in the table, tied with VfB Stuttgart on the relegation rank. Financially, things look even bleaker.
For this purpose, the plans for the construction of their own stadium must be specified and, most likely, cooperation with a new investor must be arranged. “We have to be patient and continue on this path that we have now embarked on. Then it will be successful,” says Bernstein. And about the expectations: “It will be a process to keep making it clear to people that we have to adjust our expectations to reality.”