Fans, politicians and companions say goodbye to Franz Beckenbauer, the greatest footballer Germany has ever produced. And unexpected greetings also come from above.
The arena, which would not exist without him, lights up again, although this time not from the inside, like in the nights after his death. A ray of sunshine has fought its way through the cloud cover as the funeral procession sets off. Individually, in small groups – here a red wool hat, there a red scarf – many from his generation, hearing a lot of Munich idiom, came to say goodbye. And the fact that you can buy original Thuringian bratwurst on the walk from the subway to the stadium, which is shining in the sun, would certainly have made him, a citizen of the world both small and large, smile.