Lots of suggestions
Stadium name, monument, state act: How is the memory of Beckenbauer preserved?
Even in Saudi Arabia, the “Emperor” Franz Beckenbauer was remembered. Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid played against each other there on Wednesday.
© Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images
There is great sadness for Franz Beckenbauer. Recently, many wishes have been expressed to remember the former soccer world champion. There are many ideas.
Memorial Day for Franz Beckenbauer?
It will be emotional on Friday evening when Beckenbauer’s heart club FC Bayern meets TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the first Bundesliga game of the year. After Beckenbauer’s death last Sunday at the age of 78, both teams are wearing mourning ribbons. There will be a minute’s silence for this. Memories of the emperor’s life’s work will provide emotional moments in the sold-out Allianz Arena with 75,000 spectators, which former Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld would soon be called the Franz-Beckenbauer-Arena.
The unique career of the “Emperor” in pictures
“He helped build FC Bayern’s charisma together with Gerd Müller, Uli Hoeneß, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and a few others. That’s why it would be a good fit if the Allianz Arena were renamed the Franz-Beckenbauer-Arena,” said the 74-year-old in an interview with “T-Online”. Goalkeeping legend Sepp Maier suggested building a monument to Beckenbauer in front of the stadium.
Bayern supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge reacted cautiously to the proposal to rename the Munich football stadium. “There is an agreement with our long-standing, loyal and very serious partner Allianz, and that must be respected,” said Rummenigge the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
Politicians proposed a national day of remembrance, a Beckenbauer Street or a Beckenbauer Square in Munich. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) also announced that the Bavarian state government would examine whether it was possible to hold a large act of mourning. Söder (CSU) said he could imagine the state honoring Beckenbauer’s life again. It was announced on Thursday that the large memorial ceremony organized by FC Bayern on January 19th from the Allianz Arena would be broadcast live on ARD.
The idea of Berti Vogts, Beckenbauer’s successor as national coach, to rename the DFB Cup to the Franz Beckenbauer Cup in the future has already received a lot of support. Former national player Ulf Kirsten came up with a new name for the DFB headquarters. That was a “great idea,” said Kirsten. And perhaps easier to achieve than changing a marketed stadium name.