Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor: “World champion as a player and coach: Franz Beckenbauer was one of the greatest footballers in Germany and for many ‘the emperor’ – also because he inspired people for German football for generations. We will miss him. My thoughts are with his family and Friends.”
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal President: “Probably no one has influenced German football as much as Franz Beckenbauer. As a player, team manager and coach, he made football history. He was an exception, the word libero in its entire meaning seems to have been invented for him. His elegance on the ball, his His eye for the game, his ease, but also his always team-friendly game have thrilled football fans all over the world (…) And the summer fairy tale in our country in 2006 would have been unthinkable without him. As in many other places, he has proven himself here (…) With Franz Beckenbauer we are losing the most famous and popular representative of German sport all over the world. We will not forget him.”
Rudi Völler, national team sports director: “I am incredibly sad, the news of his death affects me very much. I consider it one of the great privileges of my life to have known and experienced Franz Beckenbauer. The ‘Kaiser’ was an inspiration for more than one generation, he will be for will always remain the shining light of German football. With Franz Beckenbauer, German football is losing its greatest personality, I am losing a good friend.”
Julian Nagelsmann, national coach: “For me, Franz Beckenbauer was the best footballer in German history. His interpretation of the role of libero changed the game; this role and his friendship with the ball made him a free man. Franz Beckenbauer could float across the pitch as a footballer and later as a coach he was sublime, he stood above things. When Franz Beckenbauer entered a room, the room lit up, he rightly earned the title ‘lighting figure of German football’.
Until the very end, an aura surrounded him that even the health problems and strokes of fate that he had to cope with could not shake. I am grateful and proud that I had the opportunity to meet him and will remember him fondly.”
Uli Hoeneß, honorary president of FC Bayern and former teammate: “Franz Beckenbauer is the greatest personality FC Bayern has ever had. As a player, coach, president, person: unforgettable. Nobody will ever reach him. People can say they saw football in Franz Beckenbauer’s time. He was me a friend, a unique companion – and a gift to all of us. Dear Franz, rest in peace!”
Herbert Hainer, President of FC Bayern: “There are no words to express how great our sadness is – and what a gap Franz Beckenbauer leaves behind. As a player, he brought lightness to the field, elegance and magic: Franz Beckenbauer brought the shine. Even after his active career, he left his mark FC Bayern and football beyond measure, his legacy cannot be measured by titles. The FC Bayern family is eternally grateful to him, and I personally mourn the loss of a friend.”
Bernd Neuendorf, DFB President: “Franz Beckenbauer’s death is a real turning point. We look back on his life’s work with respect and great gratitude. With him we are losing a unique footballer and a lovable person. Franz Beckenbauer leaves a great legacy for the DFB and football as a whole.”
Lothar Matthäus, honorary captain of the national team: “The shock is deep, even though I knew that Franz wasn’t feeling well. His death is a loss for football and for Germany as a whole. He was one of the greatest as a player and coach, but also off the pitch. He was outstanding Personality not only in football, he enjoyed worldwide recognition. Everyone who knew him knows what a great and generous person Franz was. A good friend has left us. I will miss him – we will all miss him!”
Thomas Müller, FC Bayern player: “One of the greatest footballers in the history of FC Bayern has unfortunately left us. Rest in peace, Kaiser Franz. We will never forget what you have done for football in Germany.”
Matthias Sammer, former national player: “Franz was and is my great idol. There is an oversized portrait of him hanging in our house with the Champions League trophy in his hand. We had wonderful encounters and spending time with him was great. Germany celebrated its most important and greatest football personality lost. A very, very sad day.”
Markus Söder, Bavarian Prime Minister: “I received the news of Franz Beckenbauer’s death with shock and deep sadness. He was an exceptional footballer, an exceptional coach and a wonderful person who was loved and respected by everyone who knew him closely. World champion as a player and as a coach, a father of the summer fairy tale of 2006 and flagship of FC Bayern Munich – all of this will remain unforgettable. Franz Beckenbauer was an athlete of the century. The Bavarians mourn the loss of one of their own, who was the Free State’s ambassador to the world.”
Hans-Joachim Watzke, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the German Football League DFL: “Franz Beckenbauer was definitely the greatest German footballer of all time and, on top of that, one of the greatest people I have ever met.”
Thomas Hitzlsperger, former national player: “The greatest and most important football personality I have ever met – rest in peace, Franz Beckenbauer.”
Gary Lineker, former England international and TV pundit: “I am very sorry to hear that Franz Beckenbauer has died. He was one of the greats of our sport. The Kaiser was the most beautiful of all footballers, who won everything with grace and charm. Rest in peace.”
Quotes about Beckenbauer during his lifetime
Former national coach Joachim Löw: “He is a figurehead in the whole world. It is a great honor for me to know him, I admire him.”
Former coach Otto Rehhagel: “When he explains that the ball is square, everyone believes him.”
Former DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach: “Above all, he is also a wonderful person, a world star without any airs and graces. He is also someone who would be forgiven for having any airs, but he doesn’t have any and that’s the beauty of it.”
Cabaret artist Ottfried Fischer: “Beckenbauer is the only one who can give the PDS a direct mandate in Bavaria.”
Former national goalkeeper Sepp Maier: “When Franz jumps out of the window, he falls upwards.”
Former DFL President Reinhard Rauball: “Franz Beckenbauer was and is a gift for football.”
The late master coach Max Merkel: “When the Emperor speaks, even the angels put aside their harps.”
André Heller, Viennese artist and artistic advisor to the 2006 World Cup: “He has done more for the image of Germans abroad than 50 years of diplomacy and ten Goethe Institutes combined. He is probably so powerful that he could even overthrow governments.”
Former boxing world champion Henry Maske: “I’m one of the many fans of Franz Beckenbauer, who not only got along with me, but also with me relatively quickly, where I thought: Man, great. Very attentive, the way he listens, very interested, has something for everyone and Always an ear, and it’s not just about football, which is his trademark.”
TV entertainer Harald Schmidt: “Do we actually still need a chancellor when we have Franz?”