The greatest all-time legends of German football will attend the Hall of Fame opening gala on April 1, 2019. Franz Beckenbauer, Günter Netzer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Lothar Matthäus, Andreas Brehme, Matthias Sammer and Uwe Seeler have confirmed their participation for the gala which will take place at the Deutsches Fußballmuseum (German Football Museum) in Dortmund. Gerd Müller will be the only member of the “founding eleven of the Hall of Fame” (“Gründungself der Hall of Fame”) who will miss the special day for health reasons. Late Fritz Walter, Helmut Rahn and legendary coach Sepp Herberger will be honoured posthumously.

The “Founding Eleven” of the Hall of Fame. (Image courtesy: Deutsches Fußballmuseum)

“A get-together of these football legends has never happened before in this kind of way. The Hall of Fame is therefore already exceptional,” said Manuel Neukirchner, Director, Deutsches Fußballmuseum.

The Hall of Fame of German football was founded as an initative by the Deutsches Fußballmuseum. Renowned sports journalists casted their votes for the founding eleven in November 2018 and they will decide on new entries on an annual basis.

The gala event on April 1 will start at 20.00 CET, while the stars are expected to enter the red carpet at 19.00 CET. The Deutsches Fußballmuseum is expecting around 400 invited guests from various walk of life such as sports, showbiz and politics. The gala will be hosted by Alexander Bommes and Jessy Wellmer, while a summary will be broadcasted on German national television channel ARD on April 2.

The Hall of Fame will be part of the permanent exhibition at the Deutsches Fußballmuseum. “The pantheon has been designed highly contemporary, but with a timeless aesthetic,” said Manuel Neukirchner. A light art installation with strains and sound will auratically present the Hall of Fame legends in the room. “The design concept turns the Hall of Fame into a lively system of movement and changes and it admits the continuous expansion of the room with new protagonists,” Neukirchner added.

The Hall of Fame honours German players and coaches who left a lasting legacy through their sublime achievements since 1900. Personalities who retired from professional football at least five years ago are eligible for an induction to the Hall of Fame. The festive induction of the “founding eleven” of Women’s football will take place this summer.

Hall of Fame jury members

Frederik Ahrens (Hamburger Morgenpost), Gernot Bauer (Eurosport), Gianni Costa (Rheinische Post), Alfred Draxler (Bild), Ralph Durry (sid), Marco Fenske (RND), Stefan Frommann (WELT/WELT am SONNTAG), Thomas Fuhrmann (ZDF), Anno Hecker (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Christian Hollmann (dpa), Jörg Jakob (kicker), Sascha Klaverkamp (Ruhr Nachrichten), Philipp Köster (11Freunde), Erich Laaser (Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten), Alexander Laux (Hamburger Abendblatt), Christian Löer (Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger), Manfred Loppe (RTL), Peter Müller (Funke Sport), Manuel Neukirchner (Deutsches Fußballmuseum), Dirk Preiß (Stuttgarter Zeitung/Stuttgarter Nachrichten), Katrin Schulze (Der Tagesspiegel), Dirc Seemann (Sport1), Steffen Simon (WDR-Fernsehen), Roman Steuer (Sky), Sabine Töpperwien (WDR-Hörfunk), Martin Volkmar (SPOX/DAZN Media), Mark Weishaupt (Saarbrücker Zeitung)