Hall of Fame des deutschen Fußballs
The Deutsches Fußballmuseum (German Football Museum) is all set to welcome leading figures from the world of sports and show-biz at the HALL OF FAME inauguration gala on Monday evening (April 1, 2019). The HALL OF FAME has been established to honour the greatest legends in German football history.
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 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.
Belgium’s goalkeeping legend Jean-Marie Pfaff, 2014 FIFA World Cup winning captain Philipp Lahm, DFB president Reinhard Grindel, entertainer Thomas Gottschalk and famous German singer Mark Forster have been confirmed to hold the laudatory speeches.
“I always keep on asking myself during international matches why Jogi Löw did not field Günter Netzer once again,” Thomas Gottschalk jokingly said. “Well, I have no influence on these kind of things, but I have the opportunity to honour Günter at the Deutsches Fußballmuseum for his outstanding career. It is an adequate compensation for both of us.”
Mark Forster stated: “The HALL OF FAME line-up sounds like ‘Einmal’ (song title / Translation: “Once”). I feel like being in ‘Neverland’ and I look forward to be at the football museum on Monday. It is a special honour for me to conduct the laudatory speech for Fritz Walter. For me as a ‘Betze-Bub’ (fan of Walter’s home club 1. FC Kaiserslautern), he is obviously my idol.”
Late Fritz Walter, Helmut Rahn and legendary coach Sepp Herberger will be honoured posthumously at the gala event.