Franz Adolf Louis John (born 28 September 1872 in Pritzwalk, died 17 November 1952 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a German football player. He was a founder of

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, and acted as their first president from 1900 to 1903. He was born on 28 September 1872 in Pritzwalk (

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

), the son of Friedrich Wilhelm and Ida John. After moving with his parents to

Pankow Pankow () is the second largest and most populous Boroughs and quarters of Berlin, borough of the German capital Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weissensee (Berlin), W ...

at the fringe of

, he later joined the football club VfB Pankow. There he met Gustav Manning, who afterwards became secretary of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

. Manning later helped John to integrate the

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

football clubs into the DFB. After his apprenticeship as a photographer in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, John moved to Munich, where he became a member of 1879 Munich. On 27 February 1900, the steering committee of MTV prohibited the football division of its club to join the association of South Germain football clubs (SFV), eleven football players left the club under the lead of Franz John. In the restaurant ''Gisela'', they founded the '' Munich Football Club Bayern'' and elected Franz John as president. John also founded the council of Bavarian

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

s. Under his lead, the club joined the SFV still in its first year and quickly became a force in the Munich football scene. In 1903, John left Bayern and was succeeded as president by the Dutch

Willem Hesselink Willem Frederik Hesselink (8 February 1878 – 1 December 1973) was a Dutch football player and one of the founders of local club Vitesse in 1892. He was known for his blue woolen cap, which he seemed to wear day and night, and was nicknamed '' ...

. John also left Munich in 1904, moving back to Pankow, where he opened a photo laboratory and later became president of his home club VfB Pankow. Despite having few contacts to Munich, John was in the 1920s elected as honorary president of the

, and in 1936 he received the needle of honour in gold from the club. John died on 17 November 1952 in Pankow, at the age of 80; he had no descendants. Journalist Joachim Rechenberg later traced his lost grave to

Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; ) is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the Rauen Hills, about east of ...

. When in 2000 Bayern celebrated its 100th anniversary, the club recreated the grave and donated a new tombstone to commemorate the merits of Franz John.

References

External links

Prignitzlexikon - Offizielle Biografie von Franz John
{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Franz 1872 births 1952 deaths People from Pankow People from the Province of Brandenburg FC Bayern Munich board members Photographers from Berlin