Klaus Wunder (13 September 1950 – 16 January 2024) was a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. For

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, ...

, he was part of the club's

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

victory in 1974–75. He earned one cap for the Germany national team and also represented

West Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) was the host nation of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. 423 competitors, 340 men and 83 women, took part in 183 events in 23 sports. Medalists West Germany finished in fourth position in the final med ...

. He was given the nickname "Caesar".

Biography

Wunder was born in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

but his parents fled to West Germany when he was four years old. He started playing football for

Arminia Hannover SV Arminia Hannover is a German association football club based in Hanover, Lower Saxony. History The club was founded in 1910 as ''FC Arminia Hannover'' and merged with ''Rugby-Verein Merkur'' in 1918, becoming ''SV Arminia-Merkur''. Two y ...

before joining

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

where he made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut in 1971. In 1972 he represented West Germany at the Olympic games in

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 ...

. In September 1973, he received his only cap for Germany as a substitute for

Jürgen Grabowski Jürgen Grabowski (7 July 1944 – 10 March 2022) was a German association football, footballer. He played for Eintracht Frankfurt. He won gold medals playing for the West Germany national football team that won the European championship in 197 ...

in a 1-0 win against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1974, he signed for champions Bayern Munich for a club record transfer fee of between 400,000 and 700,000 Deutsche Marks. In his one season at Bayern, he won the European Cup, coming on as a substitute for the seriously injured

Uli Hoeness Uli or ULI, may refer to: Places *Uli, Anambra, Nigeria; a town *Uli, Iran; a village People and figures * Uli I of Mali (Yérélinkon; 13th century), emperor of Mali Germanic name Uli is a name, short for Ulrich or Ulrike (disambiguation) and ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. In December 1975 he moved to

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

and later played for

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. After his retirement from football, he ran a tennis and squash club in

Hemmingen Hemmingen () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km south of Hanover. Until December 2004, Hemmingen belonged to the Regierungsbezirk Hannover, which was dissolved in January 2005. ...

. Wunder died on 16 January 2024, at the age of 73.

Honours

Bayern Munich *

: 1974–75

References

External links

* 1950 births 2024 deaths Footballers from Erfurt German men's footballers Men's association football forwards Olympic footballers for West Germany West German men's footballers Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Germany men's international footballers Germany men's B international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers UEFA Champions League–winning players SV Arminia Hannover players MSV Duisburg players FC Bayern Munich footballers Hannover 96 players SV Werder Bremen players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Waldorf school alumni German people of Austrian descent {{Germany-footy-forward-1950s-stub