Kurt Landauer (28 July 1884 – 21 December 1961) was a German football official. His profession often listed as ''Kaufmann'' ("merchant"), he was head of the advertising department of the major

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

daily newspaper ''

Münchner Neueste Nachrichten ''Münchner Neueste Nachrichten'' (Munich's Latest News) was a German daily newspaper published in Munich between 1848 and 1945. The paper was first published on 9 April 1848 as a cheap way to inform the masses. After its purchase by , the news ...

'', considered precursor to ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. Histo ...

'', which commenced publication after World War II. His claim to fame is his four tenures as the president of the football club

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

between 1913 and 1951. To date he remains the president with the longest time in office. Landauer was born in

Planegg Planegg is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Würm, 13 km west of Munich (centre). Economy Koch Media has its head office in Planegg. It also hosts many biotech-companies, like ADV ...

(close to Munich), and joined Bayern in 1901 as a player. He had to leave for

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

shortly afterwards, but returned to Munich in 1905. In 1913 he was elected president of the club for the first time but

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

ended his tenure in 1914. When Landauer returned to Munich after the war he was elected for a second tenure as president. This lasted until 1933 with a one-year intermission in 1921–22. He was the first to take the club to national championship honours, when Bayern defeated

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

in the final of 1932. Again Landauer was forced to leave the club due to political events. The rise of the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

to power made him resign office on 22 March 1933. 20200731 Kurt Landauer Gedenktafel 02

Being

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, Landauer was arrested by the Nazis on 10 November 1938 and carried to

KZ Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. Because of his military service in World War I, he was allowed to leave Dachau after 33 days under arrest. He emigrated to Switzerland on 15 March 1939. Only one of his family members survived the Holocaust. In 1940 Bayern Munich went to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

for a friendly against the Swiss national team. When the players spotted Landauer, who was amongst the spectators they went to greet their former president. The

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...

was not amused and threatened that this behaviour would have consequences. In 1947 Landauer returned a third time to Munich and was once again appointed club president. This tenure lasted until 1951 when he was not elected again. Landauer died on 21 December 1961 in Munich. Up to now he is the club's president with the longest accumulated tenure,

Wilhelm Neudecker Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mou ...

(†) (1962–79), widely considered as the "father of the modern FC Bayern", and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the f ...

(1994–2009) being the ones with the longest periods in office after him. In autumn 2014 the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation (

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadca ...

) initiated a transmedia project on the life of Kurt Landauer. This project included a TV-series, social media and an augmented reality app.

References

External links

Onkel Kurt und die Bayern
— An essay about Landauer in

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History Th ...

(in German)
Kurt Landauer: Der Mann, der den FC Bayern erfand
- Transmedia project of

(in German)
LandauerWalk . Augmented Reality App
— Experience the stations in life of Kurt Landauer in Munich, using AR technology. {{DEFAULTSORT:Landauer, Kurt 1884 births 1961 deaths 20th-century German businesspeople Association football goalkeepers Dachau concentration camp survivors FC Bayern Munich board members Footballers from Munich German Jewish military personnel of World War I German newspaper editors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Jewish German sportspeople Businesspeople from Munich People of the German Empire Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914) Association football players not categorized by nationality