Richard Herrmann (28 January 1923 – 27 July 1962) was a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played for the clubs 1. FC Kattowitz (1934–1945) and FSV Frankfurt (1947–1960). He was part of the West Germany team which won the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerla ...

. He scored a goal in the first round 3–8 defeat by Hungary. However, this was the only match he played in the tournament, and he did not play in the final victory against Hungary. In total he played eight matches for Germany. After World War II Herrmann was a prisoner of war first in England, then in the United States before being sent back to camp 1008 in Derby, England. Football was being played in that camp and the officials of Derby County were told that there was a talented German POW. However Herrmann intended to get back to Germany as soon as possible. When released in 1947, one of his comrades in camp 1008, the pressman Alfred Ludwig attended to Herrmann and took him along to Frankfurt, where he joined FSV Frankfurt. Gifted with great ball control and a precise shot, Herrmann soon became a starter for FSV as an outside left. In 1952 AC Torino offered 60,000

D-Mark Marcos Ligero (born 7 July 1984 in Sabadell, Spain), better known as D-Mark, is a Spanish Electronic Dance Music DJ, musician and producer. Starting with the music as a hobby in the late 90s and at the early age of 13 he became an enthusiast of ...

to Herrmann, but he declined due to being married with a son. Instead he rented a little smoke shop and an outlet for football beds. In 1958 Herrmann ended his career after a bad injury at the age of 35 and began coaching Seckbach 05 for a while. He died from a liver cirrhosis at the age of 39. This disease stemmed from an acute

hepatitis virus Viral hepatitis is Hepatitis, liver inflammation due to a viral infection. It may present in acute form as a recent infection with relatively rapid onset, or in chronic form. The most common causes of viral hepatitis are the five unrelated hepa ...

that was transmitted during the 1954 World Cup by means of contaminated syringes containing vitamin C or the

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

Pervitin (also known as Hitler's "miracle pill" or “panzer-chocolate"). The injections were given by the team doctor

Franz Loogen Franz Loogen (13 April 1919 – 3 September 2010) was a German cardiologist. He is a pioneer of cardiac catheterization and is considered the founding father of cardiology as an independent specialty of internal medicine in Germany. ESC NewsFou ...

, which caused long-term liver damage (“hepatitis C”) to hit a large part of the national team.Werner Raupp: Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“. Eine Biographie, Hildesheim: Arete Verlag 2019 (ISBN 978-3-96423-008-9), p. 122-124 (excursus 2: hepatitis C and „panzer-chocolade“).

References

1923 births 1962 deaths Footballers from Katowice People from Silesian Voivodeship (1920–1939) German men's footballers Germany men's international footballers Polish men's footballers Silesian-German people 1954 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players FSV Frankfurt players Men's association football forwards Deaths from cirrhosis German military personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States West German men's footballers Alcohol-related deaths in Germany {{germany-footy-forward-1920s-stub