Egidius Braun (27 February 1925 – 16 March 2022) was a German sports administrator who served as the eighth president of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

(german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB) from 1992 to 2001. Subsequently, he was appointed Honorary President. That same year, Braun founded the "DFB Foundation Egidius Braun", which takes care of distressed youth. Furthermore, the "Egidius-Braun Award" is awarded by the WDR. In 1985, he was awarded the Grand Cross with Star and Sash of the

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

Life

Braun was born in Breinig. At the age of 13, he was playing for SV Breinig. After

graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

in 1943 in

Alsdorf Alsdorf () is a municipality in the district of Aachen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Until the 21st century Alsdorf was a mining area, but now many service companies have established themselves in Alsdorf. Alsdorf has an indoor arena, ...

, he became a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was taken

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

, from which he was released in 1946. After returning, Braun studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and founded the company "Kartoffel-Braun" (Braun Potatoes). In addition he played football in the first team of SV Breinig. From 19 August 1956 to 20 February 1959, he was chairman of the club. On 4 August 1973, Braun was elected president of the

Middle Rhine Football Association The Middle Rhine Football Association (german: Fußball-Verband Mittelrhein, FVM) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German mid-Rhein area and covers the football districts of Aachen, Berg, Bonn, Düren, Euskirchen, Heinsbe ...

and a member of the DFB Advisory Board. On 25 August of the same year he became Vice President of the

Western German Football Association The Western German Football Association (german: Westdeutscher Fußballverband; ''WDFV'') is one of the five regional associations of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; ''DFB'') and covers German state of North Rh ...

. From 1983 to 1987, Braun was a member of the board of 1. FC Köln. On his 60th birthday, 27 February 1985, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st class. He received the Federal Cross of Merit with Star in 1997. For his services to the country of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

he was honored with the Order of Merit of the country in 1995. From 1977 to 1992 he was treasurer of the DFB. On 24 October 1992, Braun was elected the eighth president of the DFB. That same year he also became a member of the board for the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

. Braun remained DFB president until 28 April 2001. During the World Cup 1986 in Mexico, Braun visited with some international players, a Mexican orphanage and founded, in the wake of misery, Mexico Help of the Egidius Braun Foundation. Also due to his charitable commitment, Braun received many sympathies within the

DFB DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

and from the whole environment of German football. Nonetheless, he was not spared of problematic situations. After the Germany national team was defeated at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

in the United States, Braun had to justify his solidarity with criticized German national coach

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...

. The "Bild" newspaper urged Vogts to resign. Two years later, national coach Vogts, won the European Championship. Braun was married; the couple had two sons. He was a hunter and nature lover. The supporter of Alemannia lived in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

. On 16 October 2006, he suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. He died in Aachen on 16 March 2022, at the age of 97.

Activities in UEFA

* 1980 to 2000 member of the UEFA European Championship Organizing Committee (from 24 June 1992 Chairman) * 1988 to 2000 member of the UEFA Executive Committee * 1992 to 2000 vice-president of UEFA * 1995 to 1996 Acting treasurer of UEFA * 1996 to 2000 UEFA Treasurer

References

External links

Egidius Braun
at dfb.de *
DFB-Stiftung Egidius Braun

Fußball-Verband Mittelrhein e.V.

Biografie
Homepage of SV Breinig {{DEFAULTSORT:Braun, Egidius 1925 births 2022 deaths Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg German football chairmen and investors German prisoners of war in World War II People from Stolberg (Rhineland)