Günter Thorhauer (8 November 1931 – 27 April 2007) was a

football player 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 le ...

who played in the first international match of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. Thorhauer's playing career was short. He began playing in the youth teams of BSG Stahl Magdeburg, a club that was to become 1. FC Magdeburg later. When he was called up to the senior team, the club had been renamed ''Motor Mitte Magdeburg'' and played in the second-tier

DDR-Liga The DDR-Liga (English: GDR League or ''East German League'') was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany), bei ...

. In the 1951–52 season Thorhauer was the club's leading goalscorer with 12 goals. At the beginning of the following season Thorhauer joined East Germany vice champions and

FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football aft ...

winners Sportgemeinschaft Volkspolizei Dresden. Before playing a single match for his new club, he was called up to the national team and played in their first international, a 0–3 defeat against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on 21 September 1952. He played as

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

on the right side and was the second-youngest player in the squad, after Günter Imhof who was 18 at the time. It remained Thorhauer's only full international. Thorhauer played in 15 matches for Dresden in the 1952–53 season, scoring three goals and winning the championship with his club. After just one season in the

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...

, however, Thorhauer had to end his career due to an injury. Aside from his full international, Thorhauer also played in one match for the youth national team. Thorhauer is the East German international with the fewest Oberliga matches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorhauer, Guenter 1931 births 2007 deaths German men's footballers East German men's footballers East Germany men's international footballers Men's association football forwards 1. FC Magdeburg players Dynamo Dresden players DDR-Oberliga players