The ''Rote Jäger'' (''Red Hunters'') were a short-lived German military
football club
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...
active during
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 ...
(August 1943 – November 1944). The team was assembled by
Hermann Graf
Hermann Graf (24 October 1912 – 4 November 1988) was a German Luftwaffe World War II fighter ace. He served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 200 aerial victories—that is, 200 ...
, a fighter ace and commander of German fighter pilots. Based near
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, the unit developed into a refuge from service on the Eastern front for some
German national team players.
History
Unlike some other military teams, such as
Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg
Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg (literally: Airforce sports club Hamburg) was a short-lived military German association football club active during World War II and is notable as the most successful of the wartime military sides.
History
Military spor ...
, the side did not participate in regular German league play or take part in national championship play, but instead staged a series of exhibition matches in Germany, as well as a few in Hungary, Alsace (France), and Poland.
The genesis of the team was in a challenge made by an elite
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n army side to Graf, who managed the German military side in the country. Graf trained with Germany's national side before the war and he decided to contact his former coach, Sepp Herberger, who – to the surprise of the Romanians – brought along several members of the side to take part in the match, which the Germans won 3:2 in front of 40,000 in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
.
By 1943, Graf had decided to act to save as many of the national team's players as he could from frontline service, attaching them to his unit – the Luftlandebrigade 26 (en: 26th Airborne Brigade) – as "technical experts". Among those who played for the ''Jäger'' was
Fritz Walter
Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany a ...
who would go on to fame with ''
1. FC Kaiserslautern'' and earn 61 caps with Germany. He wrote the book ''11 Rote Jäger'' about his experiences.
German military clubs were disbanded in September 1944 as Allied armies began their advance into the country. Still, the ''Rote Jäger'' managed to play two more games in
Cracow in November 1944, the last of these in front of 20,000 German soldiers.
Postwar re-establishment
A successor side was established 21 May 1965 by the Luftlandebrigade 26 of the German Army with the support of former players of the original side. The new ''Rote Jäger'', based in
Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.
Name
The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...
, debuted in a friendly match versus then Bundesliga side ''
1. FC Kaiserslautern'' (0:2). The club played as a demonstration side and in armed forces competition, drawing its players from recruits doing military service. Recognizable names who donned the club's jersey during their service terms before going on to professional careers and national team appearances include
Felix Magath
Wolfgang Felix Magath (; born 26 July 1953) is a German football manager and former player.
The most notable spell of his playing career was with Hamburger SV, with whom he won three Bundesliga titles, the 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final a ...
,
Wolfgang Seel
Wolfgang Seel (born 21 June 1948) is a German former footballer. He spent 12 seasons in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Fortuna Düsseldorf and 1. FC Saarbrücken. He represented Germany 6 times, including a UEFA Euro 1976 qualifier ag ...
,
Heinz Simmet, and
Andreas Brehme
Andreas "Andy" Brehme (; born 9 November 1960) is a German football coach and former football defender. At international level, he is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina from a ...
. The club was disbanded in October 1991.
The squad (1943–45)
*Walter Bammes – forward
SpVgg Fürth
*
Hermann Eppenhoff
Hermann Eppenhoff (19 May 1919 – 10 April 1992) was a German football player and manager.
Career
The forward was a member of FC Schalke 04 squad, which won the German Championship in the years 1939, 1940 and 1942. He also won three cap ...
– forward
FC Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...
*Karl Flinner – goalkeeper
SV Wilhelmshaven
SV Wilhelmshaven is a German association football club from Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony. SV Wilhelmshaven play in the Regionalliga Nord. SV Wilhelmshaven was founded in 1905. Since 1999, Wilhelmshaven's stadium is the Jadestadion.
History
Pre ...
*
Hermann Graf
Hermann Graf (24 October 1912 – 4 November 1988) was a German Luftwaffe World War II fighter ace. He served on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 200 aerial victories—that is, 200 ...
– goalkeeper
*Gredel – midfielder
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
*Friedrich Hack –
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
TSV 1860 München
A tab-separated values (TSV) file is a simple text format for storing data in a tabular structure, e.g., a database table or spreadsheet data, and a way of exchanging information between databases. Each record in the table is one line of the text ...
*
Franz Hanreiter
Franz Hanreiter (4 November 1913 – 21 January 1992) was an Austrian international 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 f ...
– forward
Admira Wien
*
Josef (Sepp) Herberger – coach
German national team
*Karlheinz Höger – goalkeeper
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...
,
SV Dessau 05
SV Dessau 05 is a German association football club based in Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt. They distinguished themselves in 1949 as winners of the inaugural FDGB-Pokal, the East German Cup.
History
The club was founded in July 1905 as ''FC Adler'' and ...
*Werner Humpert – midfielder Sportfreunde Dresden
*Bruno Klaffke – midfielder Duisburger FV
*Siegfried "Friedel" Klagges – defender
Wattenscheid 09
SG Wattenscheid 09 is a German association football club located in Wattenscheid, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claimed an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the merger of two earlier ...
*Hermann Koch – defender
TSV Schwaben Augsburg
TSV Schwaben Augsburg is a German football club which is part of a larger sports association whose origins go back to the 1847 formation of the gymnastics club Turnverein Augsburg. The association's football department was formed in 1907 and af ...
*Karl Köhler – goalkeeper
FC Hanau 93
FC Hanau 93 is a German association football club based in Hanau, Hesse.
History
Early history
Founded in 1893, the club is Hesse's oldest. In its first year, the club was winless in a half dozen matches, but the next season emerged as south ...
*Richard Leonhard –
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
SC Planitz
FSV Zwickau is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Zwickau, Saxony. Today's club claims as part of its complex heritage sides that were East Germany's first champions: 1948 Ostzone winners SG Planitz and 1950 DDR-Ob ...
*
Alfons Moog
Alfons Moog (14 February 1915 – 7 December 1999) was a German international Association football, footballer.
References
Sources
Alfons Moog
at eintracht-archiv.de
1915 births
1999 deaths
Men's association football defenders
German me ...
–
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
VfL Köln 99
VfL Köln was a German association football club from the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), co ...
*Wilhelm Thiele – goalkeeper OrPo Chemnitz
*
Fritz Walter
Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany a ...
– forward
1. FC Kaiserslautern
*Walter Zwickhofer – defender
FC Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...
References
Fritz Walter – the German soccer legend – and Hermann Graf: Another friendship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rote Jager
Football clubs in Germany
Defunct football clubs in Hamburg
Association football clubs established in 1943
Association football clubs disestablished in 1944
Luftwaffe football clubs
1943 establishments in Germany
1944 disestablishments in Germany