Hermann Neuberger (12 December 1919 – 27 September 1992) was the seventh president of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

(''Deutscher Fußball-Bund'', DFB) from 1975 until his death in office in 1992.

Career

Neuberger, son of two teachers, grew up in the

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

Malstatt workers district and attended the Sasbach boarding school until graduating with Abitur in 1938. He was then drafted to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

and was operational in Africa and Italy during the Second World War, where he was later Captain for the Generals in Rome. After returning from British captivity in November 1945, he worked from 1946 as an editor at the Saarbrücken Sport-echo and from 1951 onwards in the advertising department of the

Karlsberg brewery Karlsberg () is one of the largest breweries in Germany; the Karlsberg Group also owns various other beer brands. It is called Karlsbräu outside of Germany to differentiate it from the Danish brewing company Carlsberg. History Established 187 ...

in Homburg. In 1955 he took over the management of Saarland-Sporttoto GmbH, where he was director from 1961 to 1984. From 1976 to 1984 he also managed its subsidiary, Saarland Spielbank GmbH. He was elected President of the DFB at the DFB Bundestag on 25 October 1975 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Before his election to the DFB, Neuberger was already active as a sports functionary. During the time of independent Saarland, he was president of the Saarland Football Association. Later he played a role in the founding of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. He was the chief organizer of the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. In 1974, he was elected vice president of the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

World Cup, and later became the organizer of the World Championships from

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. He held the position of FIFA vice-president and the DFB president until his death. During his term of office, championships won include the European Championship in 1980, the world championships in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, and the World Championship title 1990 in Italy. The national team managers during his term were

Helmut Schön Helmut Schön (15 September 1915 – 23 February 1996) was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of the West Germany national team in four consecutive World Cup tournaments, including ...

(1964-1978),

Jupp Derwall Josef "Jupp" Derwall (10 March 1927 – 26 June 2007) was a German professional football manager and player. He was head coach of the West Germany national team between 1978 and 1984, winning the UEFA Euro 1980 and reaching the final of the 1982 ...

(1978-1984),

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

(1984-1990) and

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 ...

(1990-1998). BurbachWaldfriedhofGrabHermannNeuberger

Hermann Neuberger died on 27 September 1992, at the University Hospital in Homburg, following a battle with cancer. The headquarters of the DFB in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

- the Hermann-Neuberger-Haus - as well as the Hermann-Neuberger-Sportschule in Saarbrücken are named after him today. His birthplace, Völklingen, has named a sports hall, a stadium and a high school after him and placed a monument in his honor.

Hermann-Neuberger Award

Since 2005, the Landessportverband for the Saarland has been awarding the Hermann-Neuberger-Award to clubs that have made a special contribution to the search and development of new talent, and the development of high performance sports in Saarland: * 2012 - SV 64 Zweibrücken (handball) * 2011 - Saarländischer Turnerbund (STB) * 2009 - Saarland Triathlon Union

References

External links

Hermann Neuberger auf Saarländische Biografien
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neuberger, Hermann 1919 births 1992 deaths People from Völklingen Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Saarland Order of Merit German football chairmen and investors