FC Bayern commemorates one of the greatest tragedies in the history of football: On 6 February 1958, 23 people died in a plane crash in Munich, including eight players from English record champions Manchester United.
On Thursday, a commemoration ceremony was held to mark the 62nd anniversary of the disaster. FC Bayern München AG chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge laid the foundation stone for a commemorative display case at the crash site in Trudering in the presence of club president Herbert Hainer and honorary president Uli Hoeneß, together with Munich City Councillor Christian Vorländer and representatives of the Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation (MMMF).
"The mourning for the victims and the solidarity with the bereaved is unbroken 62 years after this unspeakable disaster," Rummenigge said.
In his speech Rummenigge also thanked everyone who had been involved in the creation of the new showcase. From now on, he said, it should "symbolise remembrance of yesterday and the commitment to today and tomorrow." Despite all the sadness that the accident still causes, the tragedy was also the beginning of a close friendship and bond between Bayern and Manchester United that continues to this day.
"You can see the incredible power of sport. We have a rivalry on the football field, but when the 90 minutes are over, there is an incredible bond," Hainer commented. Bayern and Manchester are the best example of this, he said. Rummenigge added: "We stand for the same things that the people of Munich stood up for back then. They made an immensely important contribution to building a bridge between England and Germany just a few years after the end of the Second World War. And this bridge will last."