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“Your weather, Fritz,” Sepp Herberger, the West German national team coach said to his captain on the journey to Bern’s Wankdorf Stadium, which was to host the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, on a rainy 4th of July. “I have nothing against it, Chief,” replied the confident captain. And to this day, as rain buckets down on a Bundesliga match-day, football lovers in Germany call it ‘Fritz weather’, in honour of their post-war hero, their lieutenant on the pitch- Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Walter.
Born in the shadow of the 1st World War in Kaiserslautern, Fritz was exposed to football from a very young age as his parents worked in the club restaurant of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. At the tender age of 8, he joined the youth academy of his hometown club. Slowly and steadily improving as a footballer, he made his first team debut aged 17. And the romance endured through time and tide till the legendary player hung up his boots.
On 14th July 1940, Fritz made his international debut and announced his arrival on the world scene with a remarkable hat-trick in a 9-3 drubbing of Romania. One astonishing performance followed another as the footballing world was held witness to the growth of a gifted technician, an artist with the ball, and a footballing grandmaster of the highest order. Fritz’s feet were firmly planted on a path to unparalleled glory.
But as fate would have it, he was halted on his tracks by the outbreak of the 2nd World War. Like many fine footballers of his era, he was conscripted in 1942 and sent to the Eastern front to fight for his land. As the war ended, 24-year-old Fritz found himself a prisoner of war in the Máramarossziget camp. However, in a twist of fortune, a Hungarian guard, who had seen Fritz play for West Germany, saved him from being taken away by the Soviets, passing him off as an Austrian. So unlike hundreds of unfortunate others, he was able to return to Germany, and to football in 1945.
Out of the ashes of war, Sepp Herberger started his work on rebuilding the West Germany team, which was reinstated in the World Cup in 1950. Between 1943 and 1950, which promised to see the best of Fritz, he made no international appearances. However, Fritz continued to show his prowess in club football. He lifted the German championship for Kaiserslautern in 1951, a feat he would repeat 2 seasons later. In recognition of his outstanding talent, the Palatinate outfit was referred to as ‘Walter’s 11’.
On 15th April 1951, Fritz stepped out on the pitch again as captain of the national side against Switzerland in Zurich. By 1954, Herberger had built a formidable squad around Fritz. Walter was more than a captain to the team, he was like a stand-in for the head coach, whom he called ‘Chief’. Germany entered the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland as anything but favourites. The international scene was dominated by a Hungary side led by Ferenc Puskas, and the ‘Magical Magyars’ looked like a safe bet for the first World Cup in Europe after the war.
After a routine win against Turkey in the first group game, Herberger surprised many by sending out a second string side against the mighty Hungarians in the second match. True to the pre-match predictions, Herberger’s side were mauled 8-3, provoking a barrage of calls for the coach’s head. Similar fate was averted against Turkey in the play-off for a quarter-final berth as Germany, inspired by a brilliant Fritz, ran out 7-2 winners. This followed a solid display for a 2-0 victory against a strong Yugoslavian side. In the semi-final, Austria were trounced 6-1, with the captain burying 2 spot-kicks, to set-up a clash for the trophy against the seemingly invincible Hungary.
A sunny morning on the 4th of July paved the way for an afternoon of torrential downpour. Fritz, having suffered from malaria, had understandably taken a liking to the rain over the sun; and it looked like the battling Fritz and his team would thrive in these conditions. The German team, however, left at halftime in dire straits, finding themselves 2-0 down. Still they came out composed in the 2nd half and clawed back to 2-2, before Helmut ‘The Boss’ Rahn fired in the winning goal with six minutes left on the clock. West Germany had won the Jules Rimet Cup for the first time!
Fritz Walter did not find his name on the score-sheet on that fateful day, but his inspired 2nd half performance helped the less-favoured German side overcome the mighty Hungarians to achieve what is still known as the ‘Miracle of Bern’. The ramifications of this victory lied far beyond the football pitch. It saw the birth of a new Germany, with self-belief and determination, after the horrors of devastation. Sepp Herberger, Fritz Walter and the men they led, became national heroes.
The 1954 World Cup winning West German side with coach Sepp Herberger (far left) and captain Fritz Walter beside him.
On the club level, Fritz continued to astound and delight spectators in Germany. He stuck to his hometown club despite lucrative offers from FC Nancy of France and then Spanish giants, Atletico Madrid. His love and loyalty for the club was reflected in his performances as he notched up 379 appearances for Kaiserslautern, scoring an astounding 306 goals from midfield, most famous of which was a reverse over-head back-heel from a corner against Wismut Aue. He maintained a consistent scoring record for country as well, tallying 33 goals in 61 international appearances.
Fritz’s international career ended in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, where he was stretchered off injured in the semi-finals against the hosts, never to run-out in a national team shirt again. He hung up his boots for good the next year, ending his 21 year relationship with professional football and Kaiserslautern. In 1970, Fritz was awarded the German Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, and the FIFA Order of Merit in 1995, fitting tributes for his contribution to football. He is one of the 4 honorary captains of the German men’s national football team along with Franz Beckenbauer, Uwe Seeler and Lothar Matthaus.
Even off the pitch, Fritz led a life on the principles of discipline and integrity. Horst Eckel, his former Germany team-mate, remembers being rebuked for leaving the dining table before everyone had finished eating and for not sliding the chair back under the table – a practice Eckel claims he exercises without fail since then. Jonathan Rau, former German Federal President, once famously said – “Fritz Walter made our entire nation a richer place. His outstanding footballing ability and his commitment to the team were a decisive contribution to the ‘Miracle of Bern’, which filled countless Germans with passion and belief. “
Fritz Walter might not have the most decorated trophy cabinet when it comes to legends, but this true football icon helped a whole nation get back on its feet. The Betzenburg Stadium in Kaiserslautern was renamed Fritz Walter Stadium in his honour and the completely renovated stadium was a venue at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany; a spectacle the grandmaster himself could never witness, having passed away in the summer of 2002, aged 81. His legend though lives on and such is his immortal presence in Kaiserslautern that a young kid once even wrote in his essay- “The city of Kaiserslautern was founded by Fritz Walter.”
