EntertainmentControversial banners displayed at Bayern game, one references Hitler

Controversial banners displayed at Bayern game, one references Hitler

Bayern Munich footballers / Bayern Munich fan section
Bayern Munich footballers / Bayern Munich fan section
Images source: © EPA, PAP | EPA, Kerry Hau, PAP, Twitter

6:38 AM EST, November 12, 2023

During a league match against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, Bayern Munich fans displayed banners at the Allianz Arena. These banners bore messages that echoed shame-inducing moments from Germany's past.

Bayern Munich emerges victorious. In the 11th-round Bundesliga match on Saturday, the home team triumphed over 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, finishing with a 4:2 final score. Two of those goals were netted by the English player, Harry Kane.

The specter of "Hitler" at the stadium! The attention of spectators was drawn towards banners brought into play by Bayern's ardent supporters, notably by the fans from the "Suedkurve Muenchen" goal sector.

"100 years since Hitler's Putsch, 85 years since the Crystal Night. A warning from the past, a warning for the future! Never again now!" read the slogans, evoking events that are a source of regret in Germany's history.

The Hitler Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch, took place from November 8 to 9, 1923. Marking an ill-fated attempt to stage a coup in the Weimar Republic, Adolf Hitler and Gen. Erich Ludendorff launched this operation with the support of the party's Stormtroopers (SA).

The Crystal Night, in contrast, spanned from November 9 to 10, 1938. It set off a “pogrom against Jews” in Nazi Germany, resulting in the death of 91 Jewish people and the internment of approximately 26,000 Jews in concentration camps.

A snapshot from the Munich fans' section was uploaded on Platform X (previously known as Twitter) by Kerry Hau, a journalist with the German television network Sport1 (see below).

Related content