Photo: Panini Group / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Calling Franz Beckenbauer "der Kaiser" almost undersells him. What grips me is the imagination: he started in midfield and then reinvented the centre-back as an attacking launchpad, changing how the position is understood to this day. He reached the summit as a player, as a manager, and as an administrator, a clean sweep almost no one in football can claim. The 1966 Footballer of the Year award and his shelf of state honours only hint at the influence. When he died in 2024, the game lost not just a champion but a genuine revolutionary, and I will always tip my hat to him.
Overview
Franz Anton Beckenbauer (German pronunciation: [fʁants ˈbɛkn̩ˌbaʊɐ] ; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed der Kaiser ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players of all time. Beckenbauer was a versatile player who started out as a midfielder, but made his name as a centre-back.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Franz Beckenbauer
- Name (Japanese)
- フランツ・ベッケンバウアー
- Reading
- ふらんつ・べっけんばうあー
- Born
- September 11, 1945 – January 7, 2024
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Rooster
- Origin
- Richard-Wagner-Straße 19 (München), Upper Bavaria, Germany
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 181 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- association football player / association football coach / professional athlete / functionary / coach
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1966 German Footballer of the Year
- Bavarian Order of Merit
- 2009 Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia
- Silbernes Lorbeerblatt
- Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold
- 2006 Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Golden Honorary Ring of the City of Munich
- 2008 Cross of Merit First Class of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Association football player — see all → · Association football coach — see all → · More people from Germany →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.