DFB.de takes a look back at defining characters in the Bundesliga from a special game that is coming up at the weekend. On Saturday, Hertha BSC will host 1. FC Köln (15:30 CEST). On 26th September 1969, this game set the all-time attendance record in Bundesliga history. 74-year-old Hans-Joachim Altendorff, who played for Hertha BSC at the time, looked back in an interview on the attendance that was officially announced as around 90,000 but was unofficially thought to be around 100,000.
DFB.de: Hello Mr Altendorff. You played in the game in 1969 when the all-time attendance record for the Bundesliga was set. What do you remember from the game that took place around 45 years ago?
Hans-Joachim Altendorff: We won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Wolfgang Gayer – that was the most important thing. It wasn’t a particularly great game but Köln were the better side as they had a lot of international players. Lorenz Horr, who played for us, injured his shoulder after colliding with goalkeeper Manfred Manglitz.
DFB.de: That’s great. But the most special thing was surely the crowd…?
Altendorff: For me, no. We had 80,000 for the game against HSV and attracted 70,000 many a time. As a player, you don’t really notice it as much.
DFB.de:Nobody can believe the official attendance figure given (88,075) and many reckon it was more around the 100,000 mark. Chaos broke out around the stadium, there were real queues at the gates, stewards were overrun by people without tickets and the journalists stood on wooden crates in the press section.
Altendorff:It was certainly something special. It was a sea of people. I also believe that there were 100,000 fans there. I’m still always meeting people who share the same view. The whole of Berlin was there. (laughs)
DFB.de:The three best-attended Bundesliga encounters of all possible pairings are between Hertha and Köln. There were over 85,000 spectators at the matches in 1963 and 1970. Do you have an explanation for that?
Altendorff:Not really. Köln were obviously a very strong footballing side with players like Wolfgang Overath or Heinz Flohe, and we often struggled against them. That was perhaps the incentive for people to come and watch. In addition, they were the first ever champions of the Bundesliga. The stadium was also sold out against other clubs though.
DFB.de: How was it for you to play in front of so many fans? Were you more nervous than usual? When does the stage fright start to fade?
Altendorff: I was only ever nervous when I was 19, ahead of preliminary game for the amateur championships. After that I never had stage fright. There’s also the factor that the atmosphere isn’t as good in such a spacious stadium, as it is in smaller football stadiums. When we played in front of 30,000 in Essen, it was completely different for us.
DFB.de: The fact that the Berlin side had been relegated in 1965 and that they would have been desperate to get back into the Bundesliga after three years, must have been a factor?
Altendorff: Could be yes. And we went about the game perfectly. And if there hadn’t been the scandal of 1971 – I wasn’t involved in that – we wouldn’t have picked up the shield in Berlin. That’s what a lot of people say.
DFB.de: In the present, it’s all about survival. What are you expecting on Saturday?
Altendorff: Hertha have steadied themselves, especially in defence. That is very important. Köln are fairly strong away from home, but I’m going to go for a 2-1 win for us. Then we will almost certainly be safe from relegation.
Hans-Joachim Altendorff played 70 times for Hertha in the Bundesliga between 1963 and 1971 and scored eleven goals.
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DFB.de takes a look back at defining characters in the Bundesliga from a special game that is coming up at the weekend. On Saturday, Hertha BSC will host 1. FC Köln (15:30 CEST). On 26th September 1969, this game set the all-time attendance record in Bundesliga history. 74-year-old Hans-Joachim Altendorff, who played for Hertha BSC at the time, looked back in an interview on the attendance that was officially announced as around 90,000 but was unofficially thought to be around 100,000.
DFB.de: Hello Mr Altendorff. You played in the game in 1969 when the all-time attendance record for the Bundesliga was set. What do you remember from the game that took place around 45 years ago?
Hans-Joachim Altendorff: We won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Wolfgang Gayer – that was the most important thing. It wasn’t a particularly great game but Köln were the better side as they had a lot of international players. Lorenz Horr, who played for us, injured his shoulder after colliding with goalkeeper Manfred Manglitz.
DFB.de: That’s great. But the most special thing was surely the crowd…?
Altendorff: For me, no. We had 80,000 for the game against HSV and attracted 70,000 many a time. As a player, you don’t really notice it as much.
DFB.de:Nobody can believe the official attendance figure given (88,075) and many reckon it was more around the 100,000 mark. Chaos broke out around the stadium, there were real queues at the gates, stewards were overrun by people without tickets and the journalists stood on wooden crates in the press section.
Altendorff:It was certainly something special. It was a sea of people. I also believe that there were 100,000 fans there. I’m still always meeting people who share the same view. The whole of Berlin was there. (laughs)
DFB.de:The three best-attended Bundesliga encounters of all possible pairings are between Hertha and Köln. There were over 85,000 spectators at the matches in 1963 and 1970. Do you have an explanation for that?
Altendorff:Not really. Köln were obviously a very strong footballing side with players like Wolfgang Overath or Heinz Flohe, and we often struggled against them. That was perhaps the incentive for people to come and watch. In addition, they were the first ever champions of the Bundesliga. The stadium was also sold out against other clubs though.
DFB.de: How was it for you to play in front of so many fans? Were you more nervous than usual? When does the stage fright start to fade?
Altendorff: I was only ever nervous when I was 19, ahead of preliminary game for the amateur championships. After that I never had stage fright. There’s also the factor that the atmosphere isn’t as good in such a spacious stadium, as it is in smaller football stadiums. When we played in front of 30,000 in Essen, it was completely different for us.
DFB.de: The fact that the Berlin side had been relegated in 1965 and that they would have been desperate to get back into the Bundesliga after three years, must have been a factor?
Altendorff: Could be yes. And we went about the game perfectly. And if there hadn’t been the scandal of 1971 – I wasn’t involved in that – we wouldn’t have picked up the shield in Berlin. That’s what a lot of people say.
DFB.de: In the present, it’s all about survival. What are you expecting on Saturday?
Altendorff: Hertha have steadied themselves, especially in defence. That is very important. Köln are fairly strong away from home, but I’m going to go for a 2-1 win for us. Then we will almost certainly be safe from relegation.
Hans-Joachim Altendorff played 70 times for Hertha in the Bundesliga between 1963 and 1971 and scored eleven goals.
