Wolfgang Niersbach and Ullrich Sierau used the general meeting scheduled at the end of 2014 to see how the building work for the German Football Museum has progressed. The DFB president and the Mayor of Dortmund were taken on a tour of the construction site near Dortmund’s central train station by the DFB Football Museum Foundation management.
Wolfsburg Niersbach and Ullrich Sierau arrived at the building site of the new museum and chatted briefly about Dortmund’s Champions League exploits on Wednesday night, before the museum’s two managing directors Manuel Neukirchner and Michael Keßeler began the tour. They started by bringing the two partners up to speed with construction developments, before taking them and some media representatives through the various exhibition areas.
Ullrich Sierau was already in raptures when the tour of the second floor began with the “Miracle of Bern”, an exhibition marking Germany’s 1954 World Cup title: “I can picture the experience a lot better now. Seeing the construction work is really filling me with anticipation.”
Niersbach waxes lyrical about the 2014 World Cup final
Some special feelings resurfaced for Wolfgang Niersbach too when the group reached the section where Mario Götze’s World Cup winning left boot will be on display come the opening of the museum. “We were already physically and mentally prepared for penalties,” remembers the DFB president. Niersbach also said that while he wasn’t anxious about a shootout considering Germany have the “best goalkeeper in the world” in their ranks, he admitted that Götze’s decisive goal seven minutes before full time was much more pleasing. “The relief and the joy we felt after the final whistle is indescribable. It doesn’t get bigger than that.”
But while it was a joyous moment, it meant more work for some people. “Actually, we ought to apologise to those working on the museum,” said the president with a wink. “The exhibition needs extending before it has even been opened.” But it’s a challenge that Manuel Neukirchner and his team are happy to take on. “We will of course bring those decisive moments to life. We will include the entire team that helped Germany get its fourth star,” said Neukirchner. “Alongside the story of the tournament and all of its highlights, we also want to look at how this success came about.”
Using state-of-the-art technology and multimedia, the development of the national team following their dismal group-stage exit at EURO 2000, through to the foundation of the youth academies and changes to youth development programme, right up to the 2014 World Cup win will be brought to life from summer 2015. It all fits in with the museum’s concept. “We’re not just looking at the past, but also the present and the future,” noted the curator.
“Stealing” from Franz Beckenbauer
The group then passed through the area set aside for the most treasured trophies, where the World Cup from the 2014 tournament will also be on display, and entered the “Second Half”, where the focus is on club football. A journalist was interested to know how expensive it is to acquire 1,600 exhibits. “Most of them cost just a few grey hairs,” joked the DFB president. After Manuel Neukirchner had paid a visit to the Franz Beckenbauer household, the Kaiser himself gave Niersbach a ring. “He said to me, it almost feels like I’ve been stolen from. He gave the curator so many exhibits. But he was also of the opinion that it is better that the entire German footballing family can enjoy his memorabilia, rather than just him and his family. And that will be the case in Dortmund come 2015.”
The Mayor feels that it is almost “ideal” that the German Football Museum opens its doors in summer 2015. “One year after those magic moments in Rio, you can relive them all over again here,” said Ullrich Sierau. “The euphoria surrounding football in this city, this region and in the whole of Germany never ceases, and after the museum opens in 2015 to remind everyone of that World Cup win, it will increase even more.”
