Life Stories
Helmut Klopfleisch
Beginnings
Helmut Klopfleisch was born in East Berlin in 1948. He grew up as an anti-Communist, partly influenced by his grandfather, who died when Helmut was five. Helmut became a keen follower of his local football team, Hertha BSC, who played at Stadion Gesundbrunnen. In 1961, when Helmut was 13, the Berlin Wall was built, cutting the city in two. Hertha’s stadium was in Charlottenburg, in West Berlin. Helmut lived a few yards on the other side of the Wall, in East Germany.
Wrong side of the Wall
From August 1961, Helmut could not watch Hertha matches, but he could hear them. When Hertha played at home, Helmut and other fans gathered at the Wall, listening to the roars of the crowd from Gesundbrunnen. They were regularly harassed by the police. Helmut got his own Stasi file, in the name of ‘K’. It noted he had supported teams from the West when they played against Soviet Bloc teams. Helmut lost his job as an electrician and became a toilet cleaner.
Legacy
In 1986 Helmut applied for permission to emigrate. This was refused. His life got harder. Early in 1989, he was suddenly told to emigrate. He lived for a year in a refugee camp. Then the Wall came down and Germany was reunified. In 1991 Helmut was interviewed by Dutch journalist Simon Kuper. He featured in Kuper’s 1994 book Football Against the Enemy. Helmut Klopfleisch is still a Hertha fan.
Thinking points
Fans are the lifeblood of football. Fans give meaning to matches, just as live audiences give meaning to theatre and opera. Fans are the focus of the community and national loyalties that give passion and identity to the game.
Educators could look at the life story of Helmut Klopfleisch and work with young people to consider these questions:
- What does the life story of Helmut Klopfleisch tell us about the feelings of fans for football as a game?
- What can be learned from Helmut’s story about the impact of the Cold War on the lives of ordinary people in Berlin?
Find out more
Find out more about the Helmut Klopfleisch on Hertha. Also the Financial Times and The Independent wrote something about it.
COVER Image
Hertha-Fan Helmut Klopfleisch in March 1979 in Prague (Photo: DAPD News Agency).
Last 24h Top Lives
Life Story
49
LIFE STORIES To discover now
Matthias Sindelar: Austria’s sportman of the Century?
Matthias Sindelar was an Austrian sporting hero but also a political one. His death led to many myths. His story is one about Politics and myth creation.
Do you wanna know more?
HISTORY CAN BE EXPLORED THROUGH THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS
Stories
Browse our collection of stories about football history and inclusion. With the history of football being made up of millions of stories, of individuals and communities, of movements and processes, we offer stories that can inspire our cultural conversations today.
Videos
Get to know untold stories where individuals are making history with football. When faced with insurmountable challenges, individuals past and present can use football as a cultural force to foster positive change in society. We honour these individuals and tell their ‘untold’ stories in short videos.
Educational Resources
Explore our innovative educational resources that use football’s history, heritage and legacy to engage young people. The resources include ready-made lesson plans and historical source collections for school history education as well as toolkit with activities for non-formal settings.
Trending Stories
Refugees
In the wake of the 2015 migration peak, activists and volunteers across Europe have been involved in supporting refugees, sometimes with the simple act of offering space and friendship to participate in football through grassroots clubs to help newcomers integrate.
FC Union Berlin: A rebellious football club in a rebellious city
BBC Sport’s Football Focus visits Bundesliga side FC Union Berlin, a “rebellious” football club from East Berlin with a special set of fans, playing their first season in Germany’s top flight 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
LATEST POST You may also be interested in
Football as a post-disaster charity
Today in 1964, a football match was organised between Yugoslavia and a UEFA team “Rest of Europe”.
Only girl on the field
This article is the result of a webinar series from EuroClio which tackled football and social issues to explore how football history and society intertwine.
Researching Football’s “Us and Them”
The online racism following the European Championship finals, after a year of unprecedented activism against it, shows how much work remains.
Match of Inhumanity
Today in 1944 football was played in the concentration camp Tezerin. What does this propaganda footage tell us about the Holocaust?
Unleash the potential of football museums
This article is the result of a webinar series from EuroClio which tackled football and social issues to explore how football history and society intertwine.
Is Football a “Power Play”?
Interview with researchers Valerio Mancini, Narcís Pallarès-Domènech and Alessio Postiglione on football and Geopolitics.
