“A Life for Football,” directed by Hans Steinbichler. Screening of a film about Kurt Landauer, the famous Jewish president of FC Bayern Munich, followed by a panel discussion.  Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Committee.

A Life for Football

One man’s fate. One team’s destiny.

It’s the biggest sports club in Germany and one of the biggest football clubs in the world: FC Bayern Munich. Its road to glory, however, is paved with blood, sweat and hard work. The Nazis’ rise to power in Germany signaled the end of many careers. One of the men forced to resign his post was Kurt Landauer, president of FC Bayern Munich, German and Jewish. Imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp in 1938 but released after a month, he spent the war years in Switzerland.

In 1947 he returns to Munich to find the club in disastrous circumstances. The football field filled with rubble, the stadium in ruins, pervasive anti-Semitism, inexplicable financial transactions that have nearly bankrupted the club…

Landauer accepts the nearly hopeless task of rebuilding both the stadium and the team, whereby he is able to draw upon his previous achievements and make creative and far-sighted use of them. He must rebuild his own life, too, which means not marrying the woman he loves, and not moving to the U.S. His purpose in life is the team; his mission is to lay the foundation stone for the future success of FC Bayern Munich.

Admission is Free for JMOF-FIU members, FIU Students, Staff and Faculty. Non-Members $12.00