{{Short description|German businessman}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} '''Kurt Landauer''' (28 July 1884 – 21 December 1961) was a German football official. His profession was often listed as ''Kaufmann'' ("merchant"), he was head of the advertising department of the major Munich daily newspaper ''Münchner Neueste Nachrichten'', considered a precursor to ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', which commenced publication after World War II. His claim to fame is his four tenures as the president of the football club FC Bayern Munich between 1913 and 1951. To date, he remains the president with the longest time in office.
Landauer was born in Planegg (close to Munich), and joined Bayern in 1901 as a player. He had to leave for Lausanne shortly afterwards, but returned to Munich in 1905. In 1913 he was elected president of the club for the first time but World War I ended his tenure in 1914. When Landauer returned to Munich after the war he was elected for a second tenure as president. This lasted until 1933 with a one-year intermission in 1921–22.<ref name = "fcblandauer">{{cite web | title = Club honours visionary former president | publisher = FC Bayern Munich official website | date = 29 July 2009 | accessdate = 2009-07-29 | url = http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/news/news/2009/20203.php}}</ref> He was the first to take the club to national championship honours, when Bayern defeated Eintracht Frankfurt in the final of 1932. Again Landauer was forced to leave the club due to political events. The rise of the Nazis to power made him resign office on 22 March 1933.<ref name = "fcblandauer"/>
[[File:20200731 Kurt Landauer Gedenktafel 02.jpg|thumb|Plaque near the Allianz Arena commemorating Kurt Landauer.]]
Being Jewish, Landauer was arrested by the Nazis on 10 November 1938 and transported to KZ Dachau. Because of his military service in World War I, he was allowed to leave Dachau after 33 days under arrest. He emigrated to Switzerland on 15 March 1939.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rundfunk|first=Bayerischer|date=2014-10-14|title=Kurt Landauer im Porträt: Vater des Erfolgs|url=https://www.br.de/fernsehen/das-erste/sendungen/kurt-landauer-der-film/portraet-kurt-landauer-100.html|journal=BR|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123060932/https://www.br.de/fernsehen/das-erste/sendungen/kurt-landauer-der-film/portraet-kurt-landauer-100.html|archive-date=2021-01-23}}</ref> Only one of his family members survived the Holocaust.<ref name = "fcblandauer"/> In 1940 Bayern Munich went to Geneva for a friendly against the Swiss national team. When the players spotted Landauer, who was amongst the spectators they went to greet their former president. The Gestapo was not amused and threatened that this behaviour would have consequences.<ref>{{cite web | title = Bayerns Münchens jüdischer Meistermacher | publisher = der Spiegel (eines tages) | date = 29 July 2009 | accessdate=2009-07-30 | url = http://einestages.spiegel.de/static/topicalbumbackground/4634/bayern_muenchens_vergessener_meistermacher.html | language = German}}</ref>
In 1947 Landauer returned a third time to Munich and was once again appointed club president. This tenure lasted until 1951 when he was not elected again. Landauer died on 21 December 1961 in Munich.<ref name = "fcblandauer"/>
Up to now he is the club's president with the longest accumulated tenure, Wilhelm Neudecker (†) (1962–79), widely considered as the "father of the modern FC Bayern", and Franz Beckenbauer (1994–2009) being the ones with the longest periods in office after him.
In autumn 2014 the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation (Bayerischer Rundfunk) initiated a transmedia project on the life of Kurt Landauer. This project included a TV-series, social media and an augmented reality app.
== References ==
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== External links == * [https://www.zeit.de/2003/23/Sport_2flandauer?page=all Onkel Kurt und die Bayern] — An essay about Landauer in Die Zeit (in German) * [https://www.br.de/fernsehen/bayerisches-fernsehen/sendungen/kurt-landauer-der-film/index.html Kurt Landauer: Der Mann, der den FC Bayern erfand] - Transmedia project of Bayerischer Rundfunk (in German) * [https://www.scienceviz.com/?p=1350 LandauerWalk . Augmented Reality App] — Experience the stations in life of Kurt Landauer in Munich, using AR technology.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Landauer, Kurt}} Category:1884 births Category:1961 deaths Category:20th-century German businesspeople Category:Men's association football goalkeepers Category:Dachau concentration camp survivors Category:FC Bayern Munich board members Category:Footballers from Munich Category:German Jewish military personnel of World War I Category:German newspaper editors Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Category:Jewish German sportspeople Category:Businesspeople from Munich Category:People from the German Empire Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914) Category:German men's footballers Category:20th-century German sportsmen