Mourning for the football legend: The "Beckenbauer of the East" is dead

Created: 01/19/2022, 12:32 p.m

By: Alexander Kaindl

He was once a world-class player, a soccer hero in the GDR.

Now he is dead: Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner died at the age of 70.

Dresden - Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner is dead. The East German football legend died on the night of January 19 at the age of 70, as his former club Dynamo Dresden announced in an official statement.

According to the second division club, the record player and honorary captain of the Saxons died after a long and serious illness.

The "Beckenbauer of the East" played 100 international matches for the GDR and was often compared to Franz Beckenbauer (76) because of his style of play.

At that time, the Kaiser shaped an era at FC Bayern Munich and even became world champion with the FRG selection in 1974.

Dörner was his counterpart in East Germany.

He made 558 appearances for Dynamo Dresden in all competitions, scoring 101 goals.

He was East German champion five times with the Saxons and won the FDGB Cup four times.

In 1976, Dörner won Olympic gold with East Germany, and “Dixie”, the world-class libero, was one of the most influential figures in East German football.

Most recently, he had also been a member of the board of directors for Dynamo.

Hans-Jürgen Dörner is dead: mourning for "Dixie"

Dresden President Holger Scholze said the morning after Dörner's death: "It's incomprehensible, shocking and very, very sad. We still can't believe that 'Dixie' Dörner is no longer with us. His death brings deep sadness to our sports community. With 'Dixie' Dörner, we not only lost the greatest player in the club's history - we also lost a person who had conquered all of our hearts. For more than five decades, he has campaigned on and off the pitch for the colors of our city and our club in an impressive and outstanding way.”

In addition to the SGD, Dörner also worked for several other clubs: Among other things, he coached SV Werder Bremen and FSV Zwickau in the nineties, and he also worked in various functions for the DFB.

In October 2019, Dörner was inducted into the "Hall of Fame" of the German Football Museum.

Dynamo wants to request a minute's silence for the second division away game next Sunday (1.30 p.m. / Sky) at Hannover 96.

In addition, the team should play with black ribbons as a sign of sympathy.

Dixie Dörner is dead: the Dresden legend had health problems

Dörner has repeatedly had problems with his health in the recent past.

According to the

, he was operated on in the summer of 2021.

"There were problems with the blood vessels, but I'm not a doctor," he told the newspaper at the time after being discharged from the hospital after weeks in hospital.