In a tiny, private ceremony on Friday, Franz Beckenbauer—one of just three men to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach—was put to rest in Munich. The nation is in mourning for the loss of “a great footballer, athlete, and person.”
According to the German newspaper Bild, Beckenbauer, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 78, was buried in the Perlacher Forest cemetery, which is located only two kilometers from his suburban Munich childhood home.
Images showed Beckenbauer’s coffin being brought through the snow-covered cemetery in the southern part of the Bavarian capital, wrapped with flowers.
He was laid to rest in a plot next his son Stephan, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 46 from a brain tumor. The parents of Beckenbauer are interred in the cemetery.
Friday’s service was restricted to a small number of friends and family.
A public memorial service for Beckenbauer will take place at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on January 19.
The public is welcome to attend the event in the 75,000-seat stadium, which will also be televised on German television.
The German leader will be present to “show his great respect and recognition for one of our country’s great athletes,” a spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated on Friday.
“With Franz Beckenbauer, our country is losing a great footballer, athlete and person.”
Bayern president Herbert Hainer told Bild the arena was the ideal venue as “this stadium would not exist without him”.
“It should be a memorial service for everyone, together with fans and companions.”
In poor health, Beckenbauer lived out his latter years in Salzburg, Austria, making very few public appearances.
In 1974, Beckenbauer won a World Cup with West Germany as a player. In 1990, he repeated as coach.
Only three men have won the World Cup in both coaching and playing roles: Didier Deschamps of France, Mario Zagallo of Brazil, who passed away this week, and Beckenbauer.
As a player, he was the winner of three straight Bundesliga titles with Hamburg and Bayern, as well as the European Cup, which was the forerunner of the current Champions League, from 1974 to 1976.
In addition, Beckenbauer was the coach of Bayern Munich when they won the Bundesliga title. Later, he became the club president and contributed to the team’s status as one of the dominant teams in European football.
Additionally, he was instrumental in obtaining Germany’s bid to host the 2006 World Cup, but he would subsequently face criticism over claims of corruption surrounding the bidding process.
Later on Friday, Bayern, who are now second in the Bundesliga behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, will visit Hoffenheim.
The German champions will play in jerseys bearing the words “Danke, Franz” (thank you, Franz), and they will warm up in Beckenbauer’s renowned number five.
The jerseys will be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Franz Beckenbauer Federation.
All German Bundesliga matches this weekend will commemorate Beckenbauer’s passing with a moment of silence before kick-off.