Hamburg Football under National Socialism

Insights into a history that has been glorified for decades

After 30 January 1933, self-determination no longer existed. The racist and aggressively nationalistic ideology of the NSDAP permeated all areas of life; everything was "Nazified". Sports was no exception.

The diverse, colourful sports movement of the Weimar Republic, and with it the sport of football, were gleichgestellt, brought into line. Club leaders loyal to the party line replaced previous chairmen, club members were marginalised and excluded on racist or political grounds, and Wehrsport – military sports – was introduced.

The National Socialists' sports policy included the banning and persecution of the traditional workers' sports movement. Athletes who did not conform to the new conditions or who were considered racially inferior were imprisoned and murdered in prisons and concentration camps.

This exhibition documents the sports policy of the NSDAP, athlete reprimands, bans, and persecution primarily using examples from football in Hamburg. It also looks at the reorganisation of sports after the end of the war and the belated reappraisal of its history under National Socialism.