Bayern Munich is not just a football club in Germany, it is an institution. Also known as FC Bayern Munchen, It’s the most successful German football club and has owned the Bundesliga for 11 straight seasons since 2013. The club hasn’t just been a domestic powerhouse, it has earned a lot of success in European competitions as well, with six UEFA Champions League titles. In this post, we will take a brief look at the long and illustrious history of Bayern Munich. Let’s get started.
Bayern Munich: A German Powerhouse
When was Bayern Munich founded?
FC Bayern Munich was officially founded on February 27, 1900. The club’s creation is actually based on a dispute over the further development of the football department. Shortly before, the club’s entry into the Association of South German Football Clubs was rejected by the general assembly. Eleven members founded the football club in the “Weinhaus Gisela”.
How were Bayern Munich’s colours chosen?
Based on the colors of the Bavarian flag, blue and white were initially chosen as the club colors. Just six years after it was founded, the club became a member of the Munich Sports Club (MSC), which is why the colors changed to red and white. This gave them the nickname “The Reds” – and they have remained true to these colors since 1906.
How did Bayern Munich get its name?
To answer this question, you have to look back to 1916: FC Bayern left the MSC after ten years and merged with the Jahn Munich gymnastics club. This is how the TuSpV Jahn Munich came into being. After the two clubs separated in 1923 and 1924, Bayern and Jahn also went their separate ways. With the independence, the club name “FC Bayern Munich” ultimately came about.
When did Bayern Munich reach the Bundesliga?
After the Munich team was prevented from entering the newly established Bundesliga in 1963, they achieved promotion in the sport in 1965. From that moment on, FC Bayern Munich won at least four championship titles every ten years. The football club is known worldwide for its numerous successes – this was particularly demonstrated in 2013: for the first time in the club’s history, FC Bayern Munich won the championship, the DFB Cup and the Champions League. In 2020 this success, the treble, was achieved again.
Which is Bayern Munich’s stadium?
Bayern Munich plays its games in the 75,000-seater Allianz Arena in Munich. When unveiled in 2005, it was the first ever stadium in the world with a fully changing colour exterior. It has been Bayern Munich’s home stadium since the 2005-06 season. Before that, Bayern Munich played at Munich’s Olympic Stadium for 33 years.
Who are the most legendary players in Bayern Munich’s history?
The success story of every club also includes successful players and coaches. Franz Beckenbauer, one of the most famous football players ever, played for FC Bayern Munich for 13 seasons. In the period from 1964 to 1977, Bayern was able to win four championships and cup victories under Beckenbauer, as well as three victories in the European Cup and one success in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
In addition to the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, goalkeeper legend Sepp Maier and goalscorer Gerd Müller were also active for “the Reds”. In the 1960s, FC Bayern was in financial trouble, which is why they couldn’t afford expensive star footballers. Sepp Maier manned the Bayern Munich goalpost for 17 years – during which he set an unbeatable record: he played 473 Bundesliga games for the Munich team, 442 straight- a Bundesliga record. He was voted Footballer of the Year several times (1975, 1977, 1978) and even Goalkeeper of the Century in Germany.
In more recent years, players like Oliver Kahn, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, and Robert Lewandowski have helped take Bayern Munich to the top of the world.
Who are the most legendary coaches in Bayern Munich’s history?
Numerous coaches also played a crucial role in the success story of FC Bayern Munich. With coach Udo Lattek, Bayern were able to win big. The coach, who died in 2015, coached the club from 1970 to early 1975 and again from 1983 to 1987. During this time he won six championships, the DFB Cup three times, and the first European Cup.
In just six years, FC Bayern won four championship titles under coach Ottmar Hitzfeld between 1998 and 2004. The Lörrach native also celebrated three cup victories as coach of FC Bayern Munich. In 2001, the football club won both the Champions League and the World Cup with him.
There’s more: Under Jupp Heynckes, who was hired as coach four times, FC Bayern Munich won the most. In the successful year of 2013, the former world-class striker won the treble and the Club World Cup title. He trained in Munich from 1987 to 1991, for two months in spring 2009, from 2011 to 2013, and for the last time from the autumn of 2017 to 2018. Under him, the team won four championships as well as a DFB Cup and a Champions League spot.
The treble was repeated under Hansi Flick in 2020. This year, too, the Munich team won the DFB Cup and the Champions League in addition to the Bundesliga title. Julian Nagelsmann has been Bayern Munich’s coach since the summer of 2021. He signed a contract until 2026.
How many members does the Bayern Munich fan club have?
With over 293,000 members, FC Bayern Munich is considered the club with the largest number of members worldwide. Until then, the club had experienced a long and great development. In the year it was founded in 1900, and it all started with just 17 members; 20 years later the association already had 700 members. During the Nazi era, football was also affected: During these years, the numerous Jews in the club had to withdraw. In other words, in four years the number of members fell from 1,389 to less than 900. Shortly after the end of the war, the number of members steadily increased again.
At the turn of the millennium, there were already more than 91,000 members of FC Bayern Munich. In the 2005/2006 season, there were already more than 120,000 members, while just ten years later there were 250,000 members.
How many trophies has Bayern Munich won?
As a result of being so successful for such a long period of time, Bayern has a massive trophy cabinet. At the domestic level, the club has won the German Bundesliga 33 times (including 11 straight since 2013). Bayern Munich has also won the DFB-Pokal 20 times, DFB/DFL Supercup 10 times and the DFL-Ligapokal 6 six times. At the European level, Bayern Munich has won the UEFA Champions League six times, the UEFA Super Cup twice, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup once. At the global level, Bayern Munich has won the FIFA Club World Cup and the Intercontinental Cup twice as well.
Bayern Munich has also completed the treble on two occasions. During the 2012-13 and 2019-20 seasons, Bayern Munich won the UEFA Champions League, German Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal. Bayern Munich went on to win the “Sextuple” after winning the 2019-20 treble. After winning the treble, Bayern Munich won all the other trophies that the treble opened up for them vis. 2020 DFL Supercup, 2020 UEFA Super Cup and 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.
