At the age of 78

Great sadness! German world champion passes away

Bernd Hölzenbein passed away at the age of 78.(Bild: instagram.com/kurvenhelden)

Germany mourns the death of soccer legend Bernd Hölzenbein! The 1974 World Cup winner suffered from severe dementia and died on Monday evening at the age of 78.

Hölzenbein was an iconic striker for Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring 160 goals in 420 Bundesliga games during his active career (1967 to 1981). He also won the UEFA Cup (now the Champions League) with Frankfurt in 1980 and the German Cup three times (1974, 1975 and 1981).

Bernd Hölzenbein passed away at the age of 78.(Bild: instagram.com/kurvenhelden)

"A Eintracht man through and through. A legend in the book. One of the greatest we had," wrote the club on X.

He made a total of 40 appearances for the German national team, scoring five goals. In 1974, he made a decisive contribution to the World Cup title when he scored a penalty in the final against the Netherlands. Paul Breitner converted to make it 1:1 at the interval, Gerd Müller scored the 2:1 winner. Was it a penalty or a flick? "No matter where I am, that's always the first thing that comes up," reported Hölzenbein, who was very annoyed by the constant confrontation with this scene for a while. "If that penalty is the only thing I'm remembered for, then that's a shame," "Holz", as he was known in Frankfurt, once said.

Goal against Austria
The winger had scored one of his five international goals against Austria at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina - although the game in Cordoba was lost 3-2.

The 1974 world champion team: Franz Beckenbauer (4th from right below, with trophy) and Bernd Hölzenbein (3rd from right below).(Bild: GEPA pictures)

1976 European Championship runner-up
Hölzenbein was runner-up in the 1976 European Championship: in the final, he lost to Czechoslovakia 3:5 on penalties after scoring the 2:2 in the 90th minute.

After his career as an active professional footballer, Hölzenbein worked as assistant coach at Viktoria Aschaffenburg before becoming vice-president at Eintracht from 1988 to 1994. In the following two years, he worked as sports director at his favorite club.

Last great journey
Hölzenbein was able to witness Frankfurt's last title win live. The club veteran was once again present at the Europa League triumph in Seville in 2022 under coach Oliver Glasner. It was his last big trip with Eintracht.