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Jürgen Kohler
*6 October 1965, Lambsheim
(defender)
Clubs as a player:
1983–1987 SV Waldhof Mannheim
1987–1989 1. FC Köln
1989–1991 FC Bayern Munich
1991–1995 Juventus Turin
1995–2002 Borussia Dortmund
Club:
398 appearances, 28 goals (Bundesliga)
; 102 appearances, 8 goals (Serie A, Italy)
Honours:
German League Champion: 1990, 1996, 2002
Italian League Champion: 1995
Italian Cup winner: 1995
Intercontinental Cup winner: 1997
UEFA Champions League winner: 1997
UEFA Cup winner: 1993
National team:
105 appearances, 2 goals
World Champion: 1990
European Champion: 1996
European Championship runner-up: 1992
Jürgen Kohler is one of the most successful German footballers of all time. After spells at Waldhof Mannheim and 1. FC Köln, the defensive specialist won his first title in 1990 whilst playing for Bayern Munich. In the same year, he became World Champion with the German national team. Kohler then continued his run of success at Juventus Turin, initially at international level by winning the UEFA Cup. He later went on to win the league and cup titles in domestic competitions. At Borussia Dortmund, he ultimately helped shape the most successful era in the club’s history alongside the other players returning from Italy – Karl-Heinz Riedle, Stefan Reuter, Andreas Möller and Matthias Sammer – a period which culminated in victory in the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1997. Kohler also played a part in the national team’s European Championship triumph in England in 1996, though he was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament due to injury following the first group match against the Czech Republic. The tireless tackler was also no stranger to relegation battles. With a goal against VfB Stuttgart on the third-last matchday of the 1999/2000 season, Kohler played a decisive role in helping BVB avoid relegation. Upon retiring in 2002, Kohler bid farewell in fitting style by winning the German league title once again.
The German Football Hall of Fame was established on the initiative of the German Football Museum. In November 2018 and January 2019, leading sports journalists voted for the inaugural men’s and women’s teams. The jury members were asked to nominate their choice of players and managers from German men’s and women’s football. Players who were eligible to play for German national teams and whose playing careers had ended at least five years previously were eligible for nomination. The HALL OF FAME honours the greatest legends of German football in one central location for the first time. It forms part of the permanent exhibition at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. Opened on 1 April 2019, it has become a permanent place of pilgrimage for all football fans. The jury decides annually on further inductees from men’s and women’s football.
