Birgit Prinz

25 October 1977, Frankfurt am Main
, forward

Clubs as a player

1992–1998 FSV Frankfurt
1998–2002 1. FFC Frankfurt
2002 Carolina Courage
2002–2011 1. FFC Frankfurt
2012–2013 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Honours:
German Champion: 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008
DFB Cup winner: 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011
UEFA Women’s Cup winners: 2002, 2006, 2008

National team:
214 appearances (128 goals)
World Champion: 2003, 2007
World Championship runner-up: 1995
European Champion: 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009
Olympic bronze medallist: 2000, 2004, 2008

The three-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year can look back on a unique career. She made a total of 214 international appearances, featuring in five World Cups and four Olympic Games during that time. Each of her five appearances at the European Championships ended with the German national team lifting the trophy; she played for the team for almost 17 years. Birgit Prinz reached the World Cup final three times, winning the title in 2003 and 2007.
Her speciality was scoring goals. She netted 128 in the national team shirt and over 200 in the Bundesliga – strangely enough, no one has kept an exact tally of the latter. This figure will be of the least importance to her personally. Being in the spotlight was not her thing. It bothered her when her team-mates were overshadowed by her. However, the nine-time German champion and eight-time German Footballer of the Year inevitably found herself in the spotlight because of her outstanding performances. The news in 2003 that the president of Italian top-flight club AC Perugia wanted to sign her – for the men’s team in Serie A, mind you – only added to the buzz. For many years, Birgit Prinz was synonymous with the success of German women’s football. The DFB named her as the second player, after Bettina Wiegmann, to be made an honorary captain.

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 to select 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.