- Franz John
Franz Adolf Louis John (born
September 28 1872 inPritzwalk , diedNovember 17 1952 inBerlin ) was a German photographer. He was one of the initiators of the founding ofFC Bayern Munich and its first president from 1900 to 1903.. [cite book
last = Schulze-Marmeling
first = Dietrich
title = Die Bayern. Die Geschichte des deutschen Rekordmeisters
language = German
publisher = Die Werkstatt
date = 2003
pages = 637
isbn = 389533426X]He was born on
September 28 1872 in Pritzwalk (Brandenburg ), the son of Friedrich Wilhelm and Ida John. After moving with his parents toPankow at the fringe ofBerlin , he later joined the football club VfB Pankow. There he metGustav Manning , who afterwards became secretary of theDFB . Manning later helped John to integrate theMunich football clubs into the DFB. After his apprenticeship as a photographer inJena John moved to Munich where he became a member ofMTV 1879 Munich .When on the
February 27 1900 the steering committee of MTV prohibited the football division of its club to join the association of southgerman football clubs (SFV), eleven football players left the club under the lead of Franz John. In the restaurant "Gisela" they founded the "Munich Football Club Bayern" and elected Franz John for president. John also founded the council of Bavarianreferee s.Under his lead the club joined the SFV still in its first year and quickly became a force in the Munich football scene. In 1903 John left FC Bayern and was succeeded as president by the Dutch
Willem Hesselink . John also left Munich in 1904, moving back to Pankow, where he opened a photo laboratory and later became president of his home clubVfB Pankow . Despite having few contacts to Munich John was in the 1920s elected as honorary president of theFC Bayern Munich and in 1936 he received the needle of honour in gold from the club.Grown lonely he died on
November 17 1952 in Pankow; he had no descendants. Journalist Joachim Rechenberg later traced his lost grave to Fürstenwalde. When in 2000 the FC Bayern celebrated its 100th anniversary, the club recreated the grave and donated a new tombstone to commemorate the merits of Franz John.References
External links
* [http://home.arcor.de/prignitzportal/citizen/seite_john_franz.htm Prignitzlexikon - Offizielle Biografie von Franz John]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
