Historic German World Cup victor Walter dies

Ottmar Walter, part of the historic West German 1954 World Cup winning side, has died aged 89 in Kaiserslautern, it was announced today.

Walter, whose older brother Fritz (died 2002) captained the team, scored four goals in a tournament that remains engraved in the memories of the German people as it was the first time a Germany team wore the national colours of the Federal Republic — which had come into being when the country was split in two following the defeat in World War II — in a global sport tournament.

However, the team triumphed despite an inauspicious start when they were humiliated 8-3 by the magnificent Hungarian side in the pool stage and then trailed 2-0 to the same opposition in the final before coming back and winning 3-2.

During World War II, Walter had served in the Navy and had been seriously wounded in his right leg.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder – whose father served in the Wehrmacht and was killed in Romania in 1944 – testified to the effect the World Cup victory had on national morale saying that watching it in a restaurant aged 10 was the first time he had felt German.

The long-lasting effects of Walter’s wound forced him to hang up his boots in 1956 after winning 20 caps, scoring eight goals, and playing over 320 games in two spells with Kaiserslautern.

Life after retiring from football was not kind to him as he tried to commit suicide in 1969 when the gas station he rented was taken away from him, a gesture he later described as a ‘panic reaction’.