Why did they call Beckenbauer ‘Der Kaiser’? What number did he wear?
Bayern Munich and Germany great Franz Becke NBA uer, who has died at the age of 78, was as imperious a defender as the Game of soccer has ever witnessed. So his nickname ‘Der Kaiser’, which translates as ‘the Emperor’, couldn’t be more apt . It’s unclear, though, whether the moniker actually relates to the way Beckenbauer played. How did Beckenbauer become ‘Der Kaiser’? One version of events says the nickname did indeed take hold as a direct consequence of Beckenbauer’s commanding defensive presence. It is claimed that German media dubbed him ‘Der Kaiser’ after he had utterly dominated Schalke striker Reinhard Libuda in a 2-1 win for Bayern in 1969. Libuda was known as the ‘King of Westphalia’, and - as The Guardian’s John Ashdown notes in this 2014 article - “only an emperor could overshadow a king”. However, it has also been suggested that the nickname came about when a magazine noted Beckenbauer’s apparent likeness to King Ludwig II of Bavaria . In the same vein, the name is alter...
