📍Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany
1961 – 1979“Lothar Matthäus was born in Erlangen in March 1961 and grew up in Herzogenaurach, a small town in Franconia, near Nuremberg, famous as the home of the sports companies Puma and Adidas, founded by the feuding Dassler brothers. His father, who had fled west from Silesia at the end of the war, worked at the Puma factory for many years, and the family lived close by. Lothar spent time with his father beside the production lines several times a week, and Puma's shorts, socks and shirts meant the boys always had kit to play in. He has described a happy childhood centred on football. He had a brother four years older, and as the younger sibling he had to fight to keep up, playing against older boys in the streets and on the pitches of Herzogenaurach. At about ten he joined the youth teams of 1. FC Herzogenaurach, where he wore Puma boots, and he was an energetic, competitive midfielder who never stopped running. Not sure that football would work out, he also trained as an interior decorator, planning to make that his career if he did not become a professional. In 1979, Borussia Mönchengladbach signed him, and he went on to become one of the greatest midfielders of all time, playing for Bayern Munich and Inter, and winning seven Bundesliga titles. He captained West Germany to victory in the 1990 World Cup, and won the Ballon d'Or that year. He played in five World Cups, a record. In 2018, at fifty-seven, he played one last match for FC Herzogenaurach, the club where it all began.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today