On Thursday evening, a statue honoring the most famous son of the small Bavarian town was presented to the public in Nördlingen. Guests of honor such as Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder or club icon Uli Hoeneß came to be present at the inauguration of the new Gerd Müller monument. A dispute has now arisen over the statue in honor of the most successful goalscorer in the history of FC Bayern.
Numerous Bayern fans spoke out on social networks who did not agree with the bronze statue at all.
The reason for the complaints: The sculpture should simply not look like the former world-class striker.
November 3rd, Gerd Müller’s birthday, was specially selected for the public presentation of the statue.
The nation’s bomber passed away in August last year at the age of 75 after a long illness.
The Aschaffenburg sculptor Herbert Deiss designed the bronze figure that depicts Gerd Müller at what is probably his most famous goal. In the 1974 World Cup final, the Bayern legend scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1 for the German team against the Netherlands.
Encouragement from Bavarian President Herbert Hainer
Especially via Facebook and Twitter, there has now been criticism from numerous supporters of FC Bayern, who see too little resemblance to the original in the face of the statue.
“Looks more like Costa Cordalis than Gerd Müller”, “Unfortunately very bad in terms of craftsmanship. Gerd Müller really deserves something better”, were just two of the comments.
Nevertheless, the statue was well received by the foremost club representatives such as President Herbert Hainer: “I think it’s well done, including the dynamism that Gerd radiates. Overall, I think it’s very, very well done.”
The statue will probably continue to evoke a mixed response in its reception in the future.