Pia Wunderlich, Bernard Dietz and Ottmar Hitzfeld will be in the Hall of Fame of German football. This was the result of the annual vote by the jury made up of leading German sports journalists. In addition to their outstanding sporting achievements, all three of those selected had a special personality and attitude with which they shaped football over a long period of time, according to the jury.
Dietz made his last major appearance to date in June 2024. Before the opening game of the home European Championship, he carried the European Championship trophy into the Munich stadium together with Jürgen Klinsmann and Heidi Beckenbauer, widow of Franz Beckenbauer, who died shortly before the tournament.
When the order came from the DFB, Dietz first thought it was a joke, as he said in the WDR interview at the time, in his usual modest manner. In truth, it was a logical nomination. Dietz is one of three captains of a German European champion team. He will soon receive the title of honorary captain from the DFB. And another honor has already been decided: Dietz will be inducted into the German Football Hall of Fame, as the expert jury announced on Thursday (November 6th, 2025).
“Ennatz” Dietz – legend of the Ruhr area
Dietz, now 77, played 53 international matches and 495 Bundesliga games, most of them for MSV Duisburg, the club he loved. His 77 Bundesliga goals are still a record for a defender. His four goals in the 6-3 win against FC Bayern in the 1977/78 season are unforgettable, especially at MSV. “Ennatz” Dietz also played the rest of his professional career for a Ruhr area club, FC Schalke.
As captain and head of defense for the 1980 European champions, Dietz played a major role in ensuring that the DFB team remained unbeaten for 23 games in a row – a series that is still unmatched today. “Bernard Dietz is the experienced head of a then young German national team that emerged from the upheaval after the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and crowned itself two years later by winning the European Championship title” said the jury.
Dietz also described the 2-1 win in the 1980 European Championship final against Belgium as “most beautiful memory” to his active career. “To stand in a row with players like Franz Beckenbauer is unique. Being called into the Hall of Fame is already an award for life’s work“, he now announced. “I never saw football as a job, but always wanted to give something back to the people who came to the stadium. I couldn’t have gotten more out of my body.” On Friday, Dietz was also honored as honorary captain of the DFB at the DFB Bundestag in Frankfurt.
Pia Wunderlich – great successes in the DFB uniform and with Frankfurt
Pia Wunderlich even won three European Championship titles with the DFB team – and, above all, the historic first World Cup title for Germany’s female footballers in 2003. The 102-time national player celebrated even more successes with her club, 1.FFC Frankfurt. With Frankfurt, the midfield strategist won six German championships, the DFB Cup seven times and the UEFA Cup three times, and even the triple in 2002.
“Pia Wunderlich represents the great era of 1.FFC Frankfurt at the beginning of this millennium. She also played a key role in shaping the German women’s national team’s path to their first World Cup title.”said the jury in its statement.
“I am thrilled to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This is a great honor” said the now 50-year-old Wunderlich. “When I look at the great footballers that have already been accepted there, it is something special for me to now be able to be in this group. It is wonderful to be on a par with those with whom I played so many tournaments and became world champion in 2003.”
Wunderlich’s career also represents the professionalization of women’s football: in the Bundesliga she played for SG Praunheim, a club from a district of Frankfurt and a founding member of the women’s Bundesliga, which later became part of 1. FFC Frankfurt. Eintracht Frankfurt has now taken over the license and the 1. FFC has dissolved. The time of purely women’s football clubs in the highest German box office seems to be over.
Hitzfeld – most successful German club coach
Ottmar Hitzfeld played an important role as a coach, not only at Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern, but also in the more recent history of the national team: In the summer of 2004, the national team under team boss Rudi Völler crash-landed at the European Championships and was left without a national coach. Hitzfeld, the preferred candidate of all those responsible and experts in German football, surprisingly canceled. Jürgen Klinsmann took over, who subsequently ushered in an era of success with Joachim Löw as assistant coach and secret boss, crowned with the 2014 World Cup title. Hitzfeld became national coach in Switzerland, his second home.
His successes as a coach at BVB and FC Bayern (a total of seven championships and three cup titles) have rightly earned the now 76-year-old a place in the German football Hall of Fame. Hitzfeld is the only German coach to have that Champions LeagueTitle won with two German teams.
Hitzfeld has with his successes and his way of doing things Coaching “leave a lasting trace”the jury said. Hitzfeld described the induction into the Hall of Fame as “special honor”. He thanked everyone “who supported me on my way”he said. “I was able to work with exceptional players, clubs and employees – this award belongs to them too.”
award expected in spring 2027
Hitzfeld, Wunderlich and Dietz are expected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the German Football Museum in spring 2027. The German Football Hall of Fame was launched in 2019. So far, 53 legends (36 men, 17 women) have been inducted.