Trautmanns Weg: Vom Hitlerjungen zur englischen Fußball-Legende

by Catrine Clay, Wolfgang Niersbach (Foreword), Olaf Bentkämper (Translator)

Bert Trautmann wurde 1923 in Bremen geboren, trat früh der Hitlerjugend bei und meldete sich als 17-Jähriger freiwillig zum Kriegseinsatz an der Ostfront. Wie konnte er mit dieser Biografie zu einem englischen Fußballidol werden, das bis zu seinem Tod im Juli 2013 auf Manchesters Straßen erkannt und verehrt wurde? Die englische Historikerin Catrine Clay hat diese denkwürdige Karriere in Zusammenarbeit mit Bert Trautmann sorgsam recherchiert. Ihr gelingt ein aufschlussreicher Blick auf eine typische Jugend im Nationalsozialismus, auf hautnahe Kriegserfahrung und persönliche Lernprozesse in englischer Kriegsgefangenschaft. Am Ende steht der Wille zur Versöhnung. Und eine weitere existentielle Erfahrung, die Trautmann zur Fußballlegendewerden lässt: Der seinerzeit vielleicht weltbeste Torhüter erleidet im englischen Pokalfinale einen Genickbruch, spielt aber unter Lebensgefahr weiter und sichert seinem Verein Manchester City den Titel. In den englischen Fußballannalen ist das bis heute unvergessen.

Genres: Football, History, Biography, Nonfiction, Sports, World War II, Germany

422 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2010

About the author

Catrine Clay has worked for the BBC for over twenty years, directing and producing award-winning television documentaries. She won the International Documentary Award and the Golden Spire for Best History Documentary, and was nominated for a BAFTA. She is the author of King, Kaiser, Tsar and Trautmann’s Journey, which won a British Sports Book Award for Biography of the Year and was runner-up for the William Hill Sports Book Award. She is married with three children and lives in London.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is more than just about the sporting great, it is a book of being a youth and growing up in Nazi Germany and then going to war for them. Only the last chapter in the book is about his professional footballing career, the rest is all Hitler Youth, frontline service and being a POW in post-war Britain. Highly recommended!!

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite unlike the many football biogs that I have read, so included this one into my WWII shelf. In fact football at the English pro level only gets going in the final chapter. Catrine Clay's 'Trautmann's Journey' from 2010, is a very interesting biography that highlights Bert's early family life in Bremen, just as Hitler's machtergreifung began. Clay has written a well researched and at times quite graphic account of Trautmann's passage through the Hitler Youth movement, which he joined at the age of ten, and at seventeen spent three years on the Russian Front. Not quite as horrific as Guy Sager's 'Forgotten Soldier', but it certainly has it's moments. Finally in northern France after D. Day, our hero is captured by the British in 1945, and at the age of 22 finds himself in a P.O.W. camp in Lancashire.
It seems quite amazing today, but up to this point in his story, B.T. had never played in goal. It was only through friendship with the locals that he played amateur football for St.Helens before signing for Manchester City in 1949. He became the first German to appear in a Wembley Cup Final in 1955, before appearing again the following year in the legendary final where he broke his neck and played on for the last fifteen minutes. Amazing...the trainer runs onto the pitch and with Bert's neck stuck to one side tells him, "only fifteen minutes to go Bert!"
I did see the big man play for City against Bill Nicholson's Spurs team at Maine Road, and typically nothing got passed him that day, despite Jimmy Greaves, Cliff Jones and Bobby Smith. He was born in 1923, same year as my mother, and both are still kicking.

[Giorgio Bugnatelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Catrine Clay is a British author and documentary filmmaker who spent two decades with the BBC, earning a reputation for investigative rigour and historical insight. "Trautmann's Journey" is a sports biography firmly rooted in history, charting the life of Bert Trautmann, a former Hitler Youth turned FA Cup legend. The book will appeal to readers interested in football, World War II history and stories of transformation across cultures. It’s especially attractive to those who appreciate detailed character studies set against sweeping historical backdrops.
The story traces Bert Trautmann from his indoctrinated youth in Nazi Germany, through the horrors of war—including witnessing massacres in Ukraine—and ultimately to a British POW camp, where exposure to a new way of life prompts personal change. After release, his prowess as a football goalkeeper takes him from amateur English clubs to the heights of Manchester City. Clay explores not just Trautmann’s sporting achievements, like winning the FA Cup with a broken neck, but also the complex, sometimes troubled relationships with women and family, his painful adaptation to a new country, and his gradual embrace of tolerance and forgiveness. Her narrative keeps a brisk pace, managing to juxtapose individual struggles with broader historical events. Clay’s biography is sometimes side-tracked by too much extraneous historical material, which occasionally disrupts the focus on Trautmann’s personal journey.
Memorable Quote
"When people ask me about life, I say my education began when I got to England. I learnt about humanity, tolerance and forgiveness."

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the best books I've read regarding this period for a while. It was interesting to hear a story told from the other side of the coin. The Germans were a lost people who fell in the arms of Hitler. After his election, he ran out his opposition, and his overall approval was never that high during the war. He ran a government of fear. It's interesting that during the years of conflict before the Nazis, the Jews had the money and charged crazy interest rates on loans to impoverished Germans. Trautmann's account was gruesome. The Germans suffered severe losses during their winters in Russia, and the S.S. were known for shooting their own. Trautmann survived the war, spent time in a British internment camp before playing professional football. During this time, he only ever wanted to be a "good German," and that's precisely what he was. As a final note, it is incredible to see that the Hitler Youth program was a machine for war from its very inception, and the boys in that program were entirely brainwashed.

[Ray Smillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody, of a certain age, knows about or at least has heard of, Bert Trautmann playing on in an FA cup final not realising that he had broken his neck after a challenge. This is much more than that. It covers his full life, from his spell in Hitler Youth, where he freely admits, in retrospect, that the brain washing of youngsters in Nazi Germany was impossible to escape from.

Also covered is the horrific experiences on the Eastern Front in the army. Being relocated to the UK as a POW, where he initially found the kindness shown by most Brits as hard to fathom. How he ended up as a goalkeeper, having been one of those athletic types who excelled in most sports, when he was moved from centre half to between the sticks in one game and took to the role straight away.

His life is covered in full and what a fascinating life he has lived.

[David Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book on a fascinating character. Although he became England's favourite German and played part of an FA Cup Final with a broken neck, those parts of the book are actually the least engaging. His childhood and his early adult life, lived under the shadow of Nazism is shocking, unsettling and very unpleasant at times. His slow realisation as to the true nature of the Nazi regime is very sad to read and his struggles with life both inside and outside Germany very affecting. If you are a football fan this will probably interest you anyway, but if you aren't but you just want to read an amazing story well told then this is the book for you.

[Toby Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A departure from my usual reading but as a local hero to my neck of the woods (although football wise as a Spurs fan not particularly a hero of mine). The life of the goalkeeper with the broken neck is truly inspiring. To have gone through the times that this man did and be able to both get through and be as regarded as he was for his humility and talent is amazing. As a read I found it a little slow and gained a knowledge of "Bert" but didn't feel like I'd heard this from his voice. For football fans this should be read regardless of allegiance.

[Oğuz Can Ergin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitaba başlarken beklendim bir futbolcu biyografisi okumaktı. Ancak kendimi 1. Dünya Savaşı sonrası Almanya, Nazilerin iktidara gelişi, spor politikaları, 2. Dünya Savaşı, esir kamplarındaki insanların durumu gibi bazılarını bildiğim bazılarını bilmediğim konuları okurken buldum. Bütün bu olaylar Trautmann'ın yaşadıkları çevresinde detaylıca anlatılmış. Hikaye zaten inanılmaz. Gerçek hikaye olmasa "senarist de amma abartmış" diyeceğimiz bir hayat yaşamış Trautmann. Futbolla ve yukarıda saydığım konularla ilgilenen varsa kaçırmasın.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. Never heard of the guy before. How different the world was then for a football player. And it reminds me of the Borges quip. Here the subtitle (very nearly) tells the complete story. 7/10

[Ian McLagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good read. This is a fascinating recount of a legendary sportsman. A man who went from being a Hitler youth to a POW and on to become a much loved hero of the English game. A history book at first and then a sporting tale . Very inspirational tale ! Recommend highly 👍

[JoJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a social commentary than a football book, but well written and informative.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

two world wars and one world cup

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible life story that sounds fictitious if you didn't know better. Engaging throughout & a great read

[Tim Caines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb account of an inspiring figure of the football yesteryear. I don't normally read this sort of book and am quite bad with reading sport biographies but I am thankful to my work colleague for a superb recommendation. Fascinating account of WW2 from the Nazi perspective and how German POWs adapted to British culture.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, yet also felt disatisfied. It was fascinating to hear a first hand account of a young person growing up in Nazi Germany, but at the same time the war years were skimmed over. Here is a guy who won the Iron Cross (more than once?) and yet there is little to no account of the battles he fought or what he did. Perhaps all of that might have seemed too bad eh, when he's been acknowledged as such a great sportsman. And then the final pages seem to concertina the largest part of his life into a chapter or two. So fascinating but frustrating - I wanted to know much more - and I didn't get to hear it.

[Bill Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seldom read biographies or sporting books but this one tells a fascinating story. It skims the surface somewhat, which makes it a good read but also leaves you wanting to know a lot more about this man. It would make a good TV series!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good - what a life this Man City legend lived growing up in Nazi Germany and fighting on all fronts for Hitler. Fascinating indigo to 30s Germany. Did spot the odd factual error but a good read if like me you like sporting history.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed the book but felt more could be written about his life in football and the latter part of his career

[Mozlenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story of a war hero and a famous football personality.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some story!