From Bernstein to Wyludda: the dead of 2024

They were Olympic champions, world champions, sports stars or officials. At the end of the year, Deutsche Presse-Agentur remembers those who passed away in 2024.

Kay Bernstein (September 8, 1980 - January 16, 2024):

Kay Bernstein moved from the fan curve to the main stand at Hertha BSC. The fact that he was actually elected president of the second-division soccer club in the summer of 2022 was also a slap in the face for the Berlin club's establishment.

Bernstein threw himself into the task with all his might. Not only with his ubiquitous Hertha training jacket, but also with his open manner. He also appeared as a critic of the excesses of modern soccer. He and his supporters succeeded in significantly improving the atmosphere around the club. A bond was formed between fans and team that could also withstand failure.

Joachim Franke (30.03.1940 - 19.03.2024):

He made Claudia Pechstein one of the most successful speed skaters in the world: Joachim Franke. When he died on March 19 in a nursing home in Bernau near Berlin, the now 53-year-old Pechstein was inconsolable. "He was simply everything to me. Shaped me, made me a world star. I owe him everything. Take care, coach. May heaven have a nice place for you. RIP," said the five-time Olympic champion, who worked with Franke for 16 years.

Before his career as a speed skating coach, Franke was an ice hockey player for Dynamo Weißwasser. He won European Championship bronze with the GDR team in 1966. He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his achievements in promoting young athletes. The long-time successful coach retired in 2007.

Gisela Birkemeyer-Köhler (22.12.1931 - 26.03.2024):

Former hurdles sprint world record holder Gisela Birkemeyer-Köhler was only known to very few people. Born in Thuringia, she died on March 26 at the age of 92 in her home city of Berlin. At the 1956 Summer Olympics, she had won silver in the 80 m hurdles under her maiden name Köhler, and four years later she took bronze in Rome.

The 40-time GDR champion was the first woman in the world to run 10.5 seconds over 80 meters hurdles in Leipzig in 1960. She also set several world records with the GDR relay team. In 1959, she was Sportswoman of the Year in the GDR. In 1957, Köhler married her coach Horst Birkemeyer, and after her career she worked as a junior coach at SC Dynamo Berlin.

Siegfried Kirschen (13.10.1943 - 19.04.2024):

He was one of the most famous soccer referees in the GDR: Siegfried Kirschen. He embodied world-class standards, officiated 251 matches in the GDR's top division between 1972 and 1991 and was regarded as an absolute authority. From 1979, he belonged to the illustrious circle of FIFA referees. As a young player at SC Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt, he was a dangerous right winger. A serious injury forced him to end his active career and he became a referee.

Kirschen took part in two World Cups in 1986 and 1990, where he refereed two matches each time. After his refereeing career, the teacher and psychologist became an official and was president of the Brandenburg Football Association from 1990 to 2018. He was also a referee coach in the Bundesliga and an international referee observer.

Manfred Wolke (14.01. 1943 - 29.05. 2024):

In Manfred Wolke, a man who was successful as an athlete and trainer died on May 29. As a welterweight, he won Olympic gold in Mexico City in 1968. Wolke became famous above all as the trainer of Henry Maske, whom he made Olympic middleweight champion in Seoul in 1988 and then world champion (light heavyweight) - both as an amateur and later as a professional. Wolke's boxers also included Olympic gold medal winner Rudi Fink and heavyweight Axel Schulz.

"Some athletes who were considered average became internationally successful boxers under him," said Maske. "Of course, the athlete has to do it alone, but Manfred Wolke was the guide who showed them opportunities and made demands that they probably wouldn't have implemented otherwise."

Bernd Bauchspieß (10.10. 1939 - 22.10. 2024):

What Gerd Müller was for FC Bayern, Bernd Bauchspieß was for Chemie Leipzig. The striker, known by everyone as "Spießer", shaped an era for the Leutzschers. No other Chemiker ever achieved as much fame as the former GDR international, who scored 120 goals in 264 GDR Oberliga matches. Born in Zeitz, Bauchspieß was an excellent technician on the ball and combined the Leutzsch virtues of fighting spirit and hard tackling with a great deal of wit like no other.

The surprising GDR championship title with BSG Chemie in 1964 was the reward for the hard work of the self-proclaimed rejects, who also won the FDGB Cup in 1966. Bauchspieß was top scorer in the GDR Oberliga three times. Bauchspieß, who worked as an orthopaedic surgeon well past retirement age, won the bronze medal with the Olympic team in Tokyo in 1964.

Michael Hübner (08.04. 1959 - 12.11. 2024):

Thighs as thick as many an upper body were Michael Hübner's trademark. Although he was denied an Olympic appearance during his career, the sprinter was one of the most successful track cyclists in the world in the 1990s. After the fall of communism, the Saxon celebrated three world championship titles in the keirin (1990 to 1992), two in the sprint (1990 and 1992) and one in the team sprint (1995). He also won a world championship title as an amateur in the sprint (1986). In the last year of his career, he won World Championship silver and the German championship title in the team sprint alongside his close friend Jens Fiedler.

Hübner ended his career in 1997. Until 2022, the Chemnitz native was the sporting director of the track cycling team Theed Projekt Cycling (formerly Team Erdgas), which included greats such as Kristina Vogel, Maximilian Levy, Lea Sophie Friedrich and his son Sascha Hübner. "He is a sprint legend. He, Lutz Hesslich and Jens Fiedler were the ones who made sprinting big in Germany," said Olympic champion Kristina Vogel after Hübner's death was announced.

Ilke Wyludda (28.03.1969 - 01.12.2024):

Her former training colleague Silke Renk could not believe the early death of Ilke Wyludda. "Ilke struggled with health problems early on in her career. Each time, she was in the shit. The whole German throwing community is in mourning. She was always a fighter, but unfortunately lost her last battle far too early," said Renk after the 1996 Olympic discus throw champion passed away at the age of just 55.

Born in Leipzig, Wyludda began athletics at a young age and won the discus throw title and silver in the shot put at the 1985 European Junior Championships. Later, she concentrated solely on the disc and from 1989 was one of the world's top athletes. She won the European Championship titles in 1990 and 1994 and came second in the World Championships in 1991 and 1995.

After her career, the qualified sports teacher for therapeutic rehabilitation and disabled sports became a physiotherapist with her own practice, later studying medicine and working as an anaesthetist. After an amputation of her lower right leg caused by a bacterial wound infection in 2010, she began competing in Paralympic sport, competing in the 2012 Paralympics and finishing fifth in the shot put.