Bundesliga
Since 2005, the Fritz Walter Medal has been awarded to the most exciting talents in German football. But who is the man after whom the award is named? bundesliga.com explains...
Born on 31 October 1920 in Kaiserslautern, Walter joined his local side’s academy at the age of eight, remaining in the youth set-up until he made his debut in 1937, aged 17. Walter ultimately spent his entire professional career at his hometown club, whose stadium adopted the legend’s name on 2 November 1985, to honour 'Lautern’s most famous alumnus, who had celebrated his 65th birthday two days prior.
Walter made 411 appearances for Die Roten Teufel between 1937 and 1959, scoring 372 goals, typically from an advanced midfield position. He also scored 33 goals in 61 appearances for the Germany national team, a side which he captained on 30 different occasions between 1951 and 1956. Appearances for both club and country came either side of a spell as a prisoner of war in Romania in 1945, where he was recognised as a footballer and saved from a Siberian gulag.
A true legend of the German game, Walter was the first ever Germany captain to steer his country to FIFA World Cup glory, winning the 1954 final in a game affectionately remembered by many Germans as the ‘Miracle of Bern’. Coming up against Hungary’s golden generation, including the great Ferenc Puskás, Germany was billed as the real underdog, but under Walter’s leadership they emerged as 3-2 winners to become only the third nation to ever win the World Cup, and the first to do so on foreign soil.
It's not just his success that has endeared Walter to so many Germans and football fans alike, however. Humility, loyalty, and determination were just a few of the great qualities he possessed. The true one-club player famously asked legendary Germany national team coach Sepp Herberger not to be picked anymore after a bad loss to France in 1952, having seen the result as something he, the captain, should be personally responsible for, to which Herberger replied: “I need you for many more years!”
Ultimately, Walter went on to become the first honorary captain of the Germany national team, a title bestowed by the German Football Association (DFB) to players who have made a significant contribution to the national team. Since Walter, there have been four other honorary captains: Uwe Seeler, Franz Beckenbauer, Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann.
Three years after his death in June 2002 at the age of 81, the DFB introduced the Fritz Walter Medal, awarded to the best young players in German football. Then president of the DFB Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder declared at the first award ceremony that it had been named in honour of the late Walter, a role model both as a sportsman and as a person in general.
Since 2005, the awarding of the Fritz Walter Medal has undergone multiple changes, but the premise remains largely the same. There are three tiers of the medal: Gold, Silver and Bronze, to be awarded to a young player in accordance with their achievements that year. In 2005, there were four categories: U19, U18, U17 and Female. The most recognisable name from that first ceremony is now Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer, who was awarded the Silver Medal in the U19 category whilst he was still a Schalke player.
This format remained unchanged until 2015, after which the U18 category was discontinued, with the last ever winner of the Gold Medal being Julian Brandt from his time as a Bayer Leverkusen youngster. The revised format continued until 2021, when it was revised again to introduce a fourth category, splitting the former ‘Female’ category into two: ‘Female U19’ and ‘Female U17’.
Watch: Manuel Neuer - Fritz Walter Medal winner to world's best
In October 2024, in the most recent ceremony, Bayern-bound Hoffenheim starlet Tom Bischof and Leverkusen talent Francis Onyeka were named winners of the Gold Medal for both male age categories (U19 and U17, respectively). Over the years, however, countless German stars have won the award, heralding the dawning of some hugely successful careers, including Toni Kroos (2008, U18), Mario Götze (2009 & 2010, U17 & U18), Kai Havertz (2018, U19) and Florian Wirtz (2020 & 2022, U17 & U19).
Whilst receiving the award is no guarantee of future success, present and future winners will be delighted to have their names mentioned alongside some of the giants of the German game. With so much young talent to be recognised and rewarded in Germany too, what better way is there than this award to preserve the virtues of Fritz Walter and to honour the legend’s memory?