These are the last photographs of German football legend Franz Beckenbauer in public – almost exactly a year before he died at the age of 78.
‘Der Kaiser’ was pictured with his wife Heidi and son Joel at the traditional carp dinner at the ‘Kitzhof’ hotel in the Austin Alpine town of Kitzbühel on January 6 last year.
Beckenbauer withdrew from public life due to health issues – in recent years he deal with a heart problem, issues with his vision and Parkinson’s disease – before his passing on Sunday.
According to German newspaper Bild, when his 1990 World Cup-winning team held a reunion last summer in Grassau, Bavaria, Beckenbauer was too ill to attend.
At the Kitzbühel dinner back in January, when asked about his health, Beckenbauer said: ‘I’m doing well so far given the circumstances. If it stays that way, I’ll be happy.’
German football legend Franz Beckenbauer (second right) is pictured with wife Heidi (middle) and son Joel (left) as well as staff from the Hotel Kitzhof in Kitzbühel, Austria last January
These would prove to be the final photographs of the legend in public before his death at 78
The Beckenbauer family attended a traditional New Year carp dinner in the Austrian town
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His last visit to a football stadium for a match was on August 26, 2022 when he took in the Bundesliga fixture between Hoffenheim and Augsburg as he was being treated at a nearby clinic.
Beckenbauer’s last time watching his beloved Bayern Munich was a 4-0 win over Stuttgart in March 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic was still keeping fans out of stadiums.
Beckenbauer was widely considered one of football’s greatest-ever players. He won the World Cup as captain of West Germany in 1974, before managing the team to glory in 1990.
The defender played 584 times for Bayern, helping them win three consecutive European Cups between 1974 and 1976, as well as four Bundesliga titles, four German Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. He later added another Bundesliga with Hamburg.
He was part of the West Germany team that won the 1972 European Championship and would later win league titles with Bayern and Marseille in France.
Beckenbauer’s talents were recognised with two Ballon d’Or wins in 1972 and 1976.
Beckenbauer’s health has gradually declined ever since his son Stephan died in 2015. Since then the iconic former player and manager had battled Parkinson’s disease, dementia, as well as undergoing heart operations.
He leaves behind his wife Heidi and his four other children.
Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest footballers ever, has passed away at the age of 78
Beckenbauer is survived by his wife Heidi – who he married in 2006 – and four of his five children
‘It is with deep sadness that we announce that husband and father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family,’ a statement read.
‘We ask that you be able to mourn in silence and refrain from asking any questions.’
Earlier this month concern grew for the former Bayern Munich superstar – and his brother was unable to ease public worry.
‘If I told you now he was fine, I would be lying and I don’t like to lie,’ Walter Beckenbauer told German broadcaster ARD on January 2.
‘He doesn’t feel well. He’s constantly up and down.’
As his health worsened he disappeared from the public spotlight until his death on Sunday. German media spoke of how his judgement and memory had ‘significantly deteriorated’ in recent months.
In 2019, in Bunte magazine, it was revealed that Beckenbauer, nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’, had lost sight in one eye after competing in a golf tournament in his name – the Kaiser Cup.
‘I had a supposed ocular infection in one eye,’ he said.
The Germany icon is one of three men to have won the World Cup as both player and manager
Beckenbauer won the World Cup for West Germany as both a player, in 1974, and a manager in 1990 (pictured with Bobby Moore in 1985)
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‘Unfortunately, I can’t see anything with my right eye anymore. And I need to be careful with my heart.’
Beckenbauer had been at Stephan’s bedside when he died at the age of 46 after battling with a brain tumour, and the experience had a lasting – and deteriorating – effect on him.
Stephan’s death left Beckenbauer with regrets that he had concentrated too much on football, rather than family.
‘I was a bad father because I was never there,’ he said in a 2005 TV interview.
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