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The German football icon Franz Beckenbauer lived in Obwalden for years – and was involved in a major tax affair. A look back.
The “Emperor” is no more: Franz Beckenbauer died on Sunday at the age of 78. He thrilled the crowds with his style of play and shaped the position of libero like no other. Arguably the greatest German footballer of all time has also left his mark in Switzerland.
Three years after Beckenbauer became world champion with the German national team in 1974, he signed a contract with the Cosmos New York football club. At the same time, in 1977, he moved his residence to Sarnen in the canton of Obwalden. It was always his dream to play with Pelé and he liked the mountains, Beckenbauer is said to have justified his change of club and place of residence. But that is only the half truth.
For the boys from Sarnen it was a highlight to play football with the boys of the famous Franz Beckenbauer.
Confronted with demands for millions from the German tax office and harassed by the media, a change of scenery came at the right time – especially one with a lucrative three-year contract and a tax-efficient home.
In 1977, Beckenbauer’s children started school in Sarnen. The then rector Urs Zumstein can still remember it well. At Brigitte Beckenbauer’s request, the principal and school board president welcomed the family. “The playground was swarming with photographers who took photos of us next to Ms. Beckenbauer and her three children. The next day the Bild newspaper wrote on the front page under the photo: The Beckenbauers starting school, accompanied by two bodyguards.
The “Emperor” in Obwalden
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Caption: “The Beckenbauers starting school, accompanied by two bodyguards,” it said under this photo on the front page of the German “Bild”. You can see Brigitte Beckenbauer with her three sons, flanked by Rector Urs Zumstein (right) on August 22, 1977. KEYSTONE/PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIVE/Str
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Legend: Despite a contract in New York, German football star Franz Beckenbauer maintained his official residence in Switzerland from 1977 to 1984. Here in the picture with his manager Robert Schwan (right), taken on February 8, 1979 in Sarnen. KEYSTONE/Str
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Legend: Beckenbauer’s traces in Switzerland have almost faded. Above all, what remains is the memory of a full-blown tax affair. (Picture from February 8, 1979 in Sarnen) KEYSTONE/Str
From 1977 onwards, the “Kaiser’s” family lived at the top of a high-rise building in Sarnen, while Beckenbauer played football in New York. The family lived in seclusion, says Urs Zumstein. “For the boys from Sarnen, however, it was a highlight to play football with the boys of the famous Franz Beckenbauer.”
Ever the busy libero, the German football star also donated a new sports center to his hometown. In 1978, the “Franz Beckenbauer Tennis Center” was opened in Sarnen and was ceremoniously opened with a match between Beckenbauer and Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier.
Beckenbauer – the tax evader
In 1984 the Beckenbauer family moved to Kitzbühel, Austria. Shortly afterwards, an unprecedented tax affair became public around Sarnen’s once most prominent resident. Obwalden, then a financially weak canton with fewer than 30,000 residents, had concluded illegal tax agreements with Beckenbauer and other well-heeled people. The Finance Department under Federal Councilor Otto Stich took Obwalden under “tax guardianship” – a first in Switzerland.
The Obwalden tax affair surrounding Beckenbauer
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During inspections by the tax administration from 1983 to 1985, illegal Obwalden tax deals with wealthy newcomers came to light in 22 cases. The federal government estimated the resulting tax losses at 15 to 20 million francs. When the Finance Department placed the canton of Obwalden under “guardianship” from 1986 to 1988, the cantonal tax authorities were only allowed to deal with problem-free cases. The federal government took care of everything else, as the NZZ writes.
As a result, the Obwalden finance director Willi Hophan resigned. But that’s not all: Beckenbauer’s business partner wanted to liquidate a joint company in the 1980s and smuggle around 1.2 million francs past the Munich tax authorities. In 1986, the Federal Court judged the case to be tax evasion. Franz Beckenbauer was sentenced to a fine and had to pay considerable back taxes.
In 1989, the Federal Court also found the then Obwalden Justice Director Hans Hess, who acted as Beckenbauer’s lawyer, guilty of possibly intentionally aiding and abetting tax evasion. He had to pay a fine of over 100,000 francs and resigned as a government councilor. However, the tax affair was not a permanent downfall for Hess. In 1998, the Obwalden electorate elected him to the Council of States, where he remained political until 2015.
How much – or little – taxes “Kaiser Franz” actually paid in Obwalden in the 1970s and 1980s is still unknown to this day.
This affair made waves nationally, recalls Niccolò Raselli, then president of the Obwalden Higher and Administrative Court. “It was poorly received in Obwalden. People expressed their solidarity with the supposed tax victims.”
Beckenbauer – the GC footballer
Some people in Zurich will also remember “Kaiser Franz”. In 1983, Beckenbauer wore the GC jersey for an international tournament in the Hallenstadion. GC played against Dinamo Zagreb in front of 10,000 spectators. The fact that the Grasshoppers ultimately lost the final game probably didn’t matter too much because of so many celebrities.
The “Emperor” in Zurich
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Legend: Prominent reinforcement for the Zurich Grasshoppers: “Kaiser Franz” (left) ran in the GC uniform at the second international indoor football tournament in the Zurich Hallenstadion on January 3, 1983. (KEYSTONE/Str)
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Legend: Contact with GC remained: Franz Beckenbauer (left) in conversation with former GC President Walter A. Brunner, taken on May 30, 2007 at the 57th Fifa Congress in Zurich. KEYSTONE/Eddy Risch
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Legend: Beckenbauer had to justify himself to the media again and again – be it in the Obwalden tax affair or regarding the inconsistencies in the awarding of the Football World Cup to Germany in 2006 (picture from the FIFA headquarters in Zurich in 1999). Keystone/Christoph Ruckstuhl
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Legend: Despite several scandals, the German football legend remained a welcome guest. Franz Beckenbauer at the guild parade at Sechseläuten in Zurich on April 19, 2004. KEYSTONE/Walter Bieri
The traces of “Kaiser Franz” have now faded in Switzerland. For example, his former tennis center in Sarnen is now a simple industrial hall.
2024-01-10 10:48:17
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