Editing Fritz Walter (section)

==Life and career==

===Early club career===
Born on 31 October 1920, Walter was exposed to football early with his parents, Ludwig (1894–1976) and Dorothea Walter ([[birth name|née]] Kieburg; 1896–1978), working at the [[1. FC Kaiserslautern]] club restaurant.<ref name="fritz-walter-museum">{{cite web|url=https://www.initiative-fritz-walter-museum.de/erinnerungen/2021/007-dorothea-walter/|title=Die Mutter der Weltmeister—Zum 125. Geburtstag von Dorothea Walter|date=7 February 2021|publisher=Fritz Walter Museum|access-date=23 December 2023}}</ref> By 1928 he had joined the Kaiserslautern youth academy, and he made his first team debut at 17, continuing an association with the club that would be his only professional club.<ref name="uefa1">{{cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/aboutuefa/organisation/history/obituaries/newsid=26646.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024133534/http://www.uefa.com/uefa/aboutuefa/organisation/history/obituaries/newsid=26646.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 October 2012|title=Tributes for the 'Hero of Berne'|date=18 June 2002|publisher=UEFA|access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="fifaclassicplayer1">{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=44747/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228024644/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/players/player=44747/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 February 2008|title=Fritz WALTER – Germany's post-war hero|work=FIFA Classic Player|publisher=FIFA|access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="ContiSoccerWorld1">{{cite web|url=http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/uk/en/contisoccerworld/themes/02_fanzone/04_stars/1954-walter-en.html|title=FIFA World Cup Star 1954: Fritz Walter|work=ContiSoccerWorld|publisher=Continental|access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref>

International pro teams had repeatedly offered him hefty sums, but with support from his wife always declined in order to stay at home, to play for his home town, the national team and "Chef" (German for "Boss") Herberger.

===International debut===
Walter debuted with the Germany national team in 1940 under [[Sepp Herberger]], and scored a [[Hat-trick#Association football|hat-trick]] against [[Romania national football team|Romania]].<ref name="fifaclassicplayer1" />

===War===
Walter was drafted into the armed forces in 1942. However, the end of the war found 24-year-old Walter in a [[Prisoner of War]] camp in [[Maramures]] in which he played with Hungarian and Slovakian guards. When the Soviets arrived they generally took all German prisoners back to [[Gulag]]s in the [[Soviet Union]]. One of the Hungarian prison guards had seen Walter playing for Germany, and told them that Fritz was not German but from the [[Saar Protectorate]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Fritz Walter – A Footballing Grandmaster : "I was there in 1942. I have seen you play against us. Hungary lost 3–5"|url=http://www.goaldentimes.org/fritz-walter-%E2%80%93-a-footballing-grandmaster/|website=goaldentimes.org|access-date=2 February 2015|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210075903/http://www.goaldentimes.org/fritz-walter-%E2%80%93-a-footballing-grandmaster/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Walter would later call the match in question as the most important of his life as it spared him and his brother from a gulag sentence.

===Return to Germany===
Upon his return in 1945, Walter, who by now suffered from [[malaria]], again played for Kaiserslautern,<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/players/fwalterdata.html | title = Fritz Walter – Matches and Goals in Oberliga | first = Matthias | last = Arnhold | date = 14 January 2016 | access-date = 21 January 2016 | publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation}}</ref> leading them to German championships in 1951 and 1953. Walter coached [[VfR Kaiserslautern]] during the 1948–49 season and helped them win the 1948–49 Westpfälzischen Amateurliga. [[Sepp Herberger]] recalled Walter to the national team in 1951, and he was named captain.<ref name="fifaclassicplayer1" />

He was captain of the [[West Germany|West German]] team that won their first [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] in [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954]], beating Hungary. He and his brother, [[Ottmar Walter]], became the first brothers to play in a World Cup winning team.<ref name="ContiSoccerWorld1" />

In 1956, after the crackdown by the Soviets of the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian Uprising]], the Hungarian football team were caught away from home, and for two years, Fritz managed their games and provided the financial backing and in small measure, paid them back for having saved him from deportation to the Soviet Union. Walter received his last cap<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/fwalter-intlg.html | title = Fritz Walter – Goals in International Matches | first = Karel | last = Stokkermans | date = 14 January 2016 | access-date = 21 January 2016 | publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation}}</ref> during the semi-final against [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]] in the [[1958 FIFA World Cup|1958 World Cup]], suffering an injury which ended his international career, and he retired from football in 1959.

===Later life and legacy===
[[Image:DielautrerheldenvonBern.JPG|thumb|right|Memorial for the [[1. FC Kaiserslautern]] players in the [[1954 FIFA World Cup Final]]. From left to right: [[Werner Liebrich]], Walter, [[Werner Kohlmeyer]], [[Horst Eckel]] and [[Ottmar Walter]].]]
The home stadium of 1. FC Kaiserslautern was renamed the [[Fritz-Walter-Stadion]] in 1985.

Fritz Walter was named an honorary captain of the German football squad in 1958.<ref>The [[German Football Association|DFB]] [https://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=12351 Fritz Walter: Das Idol vom Betzenberg].</ref> The other five are [[Uwe Seeler]], [[Franz Beckenbauer]], [[Lothar Matthäus]], [[Bettina Wiegmann]] and [[Jürgen Klinsmann]].

Walter died in [[Enkenbach-Alsenborn]] on 17 June 2002, aged 81.<ref name="bbc1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/germany/newsid_2050000/2050347.stm|title=World Cup hero Walter dies|date=17 June 2002|publisher=BBC Sport|access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref> It was his dream to see the [[2006 FIFA World Cup|World Cup 2006]] in "his" town Kaiserslautern as the town had not been selected in the smaller tournament of 1974, but it was denied with his death. But on the fourth anniversary of his death on 17 June 2006, the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]] played [[Italy national football team|Italy]] in Kaiserslautern and a minute of silence was observed in his memory. Today people may visit the "Fritz Walter Haus" in the town of [[Enkenbach-Alsenborn]] approx. 20&nbsp;km east of Kaiserslautern (first exit from Kaiserslautern on [[Bundesautobahn 6]] direction Mannheim).<ref name="boston1">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2006/06/20/immortal_beloved/|title=Immortal, beloved German icon still a presence|last=Dell'Apa|first=Frank|date=20 June 2006|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=5 July 2010}}</ref>

In November 2003, to celebrate [[UEFA]]'s 50th anniversary, the [[German Football Association]] (DFB) selected him as its [[UEFA Jubilee Awards|Golden Player]] of the past 50 years (from 1954 to 2003).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=256/newsId=130150.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=10 August 2006 |archive-date=12 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312053707/http://www.uefa.com/uefa/news/Kind=256/newsId=130150.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the eighties and nineties, there was another successful [[Bundesliga]] striker called "[[Fritz Walter (footballer, 1960)|Fritz Walter]]", who mainly played for [[VfB Stuttgart]]. Although he had no relationship to the great Kaiserslautern captain, sports fans jokingly called him "Fritz Walter junior".

In 2005, the ''[[Fritz Walter Medal]]'', a series of annual awards which were established in his honour, and which are given by the [[German Football Association]] to youth footballers in Germany, was first awarded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=511739&tx_dfbnews_pi1&#91;showUid&#93;=1784 |title=DFB verleiht Fritz-Walter-Medaille an Nachwuchsspieler|trans-title=DFB to award Fritz-Walter-Medal to youth players|publisher=[[German Football Association]]|language=de|date=9 February 2004|access-date=20 September 2012}}</ref>