Full name Sport Club Hakoah Wien Founded 1909 | Dissolved 1938 | |
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League Austrian Football Bundesliga | ||
Hakoah Vienna (German: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; Hakoah means "the strength" in Hebrew ) was an Austrian sports club.
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Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish association football team with players drawn from across Europe. Closed down by the Nazis in 1938 following the Anschluss, it re-formed in 1945, though its football team was disbanded in 1949.
History
A pair of Austrian Zionists, cabaret librettist (Kabarettist) Fritz "Beda" Löhner and dentist Ignaz Herman Körner, founded the club in 1909. Influenced by Max Nordau's doctrine of "Muscular Judaism" (German: Muskeljudentum), they named the club "Hakoah" (Hebrew: הכח), meaning "the strength" or "the power" in Hebrew. In its first year, the club's athletes competed in fencing, football, field hockey, track & field, wrestling and swimming.
Hakoah Vienna was one of the first football teams to market themselves globally by travelling frequently where they would attract thousands of Jewish fans to their matches against local teams in cities such as London and New York. Support for Hakoah spread around Europe rapidly as Jews as far as Russia and the United States avidly supported Hakoah Vienna who took advantage of such support by setting up very successful tours and friendlies. As the first "Jewish" team, Hakoah attracted the attention of prominent Jewish figures including author Franz Kafka. In the offseason, Hakoah traveled around the world marketing their success. However, instead of selling jerseys and other merchandise, Hakoah sold Zionism. In preparation for their visits, they sent promoters ahead of the team in order to generate buzz and attract Jewish fans. Hakoah was not new to the notion of global tours; the organization's other teams, like swimming and wrestling had already traveled around the world and won a collection of medals. However, the team did often face anti-Semitism during its world travels. The club created an unconventional form of security, having the Hakoah wrestling team accompany them and act as their personal bodyguards.
Hakoah finished second in the Austrian league in 1922.
On the team's trip to London in 1923, they managed to defeat West Ham United by a score of 5–1, admittedly against a largely reserve team. Nevertheless, Hakoah became the first continental club to defeat an English team in England.
In a dramatic game of the 1924–25 season, Hakoah's Hungarian-born goalkeeper Alexander Fabian broke his arm. The rules at the time did not allow substitutions so Fabian put his arm in a sling and switched positions with a forward. Seven minutes later Fabian scored the winning goal, clinching Hakoah's league championship.
In 1926, the team conducted a highly successful tour of the United States. Their game at New York City's Polo Grounds attracted 46,000 spectators, a record at the time. Many of the team's players, impressed by the relative lack of anti-Semitism they found, decided to stay in the United States, accepting offers to play for American clubs. Several of these players formed a club called New York Hakoah which won the National Challenge Cup in 1929. A few players emigrated to Mandate Palestine and founded Hakoah Tel Aviv football club there. The loss of so many talented players effectively put an end to the Austrian football team's competitiveness.
The athletic club's success extended beyond the football pitch. Hakoah had highly successful sections in wrestling, fencing, water polo, and swimming among other sports. At its pre-war peak, the club had over 5000 members. Watermarks, a 2004 documentary film, tells the story of the Hakoah women's swim team with historical footage from the 1930s and contemporary interviews with surviving team members.
After the Anschluss of 1938, the German Football Association banned the club and nullified their games. Their stadium was appropriated and given to the Nazi party. In 1945 the club was founded again and exists today. The football team, which played in the second division of the Austrian championship after World War II, became defunct in 1949.
Revival
In 2000, the Jewish community of Vienna purchased the club's old fields within Prater park for €10 million with the intention of building a new community center. As of 2006, the club had about 400 members and its football team plays in Austria's minor leagues under the name SC Maccabi Wien. The club opened its new home on 11 March 2008.