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Munich: Vandals smash Manchester United memorial

A glass cabinet containing memorabilia linked to the 1958 Munich Air Disaster, in which eight Manchester United footballers lost their lives, was smashed and plundered in the Munich suburb of Trudering this week.

The display case on Manchesterplatz forms part of a memorial commemorating the tragedy which occurred when the United team made a refueling stop in Munich while on the way back from a European Cup game in Belgrade, Serbia, on February 6, 1958.

The plane struggled to take off again in the wintery conditions at the old Munich-Riem airport to the east of the city center and, on the third attempt, ploughed off the end of the runway and into a house. Of the 44 people on board, 23 were killed, including eight United players, several journalists and two crew members.

The crash site has become a place of pilgrimage for United supporters and, in 2020, the cabinet was installed on the initiative of the Red Docs Munich – a local Bayern Munich fan club – to house the various memorabilia and tributes left by visitors.

Munich police said the cabinet was broken into on Monday morning between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time (07:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. UTC), with the unknown perpetrators making off with a glass sculpture and several medals.

"They don't understand the damage that they've caused," Ifty Ahmed, chairman of the Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation (MMMF), told the BBC, adding: "Whatever they've taken from inside the showcase, they haven't taken our memories."

The Red Docs Munich arranged for replacement glass to be installed on the same day. The MMMF said Manchester United had offered to pay for the repairs but said the foundation had covered the costs itself.

The joint commemoration of the 1958 disaster and the maintenance of the memorial site has produced extensive and friendly relations between Bayern Munich and Manchester United, who will meet in the Champions League in January.