Hertha BSC after the death of Kay Bernstein: For Kay, for Hertha

Tears everywhere, black everywhere: the Olympic Stadium resembles a gigantic place of mourning on Sunday. The fans remember one of their own – Kay Bernstein, probably the most unusual club president there was in German professional football. Image: dpa

The Berlin Olympic Stadium is in mourning: at Hertha BSC’s first game after the untimely death of club president Kay Bernstein, sport takes a back seat. Others now want to “fill his ideas with life”.

The curve where Kay Bernstein stood for the first time a good 30 years ago was black. Just like most of the people who visited the Berlin Olympic Stadium on a cold Sunday afternoon. Cold is an unavoidable side effect in the drafty area, but it wasn’t the temperatures that caused the atmosphere to freeze. Black everywhere, tears everywhere. The large stadium resembled a place of mourning with an altar, set up directly in front of the curve. In front of it is a black banner with white letters. It read “In memory of Kay Bernstein.”

On Tuesday, Hertha’s president died completely unexpectedly at the age of 43. Since then, the club and its surroundings have been in mourning. During the entire 90 minutes against Fortuna Düsseldorf the curve remained silent, only banners were held up every now and then. The fans remembered one of their own, Bernstein was no ordinary president. No industrialist or business boss, no man in a suit, as they usually see football clubs. Bernstein was an Ultra from the very beginning and co-founder of the “Harlekins” fan club, which is still one of the most influential around Hertha BSC. A year and a half ago he was unexpectedly elected to the highest office. A fan as president – ​​that was also a daring experiment.