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Franz Beckenbauer once left his wife and children for another woman. The relationship with the sports photographer Diana Sandmann made waves. The couple fled to New York.
Munich – Franz Beckenbauer married three times – each time with a secretary. However, one woman in the life of Beckenbauer, who died on January 7th, was different. We’re talking about Diana Sandmann, the sports photographer and artist who drove the emperor crazy. But first the lovers had to hide in public, after which the two spent a carefree time in America. However, Beckenbauer never wanted to marry Sandmann.
Born:11. September 1945 (Munich)Deceased:7. January 2024, Salzburg, AustriaSpouses:Brigitte Beckenbauer (1966-1990), Sybille Beckenbauer (1990-2004), Heidi Beckenbauer (married since 2006)Ex-girlfriend:Diana Sandmann (1977-1988)
Beckenbauer’s complicated beginning of the relationship with Diana Sandmann
During his time at FC Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer was married to his first wife Brigitte, who died in 2021. The Munich native brought a son into the marriage, and two more followed. After eleven years of relationship, a new woman came into Beckenbauer’s life, Diana Sandmann remembers the complicated beginning.
“I met him privately at the wedding of Robert Schwan (manager at FC Bayern and Beckenbauer, editor’s note). The beginning of the relationship was very complicated. I can’t express it any other way,” says Sandmann in the ARD documentary “Beckenbauer – Legend of German Football,” in which Walter Beckenbauer makes goosebump-inducing statements about his brother Franz. “My father was very concerned that his only daughter had fallen in love with a married man with three children. That was the time and the public at that time… It wasn’t easy. And he warned me about that,” explains Sandmann, who was already divorced at the time.
Left: Franz Beckenbauer and his then partner Diana Sandmann at a Bundesliga game in 1988. Right: Sandmann as a sports photographer in the Olympic Stadium at FC Bayern. © Fred Joch/Imago
Franz Beckenbauer had to keep his relationship with Diana Sandmann secret
Sandmann was a pioneer in her profession: “After my divorce, I started working as a sports photographer. At the beginning I was the only sports photographer. It was a purely male domain. I was relatively alone as a woman.” That’s how she met Franz Beckenbauer, “but the relationship had to be kept secret because Franz was such a well-known personality in Munich at the time.”
“You couldn’t go somewhere for a coffee without him being recognized. Or he couldn’t call our press agency and ask for me because people recognized his voice after the first word. That was just the way it was back then. And so we somehow just met in places where no one could find us,” says the sports photographer at the time, who now has her own studio as a painter. However, the relationship couldn’t be kept secret for long, and at some point the press got wind of the affair – a scandal, of course.
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Sports photographer drove Franz Beckenbauer crazy – and “destroyed an ideal family world”
“Of course you already noticed that back then the idol of a family and three children, i.e. an ideal world, was destroyed,” says Sandmann looking back. “And that’s easiest when you find a person you can blame it on. Then I couldn’t really take photos or go to the soccer field anymore. And the vegetable lady didn’t sell me anything anymore, because you don’t sell anything to a whore.”
Beckenbauer fled to America to Cosmos New York, where he played with the Brazilian Pelé. “His wife Brigitte flew with him to America in May 77. And then they sorted it out there and I went to New York in June or July,” recalls Sandmann in the ARD documentary “Beckenbauer – Legend of German Football.” A brave step, as Sandmann thinks. “It was all new, my private life was new, everything was new.” However, the decision was to pay off.
Freedom in New York: Franz Beckenbauer loved sports photographer Diana Sandmann
“In America he was actually able to live like a free person for the first time,” explains Sandmann, who was with Beckenbauer until 1988. The world champion always raved about how he was able to walk down Fifth Avenue unrecognized.
However, the marriage did not take place. “That would have caused a huge uproar,” Sandmann once said in an interview with the GALA. “A national hero doesn’t get divorced.” But the marriage certificate wasn’t important to her; she somehow “got over it” later. Another ex-wife of Franz Beckenbauer bids the Kaiser farewell with emotional news. (ck)
2024-01-21 15:05:00
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