Marburg. Will Bundesliga basketball be played in Marburg next season? It’s open. Those responsible at BC Pharmaserv are hoping for a wildcard after the sporting relegation, but it will probably take some time before a decision is made. It is currently completely unclear whether an era is ending after 32 years of uninterrupted first class. In 1992, VfL Marburg was promoted to the top division – for the second time. It was successful for the first time in 1972.
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The boom in the basketball department of Marburg’s largest sports club began at the end of the 1960s. Hannes and Hiltrud Kleinhenz intensified basketball sports at schools and established contacts with the university. Petra Brandt – Petra von Geyr since her wedding in 1978 – came to Marburg in 1968 to study medicine and also played basketball. With her, teammate Hiltrud Kleinhenz and coach Hannes Kleinhenz, the newly founded women’s team achieved one promotion after another and finally made the much-celebrated leap into the Bundesliga in 1972.
After a defeat at the start, there were two away wins
Hiltrud Kleinhenz also continued in the first league. “She was the most experienced player for us, the pillar of the team,” Petra von Geyr reflected in a conversation with the OP in 2017. Hannes Kleinhenz, however, gave up the coaching position after the 1971/1972 second division season. His successor: Philip von Geyr, Petra’s future husband. He was asked and then “didn’t think about it for long,” as he said four and a half decades later.
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It was not new territory for the then 30-year-old, he had already gained coaching experience before – even more: he was “considered a luminary in expert circles,” the Oberhessische Presse had written a few days before the first Bundesliga game. After his youth in Marburg, Philip von Geyr moved to Berlin to study, where he coached the basketball players at TuS Lichterfelde with great success and led them to the final of the German championship.
In Marburg he immediately recognized “that there was a lot of potential”, but was still surprised at “how good we were straight away”. When things started in October 1972, the newcomers kept up with the established first division teams. VfL lost in the first game at home in front of around 300 spectators against the eventual runner-up KuSG Leimen 49:57. But a week later, the first victory was achieved at TG Würzburg with 62:44, followed by the second at TV Langen with 46:45. VfL had arrived in the Bundesliga – as a purely amateur team: neither players nor coaches received a salary, only expenses for away games.
The 1977 cup final marked Philip von Geyr’s graduation as a coach
The Marburg team, which included the Frenchwoman Marie-Blanche Queffelec, was successful, winning eight games in the premiere season and only losing six. Word got around about the good performances, and the players also advertised in the city at festivals and with their own campaigns. Sometimes more than 1,000 fans came to home games and the games became social events. “It was a great time with a great team,” said Philip von Geyr. “It was a lot of fun.”
VfL Marburg, Basketball, 1972
Source: Heinz Eifert (original photo)
In total, he was a coach for five years, reached the European Ronchetti Cup twice with VfL and reached the final of the national cup in 1977, which was lost to the overpowering TuS Leverkusen. For the impulsive Philip von Geyr – “I was always driven” – it was his graduation as coach of the Marburg basketball team, which remained first-class until 1985.
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In 1992, VfL returned to the Bundesliga after seven years. In 1996 the basketball department was spun off. The greatest successes were celebrated in 2003; With Petra and Philip von Geyr’s daughter Magdalena, the BC won the championship and also won the cup – so far these are the only titles at national level.
OP
2024-04-11 16:18:18
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