Thieves raid Munich air disaster memorial, stealing medals and sculpture
Manchester United players celebrate after scoring against Leeds. PHOTO/MANCHESTER UNITED
The theft from the Manchesterplatz display case, where 23 people died in the 1958 crash including eight Manchester United players, has caused fresh anguish for the victims’ families.
By Martin Weche
Thieves broke into a memorial display case at Manchesterplatz in Munich on Monday and stole a glass sculpture and medals commemorating the 23 people killed in the 1958 Munich air disaster, causing what the Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation described as profound emotional harm to the families of those who perished.
Munich Police told German media that the glass casing was smashed with a stone between 08:00 and 13:00 local time on 26 October. The display case, installed at the site where a British European Airways aircraft carrying the Manchester United squad and staff crashed on take-off on 6 February 1958 following a refuelling stop, had stood as a focal point for mourners, supporters and visitors from across the world. The plane was returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade when it failed to gain sufficient speed on a snow-covered runway. Of the 44 people on board, 23 died, among them eight Manchester United players.
Ifty Ahmed, chair of the Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation, said the theft had cut deep into communities that have tended the memory of the disaster for nearly seven decades. “They don’t understand the damage that they’ve caused,” he told the BBC. Yet Ahmed drew a line between what could be stolen and what could not. “Whatever they’ve taken from inside the showcase, they haven’t taken our memories,” he said — words that carried the quiet dignity of a custodian speaking on behalf of families who have learned to hold their grief with patience and resolve.
Ahmed confirmed that the exact number of medals taken remained unclear at the time of going to press. Manchester United offered to pay for the repairs, though the foundation had already committed to covering the costs itself. The broken glass casing was replaced on the same day the damage was discovered — a small but telling act of collective determination from those who regard the memorial not as a monument to be managed but as a living space of mourning and remembrance.
Mark Salzmann, chairman of Red Docs Munich — a Bayern Munich supporters’ group that assists in caring for the memorial — said it was his mother who first noticed the damage while driving past. Among the stolen items, he confirmed, was a glass sculpture originally presented to Munich’s former mayor, Dieter Reiter, a piece of considerable symbolic significance. Salzmann’s group routinely collects tributes left by visitors from around the world and places selected items in the display case, creating an ever-evolving archive of international solidarity around a shared tragedy. He said the stolen objects were unique and could not be readily replaced, though discussions about possible substitutions were already under way with the foundation.
The grief, however, extended well beyond Munich and Manchester. Ahmed said supporters of Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United had all sent messages of condolence and solidarity following news of the theft — a reminder that the Munich disaster, though it struck one club with particular ferocity, has long carried a meaning that transcends football rivalry. Salzmann echoed that sentiment, describing the outpouring of support as confirmation of what those closest to the memorial have always known. “The connection between Manchester and Munich will never go away,” he said.
The history of the Manchesterplatz memorial stretches back to 2004, when a commemorative stone was first installed at the crash site. The display case was added in 2020 and officially inaugurated in 2023, giving the memorial a more active curatorial dimension that has drawn increasing numbers of visitors. Approximately 1,500 people attended the annual remembrance service at the site in February of this year, travelling from across the world to observe a moment of collective grief that has become one of football’s most sombre rituals.
What the thieves took on Monday morning were objects. What they disturbed was something considerably harder to quantify — the carefully maintained peace of people who lost fathers, brothers and sons on a frozen German runway 68 years ago, and who have asked for nothing more than that the world remember.
Munich Police and Manchester United had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
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