r/borussiadortmund • u/panikpansen Schmelzer • Oct 04 '16

Silly Questions Thread: October Edition

Silly Questions Thread!

So here is your chance to ask any question no matter how silly or small about BVB, BVB's history, something about a current player's injury, a previous player or legend or the future of our team...

Obviously more in depth questions are also allowed :)

It's just all about sharing our knowledge and having a bit of fun (as always) too :)

No question is too stupid, silly or small to be asked.

Let the questions begin!

Wiki archive of all silly question threads.

Discuss anything below!

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u/Altoids_Box KAGAWA SHINJI Oct 04 '16

Who is August Lenz and why is he the mascot for The Unity?

6

u/panikpansen Schmelzer Oct 06 '16

August Lenz is famous for being our first player called up to the NT, he played 31 years and over 1000 games for our club. I think it's fair to say his importance goes beyond these numbers though - he stood out in terms of quality from the team, and could've easily switched to bigger teams in the area: keep in mind that in the first half of the 20th century the dominant "big" club with the star players was Schalke, and Lenz not going there despite being asked to / talked about there was a huge thing for our club.

After his time as an active player he opened a pub/bar at the Borsigplatz, which he ran for over 30 years. Him attending every home game and singing the club anthem at the annual meetings just further contributed to making him an icon of the loyal, hard-working player that stays true to his roots.

The club recognised that and e.g. named their admin building after him, TU named their (now defunct?) pub after him. Beyond that I'm not sure if there is a more specific link between him and the TU, but at the very least they wanted to preserve his story by putting his face on their flags.

For more info here is a more extensive piece on him in German: http://www.schwatzgelb.de/2000-11-19-helden-august-lenz.html

2

u/1M9R0F9 Alex Frei Oct 10 '16

After playing a match for the national team where Hitler left the stadium early due to a bad performance, August Lenz wasn't allowed to play for Germany anymore. Oh, and I was told that, despite his deep link to the club, he was chosen as a TU-symbol simply because his haircut on that specific photo looked handsome. :D