The Jewish Sports Club Hakoah Vienna
The sports club Hakoah Vienna (Hakoah means “strength” in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to the increasing exclusion of Jews from mainstream sports clubs. At its peak, it had up to 7,000 registered members, making it the largest Jewish sports club in the world. The Hakoah football team won the Austrian championship in 1925, an achievement that attracted international attention far beyond Austria’s borders. Hakoah swimmers such as Hedy Bienenfeld and Fritzi Löwy set records and won medals at European Championships. Hakoah athletes were also highly successful in water polo, track and field, field hockey, and skiing, serving as role models for Jewish youth growing up in the antisemitic climate of Vienna. Inspired by this success, numerous Jewish sports clubs were soon established in neighboring Eastern European countries.
Following the Anschluss in 1938, the Nazi regime dissolved the club. Former players and officials who had escaped to Palestine soon founded Hakoah Tel Aviv. Immediately after the end of the Second World War, Hakoah was re-established in Vienna. Sport and team spirit became important factors in integrating Jews who had survived the Holocaust or returned from exile.
Geschirr
Commemorative Trophy for the “Hakoah” Club
As early as the 1920s, the Hakoah football team undertook international tours, including visits to Palestine and Egypt. This trophy was produced to commemorate a match played in the port city of Alexandria on January 18, 1925, against an Egyptian team.
Erinnerungspokal für den Verein ‘Hakoah’
Grafik
Original draft of the invitation to the “Blau Weisse Hakoah Redoute.”
Hakoah was known not only for its sporting achievements but also for its entertainment programs. Members gathered for music and dancing, usually in Vienna’s famous Sofiensäle ballroom. At times, the club even maintained its own orchestra. Entertainment was provided by well-known Viennese cabaret performers such as Fritz Grünbaum (1880–1941), later murdered by the Nazi regime, and Fritz Löhner-Beda (1883–1942), Hakoah’s first president.
Originalentwurf der Einladung zur ‘Blau Weisse Hakoah Redoute’.
Fotoabzug
Group photo of the Hakoah football team with the championship trophy for the 1924–25 season
Winning the Austrian football championship in the 1924/25 season was a unique achievement. Never before had a Jewish team anywhere in the world won a national championship. The star of the team, coached by Arthur Baar (1890–1984), was Béla Guttmann (1899–1981), who later achieved fame as a coach with Real Madrid. He and several other players had previously been recruited from MTK Budapest.
Gruppenbild der Hakoah-Fußballmannschaft mit dem Meisterschaftspokal für die Saison 1924/25
Album
Hakoah football team on tour in America and Eastern Europe
After winning the championship in 1925, the football team received invitations for numerous exhibition matches. The team played in many European cities as well as in the United States. This tour was made possible by local Zionist organizations and represented the highlight of many players’ sporting careers. However, several of the best players were recruited away during the U.S. tour. As a result, the team broke apart and was never again able to match its extraordinary successes.
Hakoah-Fußballmannschaft auf Tournee in Amerika und Osteuropa
Souvenir
Cigarette case by Arthur Baar featuring engraved autographs of several Hakoah football players
Among the most significant objects in the Jewish Museum’s Hakoah collection is this cigarette case. It was presented to football coach Arthur Baar (1890–1984) by his team after winning the Austrian championship. Several players commemorated the occasion by engraving their signatures into the metal.
Zigarettenetui von Arthur Baar mit eingravierten Autogrammen einiger Hakoah-Fußballspieler
Postkarte
Group photo from a Hakoah ski class
Among the club’s many sections was one dedicated to tourism and winter sports. Former Hakoah athletes who were no longer actively competing often became involved in these sections. Shared leisure activities included mountain hiking in summer and ski courses in the same regions during winter. In 1935, Hakoah even acquired its own mountain lodge at Semmering.
Gruppenfoto von einem Skikurs der Hakoah
Fotoabzug
Hedy Bienenfeld on the sports field for a swimming competition
The most famous Hakoah athlete was Hedy Bienenfeld (1906–1976). The record-breaking swimmer won numerous competitions at both national and international levels, including the Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv in 1932 and 1935. She also worked as a model, bringing a certain glamour to Hakoah. Together with her husband, coach Zsigo Wertheimer (1897–1965), she fled to Great Britain in 1938 and later emigrated to the United States. After her husband’s death in 1965, she returned to Vienna, where her living room became a gathering place for Hakoah veterans from around the world.
Hedy Bienenfeld auf dem Sportplatz für einen SchwimmwettbewerbFotoabzug
Photos provided by Hakoah swimmer Idy Kohn
Hakoah swimmer Fritzi Löwy (1910–1994) won numerous tournaments and set a European record in the 200-meter freestyle event in 1927. At the European Championships in Bologna that same year, she earned a bronze medal. In 1939, she fled through Italy and Switzerland to Australia, later returning to Austria, where she worked as a secretary.
Fotos aus dem Besitz der Hakoah-Schwimmerin Idy Kohn
Fotoabzug
The Hakoah water polo team, Austrian champions
Hakoah’s water polo team won the Austrian championship in 1924. As the sport enjoyed great popularity at the time, all team members were professional athletes.
Die Hakoah-Wasserballmanschaft als österreichischer Meister
Fotoabzug
Photographs featuring Hakoah swimming coach Zsigo Wertheimer
The versatile athlete Zsigo Wertheimer (1897–1965) played both football and field hockey. He became famous as the coach of the Hakoah women swimmers, leading them to numerous championship titles. During the summer he operated a swimming school in Pörtschach am Wörthersee, while for the remainder of the year he worked at Vienna’s Dianabad. Driven into exile by the Nazi regime, he became a U.S. citizen in 1952.
Fotografien mit dem Hakoah-Schwimmtrainer Zsigo Wertheimer
Fotoabzug
High Diving Competition at the Dianabad
Built in 1913 and no longer in existence today, the Dianabad in Vienna served as the center of Hakoah swimming activities during the colder months. International competitions were also held there, including diving events.
Wettbewerb im Turmspringen im Dianabad
Album
Photo Album of the 2nd Maccabiade in Tel Aviv in 1935
Because antisemitic “Aryan clauses” prevented Jewish athletes from joining many sports clubs, they established parallel structures of their own. The Maccabiah Games became an international Jewish championship competition. The first two Maccabiah Games were held in Tel Aviv in 1932 and 1935. Participating athletes competed in a national ranking, which Austria won decisively, largely thanks to the success of Hakoah athletes.
Fotoalbum zur 2. Makkabiade 1935 in Tel Aviv
Publikation und Druckerzeugnis
“Address List of Hakoah Members Around the World. Supplement to ‘50 Years of Hakoah'”
1938 wurde die Wiener Hakoah durch die Nationalsozialisten zerschlagen, ihre Mitglieder flüchteten in alle Welt ins Exil. Dadurch entstanden Zweigvereine in London, New York, San Francisco und – noch vor der Staatsgründung Israels – auch in Ramat Gan. Der innere Zusammenhalt der Vereinsmitglieder lässt sich auch durch dieses 1959 publizierte Adressverzeichnis dokumentieren. Immer wieder wurde auch zu Gemeinschaftstreffen eingeladen.
‘Adress-Liste von Hakoah-Mitgliedern in aller Welt. Beilage zu ‘50 Jahre Hakoah’’
Album
Photo album by Arthur Baar on World War I and Brith Hakoah in 1909 (veterans' association in Ramat Gan)
Arthur Baar (1890–1984) escaped to Palestine in 1938, where he and other veterans founded the club “Brith Hakoah 1909.” Its home became the Maccabi Sports Center in Ramat Gan, established in 1946. In 1968, a Holocaust memorial created by sculptor Karl Duldig (1902–1986) was erected there. Duldig had played football as a goalkeeper in his youth and was then living in Australia.
Fotoalbum von Arthur Baar zum Ersten Weltkrieg und zur Brith Hakoah 1909 (Veteranenverein in Ramat Gan)
Medaille/Münze
Medal for the 1946 Hakoah Club Championship
Despite the destruction of Vienna’s Jewish community during the Holocaust and the Second World War, Hakoah was able to reorganize quickly afterward. Young Jewish survivors found rapid integration and new friendships through the club. By 1946, internal club championships were once again being held.
Medaille zur Hakoah-Klubmeisterschaft 1946
Fotoabzug
Karl Haber at the podium of the Jewish Museum for the opening of the exhibition “Hoppauf Hakoah”
The swimmer and water polo player Karl Haber (1919–1998) was the driving force behind Hakoah after 1945. Following his active sporting career, he rendered outstanding service as a coach and club official. He donated his extensive collection of objects and documents to the Jewish Museum Vienna, which organized its first exhibition on Hakoah in 1995.
Karl Haber am Rednerpult des Jüdischen Museums zur Eröffnung der Ausstellung ‘Hoppauf Hakoah’