The Boy From Kozlov Dazzled Vienna, Even Bican Came Because of Him, Historian Remembers

February 20, 2023 Post a Comment

Little Matěj was born into a family that belonged to the poorest in Kozlov That's also why, roughly two years after his birth, they all moved to Vienna in search of a better life.

And it really was a better life At least for Matěj for sure.

Since he was a child, this thin boy had a visibly great talent for football, thanks to which he became a very successful and hugely popular athlete in Austria The fate of the best austrian football player of the 20th century, whose name was Germanized from Matěj Šindelar to Matthias Sindelar, began to be mapped quite significantly many years ago by another native of Kozlov - historian from the State District Archives of Jihlava Vlastimil Svěrák.

"A few people knew about Matěj's origin here, but I didn't Only occasionally have I heard that some exceptional footballer comes from here," revealed Svěrák.

"Until Mr František Václavek, who was the first chairman of TJ Kozlov, he told me that the legendary soccer player Josef Bican mentions a teammate originally from Kozlov in his book.

" I borrowed it from the university library in Brno and finally found out the name From that moment I could search further.

Has anyone had the same idea before you? I am looking for information about the origin of Matthias Sindelar? When I was making extracts from the registers at the municipal office in Luky nad Jihlavou, it was around 1992 or 1993, the registrar Mrs Göthová told me that some years ago a gentleman from Poland was interested in Matěj, from Katowice.

It was supposed to be a football historian He asked if Šindelář was really born in this Koslau.

He only knew the German name of the village, so they answered yes What direction did you decide to take after finding out the identity of that great football player? When I already knew that he played with Mr.

Bican, after some time I decided to write to him I found his address in the phone book.

It was about a year after I learned about Matěj Šindelář And before long, I received a correspondence note on which it was written, among other things, that Mr.

Bican would be interested in visiting Kozlov That was perhaps more than you expected; or not? I was thrilled, especially when two weeks later, on December 1, 1994, he actually came to us.

He also arrived with the editor Pavle Kovář, who wrote a book about Mr Bican.

I have to say that it was a very pleasant visit, which was then repeated twice more Once he even came with the old guard team Slavia Prague and they played a friendly against us.

I think defeat 0: 7 with such players was not bad at all (smiles) How much did the hometown of his former teammate from the Austrian national team appeal to Bicana? He always looked up to Matěj, he was his role model.

They even grew up in the same Viennese neighborhood, on the same street He told us how he and a group of boys sometimes watched Matej when they saw him going home.

He was ten years older So they didn't get to know each other until much later in the national team? Exactly, even if it wasn't like they went to a cafe together or became friends in any way.

Just Because Of The Age Difference However, Mr

Bican remembered from his childhood, for example, that Matěj's mother never learned German, despite having lived there for many years So let's focus on the Šindelář family a little more.

What did you find out about them? In Kozlov, they lived in a small house under the dam of the pond, there was a blacksmith shop there The ancestors of Šindelář's father once came to the village from Zašovice precisely because they needed a blacksmith in Kozlov, theirs had died.

Otherwise, it was a very poor family, no land belonged to the house At the same time, blacksmiths were needed in the village by most of the inhabitants.

That's true, people could make and do many things themselves, but they didn't shoe their horses In any case, the official documents after the death of grandfather František in 1900 probably best tell about the poor circumstances of the family.

At that time, only three things became the object of the inheritance: half of the forge was valued at four hundred crowns, half of the goat at the price of four crowns and a suit for two crowns When I was looking up some things about Matthias Sindelar, I found two different pieces of information regarding his birth.

According to the first, his birthplace was house number 9, and according to the second, 19 Can you explain that? He grew up at number 9, that's a fact, however, he was actually born in a house with the descriptive number 19.

At that time, it was quite common for mothers to go elsewhere to give birth, for example to their mother or another relative The reason was that they did not have suitable conditions at home.

And specifically, Mrs Šindelářová gave birth in her half-sister's house.

Are any of the mentioned houses still standing today, or have other owners had them torn down? There is only the torso of house number 9, which the other new owner demolished over time And when he was cleaning out what was left of the house, he found an advertising card made of some chocolate with a portrait of Matěj at the time when he was already playing for Austria Vienna.

That's when he brought it to me When did the Šindelářs move from Kozlov? Sometime in 1905, Matěj was only two years old at the time.

The family decided to try their luck in Vienna, where many Czechs lived There were Czech shops, services.

Therefore, Mrs Šindelářová had no motivation to learn German, she didn't need it.

How many children did Matthias Sindelar come from? Out of four, with a sister who was born before him dying sometime at four months And after him, Růžena was born, she was still born in Kozlov, and Leopoldina, who was already a native of Vienna.

Did no one from the family return to Kozlov then? Even if he only came to visit? What do I know, Mrs Šindelářová is said to have appeared there sometimes.

She visited her relatives during the First World War and perhaps also during the Second She said she always brought lots of presents and picture journals.

She was already a widow a long time ago, her husband and Matěj's father fell in 1917 on the Italian front However, let's go back to the life journey of Matěj himself, who played in Vienna from the age of nine for Hertha, later for Amateur and finally was a star for Austria.

It is said that the Viennese loved the subtle attacker .

That's True, He Was Very Popular

And he was also popular among merchants, many goods were sold with his name Fans also knew him by the nickname Der Papierene, i.

E The Paper Man

I guess the way he zigzagged with the ball at his feet reminded them of paper If you throw it in the air, it also flies here and there and you can't catch it.

(smiles) But paradoxically, death overtook him very soon A few days before his 36th birthday, news began to spread publicly that the great football striker Matthias Sindelar had died.

What happened? His untimely tragic death was never fully satisfactorily explained There are actually three versions.

One that was published in the newspaper and it is official that he and his girlfriend Camilla Castagnola died as a result of gas poisoning I think it will probably be true.

But Mr Bican was convinced that Camilla had poisoned herself and him because she had learned that he wanted to leave her.

And the third version? I think it's completely wrong It happened on January 22, 1939, i.

E Already At The Time Of The Anschluss Of Austria

(It was part of Nazi Germany - editor's note ) Šindelář had previously refused to play for the German national team, perhaps he made it clear in some clear gesture that he wanted nothing to do with the Nazis, so they killed him.

But as I say, I think it's the least likely version In any case, his funeral was supposedly spectacular at the time, fifteen thousand people were supposed to attend it.

That's right He is buried in the Central Cemetery in Vienna near the main entrance.