Dunja Lützenkirchen is joining the assistant team of the board of third division club Rot-Weiss Essen with immediate effect. This was announced by the club.

Rot-Weiss Essen has strengthened and expanded its administration: Dunja Lützenkirchen, an experienced expert, is joining the Rot-Weiss board team with immediate effect. This was announced by RWE on Monday (December 8, 2025). She was most recently employed in Wiesbaden. Lützenkirchen has many years of experience in professional soccer: she has worked for Eintracht Frankfurt and SV Wehen Wiesbaden, among others, and was assistant to Hansi Flick at TSG Hoffenheim. She also has family roots in the Ruhr region.

In addition to assisting the two board members Marc-Nicolai Pfeifer and Alexander Rang, Lützenkirchen will also support the board’s work on issues related to “Essener Chancen” (Essen Opportunities) – without taking on an operational role within the foundation. Tani Capitain, the long-standing managing director of “Essener Chancen,” will leave the foundation on December 15, 2025.

“We would like to thank Tani Capitain for his many years of service and commitment to children, young people, and social projects related to Rot-Weiss Essen and the north of Essen. We wish him all the best,” said Pfeifer.

Capitain added: “I am incredibly proud of what we have built and achieved with the help of so many people – players, ambassadors, officials, employees, fans, partners, and the local community. Essen Opportunities is in good shape and well positioned. I am very much looking forward to using my season ticket in the West Stand again in the future as a Rot-Weiss Essen fan.”

Back to Lützenkirchen. The club emphasizes that Claudia Gerig, who has worked in the Rot-Weiss administration for over a decade and was previously assistant to the board, will remain with RWE. “She will contribute her many years of experience even more strongly to the support of our members in the future – an area that deserves special attention following the departure of Silvia Zimmert. At the same time, she will continue to be responsible for important tasks in human resources, administration, and the management of the office,” according to an RWE press release.

RWE board member Alexander Rang says: “We are very pleased to be able to expand our team with an experienced expert. During the discussions, it quickly became clear that not only her professional competence but also her personal qualities are a perfect fit for us. We are convinced that we are taking the next important step in our professionalization.”