On January 7, the 17th edition of the NRW Traditionsmasters will take place in Mülheim. A selection from Wuppertaler SV will be taking part for the first time.
He is the man who was Fritz Walter. Knut Hartwig played the captain of the German national team in the film “The Miracle of Bern”, which sensationally brought the World Cup title to Germany in 1954. On January 7, 2024, Hartwig will take part in the NRW Traditionsmasters in the Westenergie sports hall in Mülheim together with the traditional team from Wuppertal SV.
Knut Hartwig is also part of another story that will never be repeated. In the 1992/93 season, he played 40 (!) games for Wuppertaler SV in the 2nd Bundesliga. And he missed six games of the season.
How did that happen? The 2nd Bundesliga had been increased to 24 teams following reunification with the inclusion of six clubs from the former GDR Oberliga. Wuppertaler SV was one of the three promoted teams, alongside VfL Wolfsburg and SpVgg Unterhaching. As a result, they had to play 46 championship matches in one season.
Among them: Knut Hartwig. The Bochum native had moved from VfL Bochum to the Wupper before the season. Hartwig remembers: “Above all, there were many long bus journeys. As a promoted team, we didn’t have much money and couldn’t afford expensive flights. So it felt like we were constantly on the bus. We sometimes played three times a week. It didn’t matter whether it was Maundy Thursday or Easter Monday.”
And with success. Because in order to return to the original number of 20 teams in the 2nd division for the coming season, there were seven relegated teams after the 1992/93 series. Wuppertaler SV was not among them
“As a league newcomer, we finished thirteenth in the table and managed to stay in the league. That was a huge achievement and also thanks to our great team spirit. The many hours we spent together on the highway obviously welded us together,” smiles Hartwig.
Back then, the legendary Stadion am Zoo saw home victories against 1. FSV Mainz 05, SC Freiburg and Darmstadt 98, among others. “We also beat FC St. Pauli 3:0 on my starting debut,” Hartwig remembers.
Things got even more emotional for him one season later. That was when his youth club VfL Bochum was relegated from the Bundesliga. “It was always my dream to play for VfL as a professional. Unfortunately, it never happened. I only sat on the bench three times in Bundesliga matches,” explains Hartwig.
The two matches against “his” club are unforgettable for him. “In the first leg, we narrowly lost 1:0 in Bochum. I hit the crossbar just before the final whistle in front of almost 25,000 spectators in the Ruhrstadion.” Things went better in the second leg. Hartwig: “Together with Christian Broos, who won the German B-Youth Championship with VfL Bochum in 1985, we beat VfL 3:1 in Wuppertal. And we two old VfL players each contributed a goal.”
At the end of the season, another five teams were relegated to the regional league. This time it was Wuppertaler SV, despite further spectacular victories against 1860 Munich, Hertha BSC Berlin and Hansa Rostock, among others. VfL Bochum, on the other hand, managed to return to the Bundesliga.
“Relegation shouldn’t have happened, but it was still a great time overall,” says Hartwig. “Now I’m looking forward to meeting up with many former companions from the two years in the second division again at the Traditionsmasters together with my old buddy Christian Broos. After all, we also had some great duels against MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen back then.”
And it will be a premiere. Because Wuppertaler SV will be taking part in the 17th edition of the NRW Traditionsmasters for the first time. “We’re really looking forward to it,” says WSV office manager Sven Steup. “We’ve already heard a lot about this tournament. And we can’t wait to get involved in the action alongside Knut and Broosi with players like our sporting director Gaetano Manno, cult goalkeeper Christian Maly, Björn Mehnert and myself.”