Munich street sign added to United museum
There is a corner of Munich that will forever be Manchester. It’s a small square in the Trudering area of the Bavarian city, close to where flight BEA 609 crashed and came to rest that fateful afternoon of 6 February 1958, a place known as Manchesterplatz.
The small square was given the name when a permanent memorial was placed on the site in September 2004, unveiled in a ceremony attended by Sir Bobby Charlton and other Manchester United officials, plus Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and representatives of Bayern Munich.
The monument is a football pitch etched with the names of the 23 people who lost their lives – including eight players and three United staff – and has a plaque thanking the people of Munich for their care and support in the immediate aftermath and years since the tragic accident.
Earlier this month, members of the Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation, a supporter-run charity dedicated to preserving the memory of the Busby Babes, presented the original Manchesterplatz street sign to the club. Given to them by the Bayern fan group, the Munich Red Docs, at a fundraising event last year, the decision was taken that the gift, being for all United fans, be passed on to the club.
MMMF directors Pat Burns and Tony Crook handed the sign over to curator of the club’s museum, Mark Wylie (pictured), and it is now on display in the club museum.
A new sign is in place in the square in Trudering, where many supporters are expected to visit once again today on the 61st anniversary of the crash.