Adolf Aronheim

Footballer and supporter of Eintracht Braunschweig

A stumbling stone at Inselwall 4 in Braunschweig commemorates Adolf Aronheim. Born in Braunschweig in 1881, he came from a respected Jewish family. He joined Eintracht only a short time after the club was founded in 1895. He played for various teams, most recently in the 1920s for Eintracht's so-called old men's team.

However, Adolf Aronheim's commitment to Eintracht Braunschweig was not limited to playing soccer. The engineer also volunteered in the administration of the club. He was elected to the board in 1903. Two years later, he and his fellow board members decided to build a stadium with a wooden stand. At that time, Eintracht did not yet have its own stadium. As the club's reserves were not sufficient to purchase a plot of land, the club management had to take out a loan of 5,000 Reichsmarks. Adolf Aronheim provided almost three quarters of the guarantee. As a token of gratitude, the board appointed him groundsman in 1909.

It is not known whether he still held this position at the time of the Nazi takeover or was even still a member of Eintracht. Although he professed Christianity, he suffered under the Nazi terror. After the November pogroms in 1938, the Gestapo deported the 57-year-old to Buchenwald concentration camp. They held him in the special pogrom camp there for nine days before he was able to return to Braunschweig. Shortly before the announced deportation to the Theresienstadt ghetto, Adolf Aronheim took his own life in his home town at the beginning of May 1943. He left behind his wife Idel.