One of the founding fathers of Hakoah Vienna
Vienna, 2008: A scene from the operetta "Schön ist die Welt" by Franz Lehár and Fritz Löhner-Beda was performed at the reopening of the Hakoah sports ground, which was confiscated by the National Socialists in 1938. The Sport Club Hakoah Vienna was honouring one of its founding members: Fritz Löhner-Beda, born Friedrich Löwy in Bohemia in 1883.
He was already enthusiastic about football as a youngster. After studying law in Vienna, he founded the Jewish sports club Hakoah (Hebrew for strength) in 1909 with Zionist-minded fellow students as a sign of opposition to the anti-Semitism prevalent at the time. Löhner-Beda, who worked as a writer, became the first president of the club. He filled the association's coffers with cabaret events. At the end of his presidency in 1919, Hakoah was one of the sports clubs with the largest number of members in Austria. He remained an important club figure until the end of the 1920s, including as honorary president. He achieved fame by writing popular lyrics and libretti.
The German invasion of Austria in March 1938 marked a turning point for Hakoah and Löhner-Beda: the association was forced to disband. The Gestapo arrested the Jewish intellectual. He was sent to Buchenwald via Dachau concentration camp in September 1938. There he wrote the lyrics to the Buchenwald Song, which his fellow inmate
