Franz Elbern

Franz Elbern (1 November 1910 to 23 February 2002) was a German footballer, a speedy right-winger from Beuel, now part of Bonn, who wore the German national colors eight times between 1935 and 1937 and scored two goals for the team. He came from a family whose five sons played for the youth side of the local club SV 06 Beuel, which rose to the Gauliga, then Germany's top division, in 1935-36. Sepp Herberger recommended him to the acting national coach Otto Nerz, who gave him his first cap against Luxembourg in 1935, and he met Luxembourg again in the Olympic tournament. A broken shinbone suffered in a club match ended his international career in 1937. He returned to his local team a year later, kept playing for it for many years and contested his last official game in 1955 at the age of 45. He worked as a carpenter and boat-builder and later as a carrier for the city of Bonn, and after his death at the age of 91 the stadium in Beuel was named after him.