Jürgen Nöldner

Jürgen Nöldner was an East German footballer, born in Berlin on 22 February 1941 and died there on 21 November 2022. A midfielder, he spent his whole playing career with the army club ASK Vorwärts Berlin, which moved to Frankfurt on the Oder in 1971, and he retired from playing in late 1972. With the club he was East German champion five times and won the national cup in 1970. For the East Germany national team he won 30 caps and scored 16 goals, among them a first-minute goal against Austria that remains the fastest in the team's history. He was part of the East German squad that played as the United Team of Germany at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and won the bronze medal, and in 1966 he was voted East German Footballer of the Year, a reputation that earned him the nickname the Puskás of the DDR. After football he worked as a sports journalist, editing the magazine Neue Fußballwoche from 1984 to 1990 and serving as Berlin editor of kicker until 2006. His father, Erwin Nöldner, was a resistance fighter killed by the Nazis in 1944.