Hakoah Vienna
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| Full name | Sport Club Hakoah Wien |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1909 |
| Dissolved | 1938 |
Hakoah Vienna (German: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; Hakoah means "the strength" in Hebrew ) was an Austrian sports club.
Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish association football team with players drawn from across Europe. Closed down by the Nazis in 1938 following the Anschluss, it re-formed in 1945, though its football team was disbanded in 1949.
A pair of Austrian Zionists, cabaret librettist (Kabarettist) Fritz "Beda" Löhner and dentist Ignaz Herman Körner, founded the club in 1909. Influenced by Max Nordau's doctrine of "Muscular Judaism" (German: Muskeljudentum), they named the club "Hakoah" (Hebrew: הכח), meaning "the strength" or "the power" in Hebrew. In its first year, the club's athletes competed in fencing, football, field hockey, track & field, wrestling and swimming.
Hakoah Vienna was one of the first football teams to market themselves globally by travelling frequently where they would attract thousands of Jewish fans to their matches against local teams in cities such as London and New York. Support for Hakoah spread around Europe rapidly as Jews as far as Russia and the United States avidly supported Hakoah Vienna who took advantage of such support by setting up very successful tours and friendlies. As the first "Jewish" team, Hakoah attracted the attention of prominent Jewish figures including author Franz Kafka. In the offseason, Hakoah traveled around the world marketing their success. However, instead of selling jerseys and other merchandise, Hakoah sold Zionism. In preparation for their visits, they sent promoters ahead of the team in order to generate buzz and attract Jewish fans. Hakoah was not new to the notion of global tours; the organization's other teams, like swimming and wrestling had already traveled around the world and won a collection of medals. However, the team did often face anti-Semitism during its world travels. The club created an unconventional form of security, having the Hakoah wrestling team accompany them and act as their personal bodyguards.
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