Peco Bauwens

Peter Joseph ("Peco") Bauwens (Born 24 December 1886 in Cologne, died 24 November 1963 in Cologne) was a German international football (soccer) player, referee and controversial administrator with the German Football Association (DFB). In total he was associated with the national game in that country from 1904 until 1962.

Born in Cologne, Bauwens had only got into football as a result of a childhood accident; his mother having been encouraged to push him into the sport by a doctor. The suggestion worked, Bauwens leg (which had been threatened with amputation) was saved and the young player even went as far as turning out for the German national side in a 3-0 reverse to Belgium in May, 1910. However, it was hardly auspicious, being substituted in the second half with the hosts already two goals down. Bauwens had been a member of the Cologne club from 1904.

A member of the upper middle class, Bauwens reputedly attained his doctorate in Law in Leipzig on 7 April 1914 but there are questions as to whether this was a genuinely acquired title. He was instrumental in assisting in the Post-War development of German football as a result of a role he assumed with the German-Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. At this time Bauwens decided upon becoming a referee. Bauwens became involved in a wide range of representative matches, and matches of national significance. He took charge of a Brazilian selection against Frankfurt-on-Main in which he awarded a penalty to the guest side only to be kissed by Baltazar the Brazilian player. He was also referee during the 1922 German Cup Final in which SV Hamburg and 1. FC Nuremberg played out two lengthy draws only for the second game to be abandoned when Nuremberg were reduced to six outfield players and a goalkeeper. The DFB awarded the title to Hamburg.

Professionally, he worked within the construction industry (and for a company that had dealings with the Third Reich and which, later, allegedly, operated a forced labour camp during the Second World War). His marriage to Elizabeth Gidion, from a Jewish family in Cologne, in 1920 (having two children with her) got him into trouble with the authorities; his company being banned from affiliation with the National Socialist Factory Organisation (NSDAP) in May 1933 a year after he had applied to join. The marriage suffered on account of the deteriorating political situation in Germany in the 1930s, and because of Bauwens entering into extramarital affairs (from which one daughter was conceived). Mrs Bauwens committed suicide on 16 April 1940.

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