Munich air disaster memorial raided at Manchesterplatz

Thieves have smashed the display case at the Munich air disaster memorial at Manchesterplatz and stolen a glass sculpture and medals, BBC News reports. The memorial honours the 23 people who died when the plane carrying Manchester United home from a European Cup tie in Belgrade crashed on take-off in Munich on 6 February 1958, eight United players among them.

This is the sort of story that rises above everything else going on at the club this week. Whatever is happening at Carrington, Manchesterplatz belongs to every United supporter, and to the families who still go there.

What happened at Manchesterplatz

Munich Police said the glass around the display case was smashed with a rock and the items taken between 08:00 and 13:00 local time on Monday 26 October. No suspects had been arrested as of Friday, and police have appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.

The Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation (MMMF) said the broken glass was replaced the same day. Some of the memorabilia is still missing, and the foundation's chair, Ifty Ahmed, said it was still unclear exactly how many medals had been taken.

Mark Salzmann, chairman of Red Docs Munich, said his mother found the damage while driving past. He said one of the stolen items was a glass sculpture originally presented to Munich's former mayor, Dieter Reiter. The objects were unique and could not easily be replaced, he said, although his group is discussing possible replacements with the foundation.

The foundation's statement in full

Ahmed's statement, as published by ESPN:

"The Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation is deeply saddened by this act of vandalism and theft.

"Manchesterplatz is a place of enormous significance to the families of the 23 people who lost their lives as a result of the Munich Air Disaster, and to Manchester United supporters across the world.

"We are particularly grateful to our friends in Munich, especially the Red Docs, for their continued care and dedication to this very special place, and for acting so swiftly to repair the damage.

"Those responsible may have damaged a display case and stolen treasured items, but they cannot steal our memories, diminish our friendship or destroy the legacy of those we remember.

"Their memory will endure, and the bond between Manchester and Munich will remain unbreakable."

Ahmed added: "They don't understand the damage that they've caused." He said the memorial had given solace to families who lost loved ones in the crash. "And whatever they've taken from inside the showcase, they haven't taken our memories."

Bayern fans who look after our memorial

The detail that stands out for us is who found the damage and who fixed it. Red Docs Munich are a Bayern Munich supporters' group. They help care for the memorial, collect the tributes left by visitors from around the world and put some of them in the display case.

That is a German club's fans looking after a site that matters most to a rival club's supporters, and doing it for years without fuss. Salzmann said the messages of support he had received showed how important the memorial was, and that the connection between Manchester and Munich "will never go away".

The memorial itself has grown over two decades. A memorial stone was put in place in 2004, the display case was added in 2020 and officially inaugurated in 2023. The foundation says around 1,500 people from around the world came to the annual remembrance service there in February.

The club's response

Manchester United offered to pay for the repairs, but the foundation had already agreed to cover the cost itself. United had not made a public statement on the theft at the time of writing.

Ahmed also said supporters of Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds had sent messages of support. Rivalries count for very little where Munich is concerned, and it's right that they don't.

Our view

The items matter, and we hope they come back. A sculpture presented to a former mayor and medals left by families are not things you can order a replacement for.

The memorial's real value was never in the glass case, though. It is in the 1,500 people who travel to a small square in Munich every February, and in a group of Bayern supporters who treat it as their own. Ahmed is right: none of that was taken on Monday.

This lands in a week dominated by Michael Carrick's future, the squad's backing for him and Saturday's trip to Chelsea. It deserves more attention than any of them. We'd like to see United's players and staff make a point of standing with the foundation and the Red Docs publicly. Offering to pay for the glass was the right instinct. Manchesterplatz deserves a visible thank you from the club to the people of Munich who keep it.

Picture: The memorial stone and display case at Manchesterplatz, Munich, by Renardo la vulpo via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photographed in 2023, before the theft. Cropped to 16:9.