The Man Who Danced a Waltz in Front of the Nazis — Matthias Sindelar

The Mozart of Football

Sindelar was small, slender, and technically brilliant. He played for FK Austria Wien and the Austrian national team. With his close control and vision, he was considered one of the finest footballers of the interwar era.

He led Austria’s “Wunderteam” of the 1930s — a side that dominated European football and was among the favorites for the 1938 World Cup.

The Nazi Match

In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria. The World Cup was canceled for the Austrian team. The Nazis demanded that Austria’s best players represent Germany in a “reunification friendly” on April 3, 1938, in Vienna.

Sindelar was forced to play. He scored the winning goal. Then, in front of the grandstand filled with Nazi officials and Hitler Youth, he performed a slow, deliberate waltz — a silent mockery of the regime that had erased his country.

The Death

On January 23, 1939, Sindelar and his girlfriend were found dead in his Vienna apartment. The cause was carbon monoxide poisoning from a gas leak. The official ruling was accidental death. But the circumstances were suspicious — no one believed the gas leak was accidental.

The truth of his death has never been established. What is known is that Sindelar, the Mozart of football, chose to dance in front of the Nazis rather than bow to them.

References

• FIFA — Matthias Sindelar profile
• Der Spiegel — “The Mystery of Sindelar’s Death”
• Austrian Football Association — Historical Archive
• The Guardian — “Matthias Sindelar: the footballer who defied the Nazis”