Adolf Jäger

From 1907-1927, Adolf Jäger was the main forward for Altonaer FC in more than 700 matches. Between 1908 and 1924 he played 18 games for the German national team, with 11 goals, and was the first German captain for 10 consecutive games. His coach Otto Nerz called him, “One of the greatest geniuses of German football and creator of modern combination play.”

The German newspaper Taz nominated him for the All-Century Team in 1999, and the playground of his club Altonaer FC was named after him. Shortly after World War I he opened a cigar shop and later worked for the exclusive haberdasher Jäger & Koch in Hamburg. Shortly before the end of World War II, Jäger died while attempting to defuse a bomb at the Elbe riverside.