Hakoah Vienna

1909–1919

A pair of Austrian Zionists, cabaret librettist (Kabarettist) Fritz "Beda" Löhner and dentist Ignaz Herman Körner and some others 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 rapidly spread around Europe, and Jews as far as Russia and the United States avidly supported Hakoah Vienna, which 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. In preparation for their visits, they sent promoters ahead of the team to generate buzz and attract Jewish fans. Hakoah was not new to 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, and their fans, regularly faced anti-Semitism during games. The club created an…

Austrian Championship: 1 1924–25 2. Klasse A/II. Liga: 2 1919–20, 1928–29