Otto Harder

Harder was born in Braunschweig. He spent most of his career with Hamburger SV, scoring over 378 goals in 211 games. His football fame in Germany was comparable with Uwe Seeler's fame. At the age of 16 he was discovered for football by FC Hohenzollern Braunschweig, and his impact was such that not even twelve months passed before the main club in the city, Eintracht Braunschweig, incorporated him into his ranks. There he received the nickname of "Tull" with which he would be known throughout his career, since his style of play was reminiscent of that of Tottenham Hotspur's center forward at the time, Walter Tull, the first black professional English player who died in action during World War I. Initially, and since he was barely 17 years old, the young Tull Harder was only called up to play friendly matches with the Eintracht Braunschweig reserve team, which made him nervous, although this situation would not last long, since his quality and his tremendous physique ended up prevailing and he managed to make a career, as they say. At the beginning of 1912 he left for Hamburger SV for a few months. Eintracht Braunschweig fans wanted to avoid the departure of their young star at all costs. For this reason, they did not let him take the train to Hamburg, which he had to do almost secretly 25 kilometers from there, at the station in the neighboring town of Peine. Ultimately, Harder would play one more season with his hometown team before finally committing to Hamburger SV to play…

Following his football career, Harder ran an insurance agency, and in October 1932, he became a member of the NSDAP, before joining the SS in May 1933. In August 1939, he was drafted into the Waffen-SS, and served shortly at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, then at Neuengamme in Hamburg by the end of that year. On 30 November 1944, Harder became an SS-Hauptscharführer and a commander (Schutzhaftlagerführer) at the Ahlem camp in Hanover. On 30 January 1945, he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer (equivalent second lieutenant). He also served as a camp commander in Uelzen, a subcamp of Neuengamme, which was evacuated under his leadership on 16–17 April due to British attacks, in which prisoners were transferred to the main camp. In May 1945, he was captured by the British military and was taken to Iserbrook. Due to health issues, he was initially released, but was arrested again. After World War II, Harder was tried for war crimes by the British military court at the Curio house in Rotherbaum. On 6 May 1947, he was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. After the trial, Hamburger SV excluded him for a short time. However, his sentence was later reduced to ten years in prison, of which he ended up serving only four years. He was released from Werl Prison before Christmas 1951. Harder later moved to Bendestorf, where he worked as an insurance agent until his death on 4 March 1956 in Hamburg.

The Resistance Man and the Football Hero

In his 2023 book, The Resistance Man…

When Harder had the ball at his feet and off he went racing, he would plough through defenders. Then he took his measurements again and while the opposing goalkeeper stood there, pale and helpless, knowing that he could not do anything to stop the shot that was coming. The ball was already in the corner of the goal. Despite being the height he was in 1918 (1.90m) Harder was quick on his heels, out-pacing defenders and leaving him through on goal, scoring regularly. In 1918, he ran 100m in just over 11 seconds.

Club

International

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Harder goal.