Ernst Wilimowski

Who was Ernst Wilimowski?

Ernst Willimowski was a football player who played for both the Polish and German national teams.

Born in Kattowitz, Prussian Silesia, German Empire, he was raised in a Silesian family, typical of the Upper Silesian Polish-German borderland. In 1922 eastern Upper Silesia became part of Poland and Ernst became a citizen of the Second Polish Republic.

His father Ernst-Roman, a soldier of the German Empire, died on the Western Front in the First World War, and his mother Paulina re-married. Both were German. His mother sent him to a German kindergarten, a German primary school and, when he was nine years old, to the German football team 1. FC Kattowitz. At the age of 13 he was legally adopted by his stepfather who was Polish and took on the surname Willimowski. At home, he spoke German for the most part, while in public he often spoke a Silesian dialect of the Polish language. Officially a citizen of Poland, he referred to himself as a Silesian.

He was one of the best goalscorers in the history of both the Polish national team and in Polish club soccer before he decided to re-take German citizenship and play for Germany. He is well remembered as the first player to score four goals in a single FIFA World Cup game. Allegedly, in the course of his career he has scored a total of 1,175 goals; this, however, is unconfirmed and will include friendly and unofficial matches. Willimowski also occasionally played ice hockey for the team Pogoń Katowice.