Franz John

Who was Franz John?

Franz Adolf Louis John was a German photographer. He was one of the initiators of the founding of FC Bayern Munich and its first president from 1900 to 1903.

He was born on 28 September 1872 in Pritzwalk, the son of Friedrich Wilhelm and Ida John. After moving with his parents to Pankow at the fringe of Berlin, he later joined the football club VfB Pankow. There he met Gustav Manning, who afterwards became secretary of the German Football Association. Manning later helped John to integrate the Munich football clubs into the DFB. After his apprenticeship as a photographer in Jena John moved to Munich where he became a member of MTV 1879 Munich.

When on 27 February 1900 the steering committee of MTV prohibited the football division of its club to join the association of southgerman football clubs, eleven football players left the club under the lead of Franz John. In the restaurant Gisela they founded the Munich Football Club Bayern and elected Franz John for president. John also founded the council of Bavarian referees.

Under his lead the club joined the SFV still in its first year and quickly became a force in the Munich football scene.