From Eder to Helbig: the dead of 2025

Helmut Hergesell (October 22, 1941 - August 24, 2025):

Helmut Hergesell was not just anyone at FC Hansa Rostock. He was a legend. He became one as a loyal player, coach and official. Born in Munich, the path of "Metzer", as he was known in Rostock, led him to Greifswald after the Second World War and then to Rostock in 1963. He played 230 competitive matches for Empor and later for FC Hansa, whose founding event he attended in 1965.

The robust full-back had to end his career in 1973 due to injury. But he remained loyal to FC Hansa. The sports teacher with a doctorate worked as a coach for the youth team and then for the Oberliga team from April 1, 1975. When he joined the club, he was the youngest coach in the GDR's top division at the time. He sat on the Kogge bench until October 1978.

Hergesell earned lasting merits after reunification, when he initially acted as full-time managing director and later as deputy chairman of the board. In this role, he was responsible for the construction of the new Ostseestadion. The FC Hansa stadium was inaugurated on August 4, 2001 after 16 months of construction.

Harry Jahns (October 12, 1951 - August 30, 2025):

Harry Jahns died at the age of 73 following a long illness. Magdeburg has lost a man who was dedicated to handball his entire life.

Jahns made a name for himself as a tough defensive player in the GDR's top league. Friends and opponents spoke reverently of "Iron Harry". He spent 17 years at SC Magdeburg and won everything that could be won at club level with the Green-Red team: Eight GDR championship titles, three cup victories, two European Champions Cup victories and finally he also became European club champion once. As a coach, he won the A-Youth Championship eight times with SCM and the B-Youth Championship six times. To this day, no other youth coach has achieved this.

Jahns began his career after SC in 2023 when he founded HSV Magdeburg. Here he devoted himself primarily to women's handball. He was supported by his son Michael Jahns, who is continuing his father's legacy at HSV.

Otto Fräßdorf (February 5, 1942 - October 8, 2025):

Fast, attacking, dangerous - these are the attributes associated with the name Otto Fräßdorf. Fräßdorf embodied what is required of a modern defender today back in the 1960s at FC Vorwärts Berlin and in the GDR national team.

Fräßdorf made 183 appearances in the GDR's top division, scoring 31 goals in the process. He became champion four times with the Berliners. He made his debut for the national team at the age of 21. He has 33 international caps to his name and twice captained the team. His greatest international success was winning the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo in 1964.

Back problems brought his playing career to an abrupt end in 1971. Fräßdorf became a coach. After years in the youth section of the NVA soccer training center in Strausberg, he took over the second division footballers of ASG Vorwärts Dessau from 1978 to 1984. After reunification, the Magdeburg native worked as a cab driver in Berlin.

Marcus Helbig (December 27, 1971 - September 10, 2025):

When people talk about the world's best handball referees, the name Marcus Helbig automatically comes up. From 1993, the administrative assistant at the Federal Employment Agency teamed up with fellow referee Lars Geipel to form a team that was in demand both nationally and internationally. More than 600 games in the German Handball Federation and over 250 international matches were officiated by Helbig/Geipel.

At the age of 17, Helbig donned the referee's uniform and ensured that the games were conducted in accordance with the rules until the end of his career in 2021. His calm, level-headed demeanor was rewarded with appointments to two Olympic Games, four men's and two women's World Championships and five men's European Championships. The duo also officiated the men's Champions League final twice. After ending their careers due to illness, Helbig/Geipel were honored with the German Handball Awards for their lifetime achievement.

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