Wednesday October 27, 2021
Frankfurt legend “Dr. Hammer”
Bernd Nickel is dead
As a midfielder, Bernd Nickel scores more Bundesliga goals than some legendary strikers. Now the former national soccer player has died after a long illness. The left foot with the nickname “Dr. Hammer” was 72 years old.
The former national soccer player Bernd Nickel is dead. This was announced by his former club Eintracht Frankfurt, citing the 72-year-old’s son. Nickel died after a long illness. The club legend of the Hessian Bundesliga club scored 163 goals in a total of 481 games and is Eintracht’s second best Bundesliga goalscorer with 141 goals. The former midfielder is still among the top 20 goalscorers in Bundesliga history – ahead of idols like Uwe Seeler and Horst Hrubesch.
Together with Bernd Hölzenbein and Jürgen Grabowski, Nickel formed an extremely successful offensive trio for Eintracht in the 1970s. Nickel won, among other things, the UEFA Cup and the DFB Cup with his club of hearts. In the senior national team, the Hessian came only once. But he played other games for the national team of amateurs and the B national team and was on the ball for the German team at the 1972 Olympic football tournament in Munich.
“With Bernd Nickel we are losing one of the club’s great identifying figures. ‘Dr. Hammer’ was a brand name for Eintracht”, said club president Peter Fischer according to the club’s announcement. “On the pitch, he achieved great success with many great goals, but he was also an important representative of the club after his career. Our condolences go out to his family.”
Long-time friend Grabowski emphasized that he was “in close contact” with Nickel’s family the entire time. The 77-year-old also has great memories of the time together with Nickel at the traditional Hessian club. “Bernd Nickel, whom we always called ‘Nackel’, was very important for our game at Eintracht. His free kicks were unique, he was a gifted footballer,” said Grabowski. Even after the active time, they remained close friends and often went to the golf course together.
Nickel was nicknamed “Dr. Hammer” because of his extremely good shooting technique. He was able to convert a corner kick four times in his career – he managed this feat against Bayern Munich, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Fortuna Düsseldorf.