General Dr Angelo
Knorr
Male
Germany
1882-02-14
München (Munich), Germany
1932-08-02
Greppin, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany


About

The following piece was translated and slightly adapted from the German Wikipedia article on Dr Angelo Knorr, which can be accessed here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Knorr_(Chemiker)

Angelo Knorr was born in Munich in February 1882, the son of the businessman Franz Knorr and the grandson of the banker Ludwig Knorr. Raised as a Catholic, he first attended the local Maximiliansgymnasium and then the Ludwigsgymnasium schools, the latter of which he left in July 1901 with his high school diploma.

In the autumn of 1901, Knorr began to study chemistry at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. He graduated in the autumn of 1909 with a dissertation on quinoids and part-quinoid compounds, earning his doctorate summa cum laude. His supervisors were Wilhelm Schlenk (1879-1943) and Adolf von Baeyer (1835-1917).

Because of his homosexual tendencies, Knorr often travelled to Italy where, unlike in Germany, homosexuality had not been a criminal offence since 1889. One of his affairs in Munich in 1913 was his undoing. A young hustler from the scene at Munich Central Station, who was arrested by the police on September 8, 1913, had betrayed him during interrogation. Knorr was arrested at his second home in Starnberg at the end of September 1913.

Apparently, when he first heard about the police investigation, and even before his arrest, Knorr resigned from his post as President of FC Bayern Munich with immediate effect. He was released on bail of 100,000 Reichsmark. He then went to a sanatorium in Kreuzlingen, where an expert opinion he initiated certified his innocence. His difficult private situation also became clear: his father had left the family early, his mother died by suicide.

The renowned Munich psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, who was commissioned by the Munich public prosecutor’s office in July 1914 to draw up a second opinion, came to the same conclusion: when committing the alleged crime, Knorr was in a condition in which it was doubtful whether he was capable of “exercising a free determination of will”. This is why the relevant article of the law in question applied (§ 51 RStGB; incapacity to be held guilty). On August 28, 1914, the 3rd Criminal Division at the Regional Court in Bavaria decided to discontinue the proceedings against him.

Knorr subsequently joined the army as a war volunteer, but was soon dismissed. He first went to live with his uncle Ludwig Knorr (1859–1921) in Jena, and then worked as a chemist at I.G. Farben in Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt). In order to create a “normal bourgeois atmosphere”, he employed Hedwig Bollnow as a housekeeper. He married her in 1917, a move recommended by a doctor friend of his. He might also have married her in order to secure Hedwig Bollnow’s financial future. After subsequently moving to Berlin, Knorr first worked for Nitritfabrik AG in Köpenick and then for Agfa in Treptow, where he rose to middle management.

In his youth, Knorr had discovered a passion for sports. He played lawn tennis and was a member of the Munich Sports Club. (Two of his first cousins, Carl Angelo Knorr and Walter Knorr, also took part in lawn tennis tournaments.) During his time as a student, Angelo Knorr socialized with members of the Munich Sports Club, most of whom came from upper middle-class circles. Knorr played a role in the FC Bayern Munich sports club being incorporated into the Munich Sports Club in 1906.

On September 4, 1907, Knorr became the fourth president of Bayern Munich. He was instrumental in professionalizing the club through the signing of international players. For example, he signed the Austrian goalkeeper Karl Pekarna for the 1910/11 season in exchange for substantial payments. For the 1911/12 season, the English coach Charles Griffith was hired by Karlsruher FV.

Knorr thus played a key role in the professionalization of FC Bayern Munich. He placed the emphasis on sporting success and also organized matches against English clubs such as Middlesbrough and Tottenham Hotspur. Kurt Landauer, with whom Knorr had previously worked for a long time and who continued the internationalization process, was his successor as President of FC Bayern Munich.

Angelo Knorr was also made an honorary member of FC Bayern. He died in August 1932 in the district of Greppin in Saxony-Anhalt. He was 50 years old.



Media


Archive statistics 1901 - 1914
1
41
22


Tournament wins 1902 - LTC Phoenix München Tournament (Amateur)


Tournaments Championships of Saxony - 1914 Championships of Weimar - 1914 French Switzerland Championships - 1913 Lausanne Autumn Meeting - 1913 Chamionships of Chemnitz - 1913 Montreux Territet - 1913 Championships of Halle an der Saale - 1912 Bavarian International Championships - 1911 German International Championships - 1910 Cannes Métropole - 1910 Bavarian International Championships - 1906 Championships of München (Munich) - 1906 Championships of Mannheim - 1906 Darmstadt - 1906 Pfalz Mannheim - 1906 Bavarian International Championships - 1903 Bavarian International Championships - 1902 Championships of München (Munich) - 1902 LTC Phoenix München Tournament - 1902 Bavarian International Championships - 1901

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