40 years for green and white

150,000 euros! It was worth every penny for Rapid

Jürgen and Maria with their legendary banner.(Bild: Jürgen Hartmann)

Banja Luka, Bosnia - there are certainly more famous soccer destinations. But one Rapid player would rather be anywhere in the world on Thursday than at this round of 16 match in the Conference League: Jürgen Hartmann. For the fan legend, the circle closes on March 6. Because exactly 40 years ago, on March 6, 1985, he was there for the 3-0 defeat in Dresden. Back then, it was his first European Cup trip, followed by well over 100 (!) with and for Grün-Weiß...

"I'm sure I've already spent over 150,000 euros, probably a lot more," laughs Hartmann. "But you can't think about that. I could have bought a Porsche, but what would I do with it? Who needs a Porsche? I prefer Rapid, it gives me more." He documented every game. The first leg of the round of 16 in the Conference League in Banja Luka will be his 2528 game, and he always takes stock at the end of the year: "At the end of 2024, I traveled exactly 734,125 kilometers for Rapid." So once to the moon, back and further. The 558 kilometers to Bosnia are a piece of cake. As usual, the journey is made by car. "We only flew to Israel and Russia," recalls the cult fan. "I've been to places I would never have seen otherwise."