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Germany's national coach Julian Nagelsmann. © ANSA / RONALD WITTEK

Nagelsmann on the death of his dad: “Think back often”

His father's suicide still concerns Germany's national coach Julian Nagelsmann to this day.

“I think back to that day often,” the 36-year-old said in one Spiegelinterview and told how he found out about the news. He was expelled from a coaching course in Munich. The next moment he stood in front of his father-in-law at the time, “who told me that my dad had killed himself.” Nagelsmann was 20 when he lost his father.


"That was difficult. My dad didn't leave a suicide note, there was no explanation. But the way he took his own life made it clear that his decision was absolutely clear to him,” said Nagelsmann. It “helped him to know that he really wanted to die and that it wasn’t about a cry for help or a signal. I think I have to respect such a decision.”

Was the father a secret agent?

Nagelsmann talked about his strong bond with his father, who worked for the Federal Intelligence Service but hardly talked about his job. “He wasn’t allowed to talk about his job. That was also the reason why he often said that it was all too much for him. Sharing concerns did not take place in his job. In the end it put a lot of strain on him.” He doesn’t know what exactly his father did at the BND. “In any case, he wasn’t in the administration.”

Julian Nagelsmann. © APA/afp / INA FASSBENDER


His father was “courageous,” “he had to make decisions again and again at work, knowing that the whole plan could go wrong,” said Nagelsmann, who recognizes some of his own characteristics: “I think I have took over a lot from him.”

Suddenly Nagelsmann had to take care of everything

The time after the loss shaped him. “I was in my early twenties and suddenly had to take care of the family and sort out all the insurance. “Everyday things that you don’t really give a thought to at that age,” said Nagelsmann.

“I had to make serious decisions, including to relieve my mother, who suddenly found herself living in a large house without her partner. With all their memories.” Such decisions have a different dimension than questions about “whether one or the other striker will start.” He grew up faster.

Schlagwörter: Soccer Julian Nagelsmann

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