There is a field cross-memorial in the village of Kirchtrudering (where the crash occured), It is at the corner of Karotschstraße and Emplstraße.
The memorial is decorated with a trough filled with flowers and has the following inscription:
"Im Gedenken an die Opfer des Flugzeugkatastrophe am 6.2.1958 unter denen sich auch ein Teil der Fußballmannschaft von Manchester United befand, sowie allen Verkehrstoten der Gemeinde Trudering."
The approximate translation of this is:
"In the memory of the victims of the air disaster of 6.2.1958 including members of the football team of Manchester United as well as all the victims from the municipality of Trudering".
The old Reim airport no longer exists. The old airport grounds have been redeveloped into the Munich Trade Fair Centre, called the Messe München, but the old tower is still there. In September 2004, a new memorial was unveiled at Munich Airport.
Directions
For anybody who may be visiting the memorials, the following information, submitted by Jason Clarke, following his visit in Feb 2006, should prove useful:
The original memorial is on the corner of Emplstraße and Karotschstraße,but the new memorial is visible from the original memorial and is on the corner of Emplstraße and Rappenweg. The nearest train station is ‘Moosfeld’ which is a U-Bahn station – U2 line (U meaning Underground). The next nearest station is ‘Trudering’ which is a S-Bahn station – S4 line (S meaning Surburban which run both above & underground)
The following additional information was sent to me by Ella Patterson in April 2007:
When you come out of the Moosfeld U-Bahn station, stand with your back to the station and turn right, cross the road and then the first road will be in front of you. At the bottom of this road you now have to go through a very small park with an apartment block to get to the next road where the first memorial sits. This appears to be new and was not on the map we had. Basically do not be put off by two busy roads (one at either side of the mini-park) just keep walking straight.
Yet more directions and information has been sent to me by Ing Looi, a Singapore-based United fan:
Take the train subway to Messetadt West and then take Bus 139 to BusStop KirchTruderinger Strasse. For updated directions and timing, one can visit the Munich Transport and Tariff Association website.
Just type in the following parameters at the side for start (M for the city and the stop is the station you are starting your journey)
e.g.from Marienplatz station
town/district = m
name of stop = marienplatz
For destination
type in M for the town/district
and then type “KirchTruderinger Strasse” for the name of stop.
It will then show you the route and timings to go to the stop.
After you get down from the stop, it’s a 5 min walk to the memorial. The memorial is not very obvious but should be visible after you walk on. The location of the stop according to the current map you have is right in the intersection between Wieg am and Kirchtrudinger Strasse.
The old memorial is very well camouflaged and the only thing that differentiates it is the old laminated photo of the Busby Babes that lies below the Christ structure. Ing also sent a map, taken from Google Earth:
Jason also sent me a map which I have converted to a PDF – you can download it here.
In Feb 2008 I was sent yet more information from United fan John Howarth:
I just wanted to point out – mainly to avoid any confusion among visiting fans – that the new memorial in Kirchtrudering is just around the corner from the old one that was erected and is still maintained by the locals. Both memorials are, of course, just beyond the south-western end of the runway of the old Munich airport (Riem), which relocated in 1992 to a new site around 30 kms away. The site of the old airport where the disaster happened is now Munich’s trade fair centre, and it also staged a major international garden exhibition two years ago, which explains why the old runway is now parkland. I’m writing this just so that fans do not make a pilgrimage to the “new” airport in Erding and are disappointed when they don’t find anything there.
United fan AjaxRed (from Amsterdam) visited the memorial in February 2009 and added some excellent pictures on his blog
Photos of the old memorial
Click to enlarge
Kindly supplied by United fan Jason Clarke
New Memorial
The article below was taken from a media release in August 2004.
Manchester United players and officials to unveil memorial stone in Trudering for the victims of the 1958 air disaster.
Social Democrat member of state parliament Hermann Memmel has been campaigning for the accident site to be given a dignified memorial for many years. "A memorial for the victims of the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958 shows a mark of humanity and represents a contribution to international understanding between England and Germany that is not to be underestimated", Memmel said.
In the winter of 1958, 23 of the 44 people on board died at Kirchtrudering in what was one of the biggest civil aviation disasters ever at the time. Among the victims were eight members of the legendary Manchester United football team.The accident was etched deep in the collective memory of the British people, explained the Social Democrat, who like many other people in Trudering repeatedly sees Manchester United fans in his part of town. They lay down flowers close to the crash site, as well as scarves, flags and letters bearing the message: "We will never forget you."
"When Man United play in Munich, Kirchtrudering becomes something of a place of pilgrimage for the English", says a contemplative Memmel. Today, an inconspicuous trough of flowers with a small memorial inscription adorns the site between Emplstrasse and Rappenweg. Memmel would like to enhance the nature of the location, and his initiative is receiving support in England.
The people who lost their lives in the Trudering wreckage were Manchester United officials, journalists and selected guests. Eight of the most promising footballers in England and backroom staff Tom Curry and Bert Whalley also perished.
In England they are still revered 46 years after the accident. In the junior leagues of London you will hardly find a child who has never heard the names Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Billy Whelan, Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor. Aged just 21 at the time, Duncan Edwards was the youngest England international at the time. Centre-forward Tommy Taylor was considered the best attacking player of his age, having made the switch to Old Trafford from Barnsley in the mid-1950s for the record transfer fee of £29,999.
Today, the legendary “Busby Babes” enjoy a level of popularity similar to that of the 1954 "Heroes of Berne" in Germany, as they are seen to embody the "good, old days". In England back then, players earned about £17 to £20 a week during the season, and the win bonus was £4. Whether Manchester United’s current players will give that any thought when they come to Trudering to unveil the memorial on 22 September is something Hermann Memmel does not wish to judge. The 65-year-old Social Democrat, who joined World Cup-winner Bobby Charlton and Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in laying a wreath at the crash site in November 2001, is expecting a fair-sized delegation from Manchester to attend the memorial stone unveiling ceremony. Bobby Charlton will certainly be in attendance; he was on the plane that crashed in 1958 but miraculously survived.
The memorial stone in Kirchtrudering is being funded by Manchester United. A plaque in English and German is to be set in the dark-blue granite slab with its sandstone border. On it the traditional English club will pay tribute to the compassion and sympathy displayed by the people of Munich after the crash, and also thank Bayern Munich for its friendship and the Festring Trudering, the association that has maintained the current memorial site along with a number of neighbours. The stone will also include the coats of arms of Munich and Manchester and the names of the victims.
"You can only appreciate the symbolism of this memorial if you understand the depth of feeling the 1958 disaster still evokes in England. The British people will be very grateful to us for this memorial stone," said Memmel.
Photos from New Memorial Unveiling
Click to enlarge
