Moving farewells 2024: Germany mourns Franz Beckenbauer

At the beginning of 2024, one of the greatest German football legends, Franz Beckenbauer (1945-2024), died. At a memorial ceremony in Munich’s Allianz Arena, fans, friends and family members as well as the TV audience were able to say goodbye to the “Kaiser”. Google’s 2024 annual review shows how much the public was apparently moved by this.

As part of the review, the search engine giant published a list of farewells to famous personalities for whom search interest increased the most compared to the previous year. This mainly features people from the entertainment industry and athletes – listed below in descending order.

Beckenbauer, who has shaped the German football world in recent decades like no other, is at the top of the list. There was also a banner hanging in the stadium at the farewell, the inscription of which summed up the feelings of many fans: “The shining light is going on its last journey – rest in peace, Emperor!”.

Terrible news also caused great sadness in October. Liam Payne (1993-2024) died unexpectedly. The Brit, who became known as the singer of One Direction, fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was only 31 years old.

The Kremlin critic and opposition politician Alexei Navalny (1976-2024) died in a Russian prison camp in February. Navalny, who was treated in Germany after a poison attack, returned to Russia in 2021 and was imprisoned. “Of course I would like to spend my whole life with my husband. But at that moment I knew that there was only one decision he could make,” said his widow Yulia Navalnaya (48). “And it was his decision. And I knew how important it was to him. And I knew that he would not live happily in exile.”

Falko Ochsenknecht (1984-2024) was seen for years in the reality daily “Berlin – Tag & Nacht” as Ole Peters and was also known as “Ole ohne Kohl”. The actor died in the summer at the age of just 39. A friend of Falko Ochsenknecht confirmed his death at the time.

“Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charmed” star Shannen Doherty (1971-2024) battled cancer for a long time. In July she lost the battle that lasted several years. She was like a sister to her colleague and friend Holly Marie Combs (51). “A part of me is missing, even though I know exactly what you would say to me now. […] I know that your immortal spirit will live on in me and my children, whom you loved as your own,” said goodbye.

Other farewells in the year in review include two sports legends and three actors. Just a few weeks after Beckenbauer, Andreas “Andi” Brehme (1960-2024), World Cup hero from 1990, also died. The actor Christian Oliver (1972-2024) and his two daughters tragically died in a plane crash in January. In March, one of Germany’s most famous actors, Fritz Wepper (1941-2024), passed away peacefully and in August fans said goodbye to the French film icon Alain Delon (1935-2024). Just a few days later, the football world mourned the loss of legendary coach Christoph Daum (1953-2024).

Google’s annual review determines the search trends of the year and shows a particularly strong increase in search interest during a certain period in different categories compared to the previous year.