People Who Inspire Us:
Stefan Schirmer

“My first laugh in the morning,” says Stefan Schirmer, 65, “is when I look at the face in the mirror. I say, I don’t know you, but I’ll wash you.”

Schirmer’s bright smile and ready humor, usually exercised at his own expense, tend to endear him to people immediately. “I like to laugh about myself,” he says. “I don’t want to be overserious.”

But it’s his determined and long-running commitment to opposing racism and antisemitism, to helping the disadvantaged, and to promoting tolerance, democratic principles, and humanitarian values that has opened hearts and changed lives. 

For nearly 50 years, Schirmer has been a driving force for FC Ente Bagdad, an amateur soccer club in Mainz, Germany. To say the club is welcoming and diverse would be to understate its impact. Members originate from 25 different countries. Many are refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries ravaged by war. And many have heartbreaking stories of loss and harrowing accounts of escape and hardship. 

The club has made a concerted effort to reach out to these “new Germans,” as Schirmer calls them. “Soccer is a low-threshold offering we can give. Anybody can play soccer, can kick the ball.” Children and adults alike participate, and a few hours of soccer can provide a welcome break from daily stress and worry. 

But the club has gone well beyond just being welcoming. They have helped refugees find housing, obtain language training, get settled in school, and find job training and placement. “If something needs to be done…we roll up our sleeves and do it,” says Schirmer. 

The club is also actively involved in remembrance projects. In 2016 they founded Mainz Remembrance Weeks, a two-week community-wide series of events including presentations, panel discussions, city tours, and other activities. Remembrance has focused on Jewish, Sinti and Roma, and LGBTQ topics, among others. Mainz Remembrance Weeks take place around the observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27).

Much of this has happened because of Schirmer’s determination. “Stefan is open-minded, he is incredibly committed… he is a real doer,” says club president Ronald Uhlich.

Ask Schirmer to describe Ente Bagdad and he will stress the club’s camaraderie and family-like atmosphere, invoking the club’s duck-oriented slogan: “You’ll never waddle alone.”

“That,” he asserts, “says it all.” 

More: Watch a short film about 2023 Obermayer Award winner Stefan Schirmer and FC Ente Bagdad.