Always “straight forward,” as they say in Bavaria, and sometimes angular, but at the same time deeply attentive to people, hands-on and blessed with his very own sense of humor: If you wanted to carve yourself a typical Lower Bavarian man, Otto Kneitinger could be the model. This Friday the Abensberger (Kelheim district) celebrates his 70th birthday.
The trained pastry chef was and is a retired hotelier and entrepreneur, but the broad sports public in the region and far beyond knows him as a sports official who shaped TSV Abensberg into the “FC Bayern” of German judo sport for decades. With 20 German championship titles, TSV is the national record champion and has seven European Cup triumphs to boot. Under his leadership, the Lower Bavarian squad produced Olympic champions such as Ole Bischof, at the 2008 Games in Beijing. This track record is based on a “hobby,” as the celebrant, himself an active judoka at a young age, says.
Retirement after 24 years
Kneitinger accomplished all of this as a networker. He speaks of “mosaic pieces” that come together over time. The crowds for his birthday should be corresponding. “I want to see all these people that I’m really excited about,” he says. At the same time there is thoughtfulness. “You become humble. Of course, it is completely clear to me that the last round of life is beginning. But when I look at my families, at the entire environment, everything is fine. Everything fits, I’m satisfied. My three sons run the business. There’s no reason to complain,” he says.
The honorary citizen of his hometown and TSV honorary department head will retire from the European Judo Union (EJU) in November after 24 years and will not run again as vice president with a focus on marketing. He had announced this step for a long time. “It’s about time. I’ve been taking a step back for a long time, most recently traveling abroad for three weeks in one month. The question was: Why am I still doing this to myself? Now it’s the family’s turn, it’s the turn of the four grandchildren – and I also want to think about myself, take a breather and relax,” Kneitinger recently told the Bayern media group.
This marks the end of an era in international judo sport. The Abensberger has worked in various positions at the EJU since 2000. At that time, the current president of the world association IJF, the Romanian Marius Vizer, who had taken over the office of EJU president at the time, brought Kneitinger into his team as vice president. In 2022, Kneitinger even became acting head of the EJU because Russian President Sergey Soloveychik resigned after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. After the election of Hungarian Laszlo Toth a few months later, he worked again as vice president of marketing. At that time he had already announced that he would no longer be available after the end of the electoral period. There were attempts to persuade him to continue, even as marketing director in the World Judo Association. Kneitinger waved his hand.
His advice and expertise will continue to be in demand. “If someone knocks, I listen to it. But I’m slowly calming down. At some point the younger people will take over,” he says. Fear of boredom is not an issue anyway. “My family has been neglected throughout their lives. It’s just fun now to spend more time with my grandchildren.” More time also with his wife Luise, with whom he has been married since 1979 and who always had his back despite the stress of being a teacher. “Without my wife, none of this would have happened,” says Kneitinger.
“A lot of pride and passion”
Kneitinger was awarded the Bavarian Prime Minister’s Sports Prize and is a recipient of the Free State’s Volunteer Medal. He was also active in local politics for many years. When he was honored for his life’s work by the Mittelbayerische Zeitung in 2018 as part of the “East Bavaria’s Sportsman of the Year” gala, a video clip said: “With a lot of pride and passion, little Abensberg taught the judo world to fear.” The Echoes of the famous Gallic village, which stands up to the sporting industry giants, were unmistakable. He remains connected to TSV judo sport and praises its current development as “very good”.
Everything done right? This question often comes up on big birthdays. “Yes, I see it that way. One cog finally connected with the other. Looking back, I don’t regret anything, even if I sometimes doubted myself a bit because I always openly said what I was thinking. That sometimes caused a stir. But it was my honest opinion. “I just wore my heart on my sleeve,” says Keitinger.
He adds: “And now, at 70, I don’t have to change that anymore.”
