HSV mourns the passing of Klaus-Michael Kühne

In recent years, Klaus-Michael Kühne's presence around the club had become quieter – at least publicly. The logistics entrepreneur, whose Kühne Holding AG is the second-largest shareholder in HSV Fußball AG & Co. KGaA, remained deeply interested in the evolution of his beloved club, but largely refrained from making public statements about the Rothosen. From his chosen home in Switzerland, he celebrated the club's promotion to the Bundesliga, enjoyed their early survival last season and spoke highly of its overall development at the Volksparkstadion.

“KMK”, as the globally active entrepreneur was known to many of his long-standing companions and associates, never made any secret of the fact that his involvement with HSV was by no means profit-driven, unlike many of his other business investments. When HSV separated its professional football operations from the club in 2014, he wanted to provide the initial impetus. “I want to see HSV where they were back at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s,” he said in an interview with HSV’s club media at the time. In other words: he wanted the club to finally move upwards - in the long term.

Reality – one relegation battle after another, sporting disappointments and ultimately relegation to the second division – hit Kühne hard. He ranted after defeats, threatened to withdraw both his affection and his financial support, and made sure that various members of the board and those responsible for sporting matters knew exactly what he thought of the path the club had taken, with far too many years spent in the second tier. What many did not know was that even after the most painful defeats, Kühne followed every subsequent HSV match with great passion, keeping his fingers crossed and hoping for victory. He also gave HSV a unique boost to its image by purchasing the naming rights to the stadium. It was Kühne who, of all people, restored the original name to the club’s home ground, which had been renamed several times: Volksparkstadion. It was him who made this step possible. “KMK” was always there for HSV when the club needed him.

Although Klaus-Michael Kühne was involved in many other major projects in Hamburg and visited the city on a regular basis, his last visit to a home game was more than eleven years ago. There will be no further visit. Klaus-Michael Kühne died on 23 August 2026. He was 89 years old.

HSV will remember Klaus-Michael Kühne with honour. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his wife Christine.

Rest in peace, KMK.