The story of an almost anonymous player. The tale of a unique footballer in the memories of FC Barcelona. Exclusive not only for being the first and last Czech in the history of FC Barcelona but also for representing an irreplaceable fact: wearing the jersey of FC Barcelona and Slavia Prague.
His story deserves to be known and recovered. Because he lived to play football, not to suffer the ravages of war. FC Barcelona relieved his odyssey.
The football career of Jiří Hanke (Vrdy, Czech Republic, December 12, 1924) was affected by the twilight of World War II and the subsequent communist regime. When our protagonist was a player for Slavia Prague, Czechoslovakia under the Third Reich was losing strength in the final moments of the war. A weakness that was to be exploited by the resistance in Prague. Fighters who had the help of this footballer.
## The ball over the rifle
On May 5, 1945, the beginning of the Prague Uprising, Slavia put aside the ball to take up arms with the aim of protecting the stadium. A day when Hanke picked up a rifle and barricaded himself around the ‘Stadion SK Slavia na Letné’ – a wooden-built field. This time the player’s opponent was not a football team. He faced the Wehrmacht. German troops that would defeat them at 9 o’clock the next day, May 6, 1945. The house of SK Slavia ended up in flames.
Jiří Hanke’s war ordeal did not end there. The end of World War II presented a new chapter in the history of this Czech defender. Lines that, incidentally, would alter the chronicle of FC Barcelona.
## Path in Barcelona
Czechoslovakia, consequently, the Central Bohemian Region, gradually fell under Soviet influence. The Nazis were no longer the concern of Georg Hanke, now it was the communists. The Prague government enacted racial laws against Germans. And since every anonymous person has gaps and contradictions in their biography, it was speculated that this athlete was a German born in Czechoslovak territory.
Despite being a defender, he liked to project himself in attack and dribble opponents. But, once again, he had to flee from a much stronger enemy. On the horizon, the player no longer saw the rival goal, but a free country free from Soviet totalitarianism. He showed courage beyond the dimensions of the playing field and fled to Germany.
«Jiří Hanke is about 178 cm tall, weighs 83 kg, slim build, dark hair, brown eyes, elongated face, prominent forehead. Straight eyebrows and nose, adjacent ears, symmetrical mouth, normal arms and legs, upright posture, no special signs, healthy teeth. The description of his clothing is unknown,» as described in the criminal complaint from the Prague District Court. He was wanted.
He would no longer wear the red and white of Slavia. «The club of his heart,» as Radim Hanke explained to the Czech newspaper Denikn. Without permission from the Czechoslovakian federation to play football, in 1950, our protagonist was in Hamburg, where he defended the FC St. Pauli jersey. But months later, his football journey continued through Colombia and then to France, a territory that led him to offer his services to FC Barcelona.
Ferdinand Daucik, coach of FC Barcelona from 1950 to 1954 and geographical neighbor of our character, allowed him to continue enjoying European football. To wear the colors of Barça. Thus, in the summer of 1952, the name of Jorge Hanke entered the history books of Barcelona. A chapter worth dusting off and bringing to light on the occasion of the Slavia Prague – FC Barcelona match of the 2019/20 Champions League.
## Four seasons as a culer
Under the fictitious name of «Fernández,» before signing with Barça, he played four trial games with the blue and red team. The first on August 30, 1952, at the Granollers field. It must be said that he passed the trial period with flying colors.
Finally, on October 29, 1952, a Girona 2 – FC Barcelona 6 united the paths of the Czech Republic and Barcelona. A Czech player wore the blue and red colors for the first time. The debut celebration went further. The defender who liked to attack also scored a goal.
With almost 28 years, this almost unknown footballer made a name for himself at FC Barcelona. Jorge Hanke, as he was known in Spain, made his debut in an official match. In the 10th round of the 1952/53 League, he was a starter and played the full 90 minutes of FC Barcelona 3 – Sevilla 2 at Camp de Les Corts. A week later, in the 11th round of the same competition, the first Czech Barcelona player was present in the team’s defeat at the Bernabéu by 2-1.
In the first frenetic days of Barcelona’s activity, the defender with a forward spirit found the back of the net in an official clash. He started the victory against Espanyol (2-1). It was the 12th round, and in the 52nd minute, the crowd at Les Corts stadium sang the goal of the solitary footballer from the Bohemian massif. However, in this same derby, he was sent off.
The days and matches of Barça under the guidance of coach Ferdinand Daucik and with players of the caliber of Ramallets, Seguer, Segarra, Basora, César, or Kubala continued until they lifted the League championship. A stellar season for Hanke that earned him a renewal. The following year he played 18 official matches, and the third year, 24. But in his last year at Barça, he lost prominence in the line-ups, and at the end of the season, he left for Switzerland, where he would end up passing away on December 11, 2006, just a day before his 82nd birthday.
Thus, the story of this irreplaceable yet almost anonymous character at FC Barcelona came to an end. Now, the visit of FC Barcelona to the Eden Arena to play the seventh round of the Champions League 2025/26 group stage brings back the pages of a unique Czech player’s past until now unrepeated. Jiří Hanke, the only Czech player at Barça and the only player to wear the colors of both Barça and Slavia Prague.
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