Rheinmetall and BVB in an interview with sports magazine kicker

When BVB and Rheinmetall announced their partnership at the end of May 2024, the partners from politics, business, and society received encouragement, while there were also clearly critical voices from the fan scene. Just under a year later, Carsten Cramer, CEO of Borussia Dortmund, and Dr. Philipp von Brandenstein, Head of Corporate Communications and Company Spokesman at Rheinmetall AG, talk to Germany's well-known sports magazine kicker.

According to Cramer, there is no point in making topics such as war taboo. Diplomacy and blank cartridges alone cannot guarantee a sense of security under the current geopolitical conditions. "If we can help raise awareness and sensitivity to this issue through our partnership with Rheinmetall, then a significant part of our cooperation will have been achieved."

When asked by kicker whether he had been surprised by the resistance the partnership had triggered among some BVB fans, Rheinmetall spokesman Dr. von Brandenstein replied: "We deliberately entered into this discourse to create public space for it." The issue of security and national defense has long been left by the wayside. "We wanted to bring it to the forefront. And what better way to do that than through a partnership with a club like BVB, which is firmly rooted in the region and has an extensive fan base that is representative of our society."