Hedwig Gumbel was born on December 15, 1891. She grew up in a banker’s family on Georgenstraße in Munich-Schwabing. In 1911 Hedwig Gumbel co-founded the women’s hockey team at the Munich Sport Club (MSC), which at that time included FC Bayern Munich as an independent soccer division. In 1920 she married Hugo Railing, owner of an upholstery and carpet business, and longtime member of FC Bayern. Initially, the young couple lived with Hugo Railing’s mother in Wagmüllerstraße. In 1921 their daughter, Margot, was born; their son Heinz Fritz followed in 1923. That same year, Hedwig and Hugo Railing and their children moved into their own villa in Möhlstraße 22. Heinz Fritz soon became part of the FC Bayern family as well, playing for the club’s school division by the time he was eight. In 1934, one year after the Nazi seizure of power, the Railing family left their home on Möhlstraße 22 and moved into Montgelasstraße 2. The owner of the building, construction contractor Max Jung as well as his sons Max and Franz were also FC Bayern members. In 1937 Hedwig and Hugo Railing were able to arrange the escape of their 14-year-old son, Heinz Fritz, to the English town of Bournemouth; one year later their 17-year-old daughter, Margot made it to Lausanne. Hedwig and Hugo Railing remained in Munich. Starting in the autumn of 1938, they began an odyssey through their home city: Within only two years the couple had to move five times. For a while Hedwig and Hugo Railing stayed with Dr. Martin Mandelbaum, another member of FC Bayern. In January 1941 Hedwig Railing and her husband were moved to the “Judensiedlung” (“Jewish Quarter”) Milbertshofen at Knorrstraße 148. On April 4, 1942 the couple was deported to Piaski, a ghetto located in what today is Poland. Hedwig Railing’s exact fate is unknown. Her husband, Hugo Railing, was murdered in November 1942 in Sobibor extermination camp. (text Andreas Wittner, FC Bayern München AG, editor C. Fritsche, translation T. Axelrod)
