The Person
Jürgen was born July 30, 1964, in Göppingen, Germany. He was the second of 4 sons born to Siegfried and Martha Klinsmann. Jürgen attended elementary, middle, and upper school in the local area.
Jürgen Klinsmann |
Jürgen’s family owns and operates a bakery. Even though he signed his first professional football contract at the age of 16, Jürgen still studied to be a baker, earning his baker’s diploma in 1982 at Berufschule Hoppenlau in Stuttgart (www.hoppenlau.de). Not surprisingly, Jürgen did not continue in the family business once his professional football career successfully took off. Jürgen’s professional career mirrors his lifelong interest in varied cultural experiences, living in different countries, travel, facing new challenges, and constantly growing intellectually. As Jürgen moved from Germany to play in Italy, France, and England, he learned these additional languages and settled into the local ways of life. |
While in Europe, Jürgen met his wife, Debbie, an American working abroad. When Jürgen retired as a professional player after the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Jürgen and Debbie moved to the United States. They currently reside in California with their two children, Jonathan and Laila.
In 1995, Jürgen founded the children charity foundation “Agapedia” which stems from the Greek language and translates to “Love for Children”. As of today Agapedia runs four projects in Germany, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.
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