Hans Nobiling

Hans Nobiling (Hamburg, 10 September 1877 – Rio de Janeiro, 30 July 1954) was a German footballer who settled in Brazil, best known as the founder of Sport Club Germânia, now known as Esporte Clube Pinheiros.^[1]

Hans Nobiling
Hans Nobiling ca. 1930s
Born	Hans Nobiling (1877-09-10)September 10, 1877 Hamburg, German Empire
Died	July 30, 1954(1954-07-30) (aged 76) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Known for	Founder of Sport Club Germânia (now Esporte Clube Pinheiros)

Biography

Family and career

Hans Nobiling was the youngest of six children from the first marriage of Hamburg merchant Theodor Nobiling (1815–1889). After his sister Magda "Golla" (1869–1949) emigrated to São Paulo and married the German-born pharmacist and politician Henrique Schaumann, who later gave his name to a city street, their brother Theodor (1815–1889) followed. Hans initially worked for Zerrenner, Buelow & Cia, later becoming a partner and manager of the Santos branch. He also served as Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Santos and worked, sometimes as president, in various German immigrant institutions, such as the German School. From his marriage to Rosa, née Fenchel (1863–1907), came five children, including the sculptor, ceramicist, and graphic artist Elisabeth Nobiling. His brother, Oskar Nobiling (1865–1912), philologist and Romanist, also moved to Brazil in 1889, became a professor, and later returned to Germany. Hans’ sisters, Olga (1869–1940) and Gertrud (1872–1974), a teacher, also settled in Brazil.

The Brasilianische Bank für Deutschland in São Paulo, circa 1910

Arriving in São Paulo in 1897, he worked at Drogaria Mourier & Cia until 1899 and later at the Brasilianischen Bank für Deutschland, where he became head of department in 1907. From 1930 to 1938, he lived in the state of Santa Catarina, an area popular among German immigrants. There, he represented the Hanseatica Colonization Society in Joinville.

Sports activities

In Germany, Hans Nobiling played football at Sport Club Germania 1887, a predecessor of Hamburger SV, and won the Hamburg championship. In 1897, he emigrated from Hamburg to São Paulo, where he settled as a merchant. He brought with him a football, the statutes of Germania, and those of the Hamburg Sports Association. He initially gathered a casual team nicknamed Hans Nobiling's Team, one of the first football teams in Brazil. They used the grounds of the Companhia Paulista de Transportes in Chácara Dulley, also used by São Paulo Athletic Club. Due to frequent invasions of the field by horses and donkeys pulling trams in São Paulo, SPAC later built its own pitch on the same property. Although he had difficulty finding opponents at first, Nobiling’s team eventually played the first friendly against Mackenzie in March 1899, ending 0–0.^[2]

When Nobiling tried to formalize the association as a proper club, there was a dispute over the name: 15 players voted for "Internacional" and five for "Germânia". It was founded on 19 August 1899 as Sport Club Internacional, as it was a cosmopolitan club comprising Brazilians, Germans, French, Portuguese, and English members. After the 1907 Campeonato Paulista and the 1928 Campeonato Paulista (LAF), the club faced financial difficulties in the 1930s and eventually became part of São Paulo FC through mergers.

Disappointed with the rejection of his name suggestion, Nobiling, together with the Wahnschaffe brothers, left the club and, on 7 September 1899, founded Sport Club Germânia with other German immigrants at the Wahnschaffe residence. The club adopted the same name and colors as Sport-Club Germania Hamburg. Germânia became the fourth football club in Brazil, after São Paulo Athletic Club, Mackenzie College, and Internacional. Rowing clubs in Rio de Janeiro, such as Flamengo and Vasco da Gama, were older but only began football in the 1910s.

Hans Nobiling (fifth from left) with SC Germânia players.

Nobiling served as president of SC Germânia until 1902, became an honorary member, and was unanimously elected honorary president in 1939, when the club’s statutes were significantly changed, and its name was changed to Esporte Clube Germânia. In December 1901, Germânia was a founding member of the Liga Paulista de Foot-Ball and the Campeonato Paulista, which it won in 1906 and 1915. Alongside Charles Miller, Belfort Duarte, and Herbert Boyes, Hans Nobiling was part of the São Paulo selection that played the first inter-state matches against a Rio de Janeiro team led by Oscar Cox, founder of Fluminense FC, at the São Paulo Athletic Club grounds in October 1901. The matches ended 2–2 and 0–0.^[3]

Alongside Hermann Friese, also from SC Germania in Hamburg, he supported opening the club to Black players around 1909 to include the mulatto Arthur Friedenreich, of German descent, at the request of his wealthy father. Friedenreich, later Brazil’s first great football star, played for Germânia in 1909 and again in 1911. Already in 1905, Nobiling, who maintained close ties with Germany, recruited Camillo Ugi, future captain of the Germany national football team and participant in the 1912 Olympics, for a four-month stay with SC Germânia, offering him a lucrative position in his commercial office.

In 1924, Nobiling and SC Germânia co-founded the São Paulo Tennis Federation,^[4] and he became an avid tennis player after retiring from active football. Tennis had also been played at SC Germânia since its early years.

After another name change due to World War II, SC Germânia still exists today as EC Pinheiros. The club claims to be the largest multisport club in the Southern Hemisphere, with over 35,000 members. However, football is no longer widely practiced.

In the late 1950s, a street passing through the club grounds was named Rua Hans Nobiling in his honor. Rua Hans Nobiling, composed of high-rise apartments, is considered a prestigious address in São Paulo due to its location and unobstructed view of the club's green grounds.