Walk into a garden centre in Farmsen-Berne and you will find a Bayern Munich toaster or a projector that will beam Bayern’s distinctive logo onto the side of your house at night That would all be fine, but Farmsen-Berne is in Hamburg, and Hamburg is almost as far away as you can get from Bavaria without leaving Germany. It is also home to Hamburger SV, a former European champion currently attracting 57,000 fans in the second division, and St Pauli, newly promoted to the Bundesliga but owner of one of the most distinctive identities in European football St Pauli: Bundesliga promotion and leftist principles combine (with 'death head' flag) Bayern are the most successful team in German football The second-placed club on that list — Nurnberg — only have nine In Germany, Bayern’s popularity and reach extend across the entire country. They have 360,000 members — over twice as many as any other German club, except for Borussia Dortmund (200,000) The German media’s focus on Bayern lights that path It is not quite true that they are covered to the exclusion of everyone else — there is variety in respected football magazines Kicker or 11Freunde But early this week, Sky Sport Deutschland was already well into its analysis of the team’s Champions League game against Aston Villa tonight (Wednesday) one of the main stories was about the release of Bayern’s Christmas advent calendar and how for the first time in as long as anyone can remember They manage to be remarkably popular outside Germany They have 493 official international fan clubs in more than 100 countries — and more than any other club in North America and South America Bayern sold more replica shirts (3.25 million according to a survey by Euromerica) than any other football team on the planet many of Bayern’s differences are a key part of the club’s global appeal Late on Sunday morning, autumn sun bathes Munich’s streets. The night before, Bayern had drawn 1-1 with Bayer Leverkusen and on one side of Max-Joseph-Platz a bicycle tour is setting off behind its guide members of a local running club — all wearing red and speaking English — are stretching and singing at the foot of the National Theatre’s steps an ageing violinist scratches at his strings as tourists drift past his scruffy melody When Oktoberfest takes over the city each year those differences are even more pronounced It’s the largest folk festival in the world The festival dates back to 1810 and the celebration of a royal wedding held on the same site Marienplatz (another landmark city-centre square) is full barely a cobble free under the old town hall It’s just a few minutes on the U-Bahn from Theresienwiese a last stop before getting to the festival itself Many of the locals are in Bavarian costume A group of Americans are sitting at benches under a white parasol One is wearing a vibrant red bowler hat and a pair of dark sunglasses but people have been friendly and a guy over there,” he says pointing in the direction of hundreds of people “explained the outfits and the different things you wear.” That costume — ‘tracht’ — is part of being a Bayern Munich player It’s one of those quirks that distinguishes the club As the author Uli Hesse wrote in Bayern: The Making of a Super Club: “Bayern have always been stoutly and proudly Bavarian Kurt Landauer (the four-time club president) used to say that the aim of his club was to spread open-minded liberalism and the Bavarian way of life.” Each year, Bayern’s players are true to that, wearing traditional dress to travel to Oktoberfest — or Wiesn (the meadow), as locals refer to it. Each time they do, the photographs are retweeted around the world. This year, new signing Michael Olise added sunglasses to his ensemble and but it also helps reinforce that bond between the club and the region Bayern means Bavaria and the weekend’s game against Leverkusen felt very much like a regional event that went beyond the football There were lederhosen in the stands and the concourses of the Allianz Arena Bayern dropped their traditional red for a slate-grey Oktoberfest kit which was on sale in the club shops and online It’s rare in a modern football world that is image-conscious and uptight but it seems to allow Bayern to exist as two clubs at once — one typical of today’s environment A brass band is playing Stern des Südens – the Bayern anthem – at pitchside. @archiert1’s pink jacket stealing everyone’s thunder in the foreground. pic.twitter.com/4mA0MGa0Xo — Seb Stafford-Bloor (@SebSB) September 28, 2024 Bayern are compliant with German football’s 50+1 rule which mandates that control of clubs must remain with their members — they must hold 50 per cent of the voting rights Bayern’s football department separated from the original sports club and Adidas each hold an 8.33 per cent stake in the football club but the remaining 75 per cent — and control — remains with the members there is a heavy ex-player influence at boardroom level Uli Hoeness was the long-time business manager and later president (and now honorary president) one of the great centre-forwards in the club’s history was formerly chief executive and remains on the board even if the day-to-day running is now in the hands of a more contemporary type of executive A club AGM held in November 2021 descended into chaos over member opposition towards a sponsorship agreement with Qatar Airways The agreement was due to expire in 2023 and it was not renewed while such bureaucracy feels typically German it’s one of the many characteristics that seem to appeal to fans from other countries “My first international vacation was to Munich when I was seven,” he tells The Athletic but after a few years when I started to follow it and came to know about the club its identity and how it manages to be fan-run and successful really appealed to me particularly coming from a country with a capitalist mindset like India “And I really like the pride Bayern have in being Bavarian how they stay true to their culture and celebrate festivals like Oktoberfest in traditional dress so I think it’s an important part of our fandom.” “I am a little embarrassed to say I became a fan because of the FIFA video games when I was in high school,” he says so I gravitated towards those teams and Bayern had just won the Champions League in 2013 while I was in high school “I like that Bavaria has a unique culture that seems to embody the club And I feel that professional sports in the United States has lost a lot of the tradition it was associated with and that makes following Bayern more interesting.” The Athletic spoke to other supporters from Nigeria all of whom mentioned a combination of the club’s structure its roots or financial management as important parts of their fandom alongside the club’s success in the Bundesliga and Champions League in explaining their appreciation of Bayern regionality and breadth of coverage are obvious virtues for a club whose membership has tripled since 2006 and sells its merchandise as far north as a garden centre in Hamburg Bayern seem to represent a different sweet spot for some fans A compromise between football’s old-world heritage and its contemporary imperatives That balance appears to be a great strength (Photo: Christina Pahnke – sampics/Getty Images) all electric bus depot operational in 2026 the new Hochbahn site in Meiedorf will host 130 e-buses serving north-east of the city Hochbahn will already be operating around 230 emission-free buses By 2030 the full 1,100 bus fleet will be […] By 2030 the full 1,100 bus fleet will be coverted to zero emission technologies Earthworks will then follow in January and the excavation pit will be dug in the spring Zero emission buses currently operate from the Alsterdorf and Hummelsbüttel depots The other bus depots are gradually being converted to emission-free drive systems Other new locations are also being added: in Veddel a pure e-bus depot is also being built with the Zusammenhub not far from which is a new central workshop for the south of Hamburg The new bus depot in Meiedorf will cover around 28,000 square meters and will be home to around 130 solo and articulated buses In addition to administrative and social areas the bus depot will also include workshops and washing facilities where the buses will be prepared which are equipped with the necessary charging infrastructure All roof surface will be fitted with photovoltaic systems and used as rainwater storage tanks The collected rainwater is used in the car wash and then recycled The waste heat from the charging infrastructure is used to supply heat to the courtyard Facades and noise barriers will be greened the depot will provide better access to the north-east of Hamburg (especially Bergstedt The buses at the Meiendorf location are stationed closer to their actual operating points Chief Technical Officer of HOCHBAHN: “Meiendorf will be the first bus depot without diesel buses Only environmentally friendly e-buses will start from here To convert the bus fleet to emission-free drives not only enough buses have to be purchased but the entire infrastructure also has to be rebuilt We are very pleased that we have found an ideal location in Meiendorf so that environmentally friendly e-buses will also be on the road in the north-east of Hamburg from 2026.” © Copyright 2012 - 2025 | Vado e Torno Edizioni | All rights reserved | P.I Hamburg Hochbahn will begin planning its first all-electric bus depot in Meiendorf in December now that  the Wandsbek District Authority has granted planning permission a press release said Thursday (November 16 Around 130 zero-emission buses will hit roads in north Hamburg from summer 2026 a rainwater storage tank  and will use waste heat for its own heating supply The depot should improve access to Bergstedt Sasel and Farmsen-Berne in north-east Hamburg Hamburger Hochbahn laid Wednesday (July 17, 2024) the foundation stone of its EUR 42.3 million all-electric bus depot in Meiendorf following the approval of construction last November Around 130 zero-emission buses will serve the north-east of Hamburg from Meiendorf beginning in summer 2026 transport links to the outskirts of the city and climate protection will go hand in hand," said Tjarks Hochbahn opened the first emission-free depot in Alsterdorf in 2019 and is also converting other bus depots to zero-emission drives. A new depot is to be et up e.g., on the island of Veddel. The Cologne-based architectural firm, JSWD, has designed the so-called "Zusammenhub" there a bus interchange and other transport services space for shops and other amenities as well as co-working spaces on a 20,000 square metre site Construction is due to begin in 2025 and should be completed in 2029.fw/mm/pb