The funeral of Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke, who took his own life last week, drew about 40,000 mourners to his home stadium in Hanover today.
The service at he Hannover 96 soccer club was attended by Enke's club teammates and members of the German national team, including captain Michael Ballack.
"Robert Enke will never come back to this stadium, the place where he conquered our hearts," Hanover 96 club president Martin Kind said during the televised service.
The 32-year-old Enke, who was expected to be part of Germany's squad at next year's World Cup, had been suffering from depression. He was hit by a train at a railroad crossing on November 10th after leaving a letter for his family.
Christian Wulff, the premier of Lower Saxony, used his address to urge athletes to "speak openly" about psychological illnesses and to seek help.
Draped in white, Enke's coffin was brought to the centre of the stadium by six Hannover teammates. The public service may have been the largest since the burial of Germany's first postwar Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1967, according to the DPA newswire.
Enke leaves a wife, Teresa, and his adopted daughter Leila. Their daughter Lara died aged two in 2006.
Bloomberg