As Bayern Munich stay in a luxury hotel ahead of their Champions League tie with Manchester United, former club president Uli Hoeness is preparing for a three-and-a-half stay at Landsberg prison.
Officials took 160 journalists on a tour of the prison on Monday, which is where Adolf Hitler dictated 'Mein Kampf'. Its 420 current inmates include murderers, drug-dealers and sex offenders.
Hoeness was convicted of tax evasion on March 16 after avoiding around £22.5million of income tax in a secret Swiss bank account.
Guilty: Uli Hoeness stepped down as Bayern Munich president after receiving a three-and-a-half year jail term for tax evasion
New home: Hoeness will spend his time at Landsberg prison living in a cell like this one
Behind bars: A guard does his rounds at the prison, which is situated 45 miles west of Munich
Busy: Landsberg prison currently houses 420 offenders, including murderers and drug dealers
Drop in standards: Hoeness may watch football being played on this pitch instead of at the Allianz Arena
He had hoped his voluntary disclosure of income earned would lead to leniency and a suspended sentence.
Tax evasion is a serious crime in Germany and his case shocked the nation, prompting thousands of tax dodgers to turn themselves in. The maximum sentence is 10 years.
Landsberg prison deputy director Harald Eichinger told reporters that Hoeness, 62, will spend the first two weeks in a larger cell with a cellmate 'for medical reasons' to adjust to life behind bars before moving into a single cell.
He is expected to start his jail term in the next few weeks.
Hoeness, who as a star player helped West Germany win the 1974 World Cup, resigned as chairman of the supervisory board and president of Bayern Munich a day after his conviction.
During his 35 years at Bayern Munich, Hoeness turned the club into a perennial powerhouse that won last year's Champions League and dominates the Bundesliga.
Found out: Hoeness, pictured at the regional courthouse in Munich, decided not to appeal against his sentence
History: Adolf Hitler wrote his book 'Mein Kampf' during his time at Landsberg prison in the early 1920s
Normal treatment: Prison officials have insisted that Hoeness will not be dealt with any differently
No way out: Barbed wire covers the top of a wall to deter prisoners from attempting to escape
Damning: It was revealed that Hoeness' sum of tax evasion was even greater than he had admitted
Journalists visiting the Landsberg prison saw cells of the type where Hoeness will be locked up. The rooms have just a simple bed, a chair, a closet and toilet.
'There's no exclusive class here,' said Franz Roeck, head of enforcement at the prison that was built in 1910 and where some Nazi war criminals were executed after World War Two. A total of 259 criminals were hanged and 29 shot in firing squads at the jail.
Hoeness will be allowed to take just a few personal items with him: his wedding ring, a watch and a few photographs, officials said. But he will have no cell phone and no personal computer.
He can meet visitors twice a month for two hours.
Option: Hoeness could work an eight-hour shift in the prison's garage to pay his way
Imposing: A guard stands outside the main building of the Landsberg prison
Fate: Hoeness (right) stands in the courtroom with his lawyer Hanns Feigen
Happier times: Hoeness shows off the Bundesliga trophy as Bayern parade last seasons' treble to their fans
Scramble: Photographers take pictures as Landsberg prison opens its gates to the media
Hoeness must work or spend all day in his cell. He will earn about 11.94 euros per day to help defray the average 98 euros each day that Germany's 11,000 prisoners cost taxpayers. 'Those 11.94 euros are tax free,' Eichinger pointed out.
Hoeness can choose from a job in the prison's car repair shop, welding shop, printing shop or taking an administrative job. The work day begins at 7 am and ends at 3.30 pm.
Officials said breakfast includes rye bread with jam offered twice a week. Lunch is often noodles with salad. Any one caught taking a second helping faces sanctions, officials said.
Safe and secure: A lookout tower and CCTV camera are pictured on the perimeter of the prison grounds
'We thank you for everything': Bayern fans show their support for the club's president outside
Glory Days: Hoeness (right) grasps the European Cup won in 1976 after beating St Etienne in Glasgow
While there are tax evaders and white
collar criminals at the Landsberg prison, others were convicted of
violent crimes. Roeck said the mood among the inmates is relaxed at the
moment but officials said there were troubles in the past.
There
was a wave of violence against prison guards last year but that abated
after the authorities warned that security measures would be tightened
if the attacks did not stop.
'The communal rooms are set up so that only prisoners who get along with each other are in one area together,' said Eichinger. 'That reduces to a minimum the danger of violence.'
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