[3] Under Gamper's leadership, Barcelona won eleven Championat de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey and four Pyrenees Cup.

Hans-Max Gamper (his mother's maiden name – Haessig – is generally appended in Spanish sources) was born in Winterthur, Switzerland.

He became a citizen of the city and in his later youth started to learn his craft as a tradesman in an apprenticeship at the silk trade house Grieder at the centrally located Paradeplatz.

In 1893, 15 years old, he was one of the pacers of Swiss champion Edouard Wicky in a match race competition over 100 km (against Gaston Béguin).

[6] The other names they called him, all came from the difficulty the Catalan people had, pronouncing the German "H" and "G": Hans became Kans, Gamper became Kamper.

He was on his way to Africa to help set up some sugar trading companies but fell in love with the Catalan city and decided to stay put.

He proposed to him the idea of creating a well-organized football club, but Vila rejected him as he did not want foreigners in its ranks and ended up founding Català in October 1899.

He envisaged a club that served as a means of social integration, in which everyone could speak their mind, and create a democratic society that was freely governed by its members.

[13][9][a] It is not known if Gamper chose the legendary club colours, blaugrana, after Basel or Excelsior Zürich, although the official version states that brothers Arthur and Ernest Witty (both very involved with the club in its first years) proposed the blaugrana colors, the same used by the rugby team of Merchant Taylors' School in Great Crosby (which they had attended).

[16] In the following season, however, he helped Barcelona win the club's first trophy, the Copa Macaya in 1901–02, netting a hat-trick on the final matchday on 23 March 1902 in a 15–0 victory over Català.

In 1902, Gamper was a member of the Barcelona team that participated in the Copa de la Coronación (predecessor of Copa del Rey), and in the semi-finals on 13 May, Barça faced Real Madrid (then Madrid FC) for the first time, and Gamper netted a goal to help his side to a 3–1 win in the first-ever El Clásico.

Gamper raised funds from local businesses and on 14 March 1909, they moved into the Camp de la Indústria, a stadium with an initial capacity of 1,500 spectators, but in 1916 it increased to 6,000, and it was considered the best in the city.

[20] Gamper also recruited the legendary player Paulino Alcántara, the club's seventh all-time top-scorer, and in 1917 appointed Jack Greenwell as manager.

During the Gamper era, Barcelona won eleven Championat de Catalunya, six Copa del Rey and four Pyrenees Cup and enjoyed its first golden age.

As well as Alcántara the Barça team under Greenwell also included Sagibarba, Ricardo Zamora, Josep Samitier, Félix Sesúmaga and Franz Platko.

On 14 June 1925, Barcelona fans jeered the Spanish national anthem and then applauded God Save the King, performed by a visiting British Royal Marine band.

[23] And in fact, as a sign of his gratitude to Catalonia, the country that had welcomed him, Gamper imbued Barcelona with the essence that has come to define it ever since: its commitment to Catalan identity.

[citation needed] Perhaps this and the fact that the club developed into a polideportivo, the very personification of Gamper, is the most fitting tribute to this all-round sportsman.