HOW THE MIRACLE OF BERN GAVE GERMANS

Transcription

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Soccer to the Rescue:
HOW THE MIRACLE OF BERN GAVE GERMANS
BACK THEIR IDENTITY — TWICE
Katharina Bonzel is a doctoral candidate in the Cinema Studies
Department at the University of Melbourne, where she is researching issues of
national identity in sports films. Prior to commencing postgraduate study in
Australia she completed an MA in American Studies and Cultural Studies at the
Humboldt Unversitaet zu Berlin. She was also DAAD scholar for one year in the
Draper Program at New York University, and has worked on various film projects.
Germany in the final of the soccer world championship — this is an
incredible sensation, a true football miracle.1
THIS ARTICLE will examine how sport and national identity interact using
the example of the 1954 Association Football World Cup Championship,
in which the West German team surpassed all expectations to win the
final against Hungary at Bern in Switzerland. It is argued that this victory
— dubbed 'The Miracle of Bern' — became a founding myth for the newly
created Federal Republic of Germany. In 2003, this legendary sporting
event became the subject of one of the most successful German films of the
year, thus re-invigorating the myth of 1954. Sonke Wortmann's The Miracle
of Bern2 depicts both the surprise win of the German team and the impact
of this event on a young boy named Matthias and his recently re-united
family. As they struggle to come to terms with life in post-war Germany,
and an estranged father recently returned from a prisoner of war camp,
the German soccer team fights to take home the trophy and establish a new
footing on the international stage.
The first part of this article will shed some light on the situation in
Germany at the time that made it possible for the World Cup win to have
such an immense impact on the population, exploring how a football match
could provide the spark for the creation of a new German national identity
following the Second World War. In the second section, the manner in which
this event was transformed into a national myth that is still very much alive is
illustrated. In retracing the myth-formation process, an examination of what
made it possible for a sporting event to be turned into a founding myth for
the young Federal Republic of Germany is provided. The article concludes
with an examination of how the film. The Miracle of Bern, is more a depiction
Sporting Traditions, vol. 22, no. 2 (May 2006), pp. 1-12.
Published by the Australian Society for Sports History.
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VOLUME 22 no 2 MAY 2006
of the mythic qualities of this sporting event than of the 'historical' event
itself. Through a close analysis of its storylines and cinematic techniques,
how the re-appearance of the myth made such an impact on the reunified
German audience is demonstrated. As the film reinvents and reinforces
what had once been a West-German founding myth for all of Germany, the
'Miracle of Bern' gains new life as a vehicle for national identity.
While soccer had become the most popular sport in Germany during the
Weimar Republic, after the defeat of the Second World War, Germany had
yet to make an impact on the international sporting scene. The 1954 Soccer
World Cup was only the second major international sporting competition in
which Germany had been allowed to participate after the war. As German
coach Sepp Herberger says in the film, Germany fervently wanted to 'make
a good impression'. The population was very aware of the destruction that
Germany had brought to Europe. The opportunity of making a good
impression on a seemingly non-political platform was embraced as a way of
dealing with some of this war-induced guilt and shame. However, German
fans also had ambitions to win. How high the stakes were became clear
when, after a devastating loss in the second match of the tournament against
Hungary (8-3), Herberger received death threats and letters from soccer
fans, accusing him of being a traitor against the German people.
After the Second World War the comprehensive defeat of Germany
meant that the nation was, to all intents and purposes, occupied by the
United States of America and its Allies. Germans no longer felt in control
of their own sovereignty, and national spirit and identity were at an all-time
low. As Florian Breitmeier and Arthur Heinrich point out, the Germany of
1954 was subdued, but at the advent of the 'Economic Miracle', there was
also hope. People steered clear of national politics, seeking refuge in their
regional surroundings and trying to make a living in a slowly rebuilding
country.3 There was also severe opposition to a national soccer league and
instead support for regional leagues. Indeed, there was strong resistance from
regional coaches to free their players for matches with the national team.4
Germany was still a country not only in need of reconstruction, with
many of its cities destroyed, but also in need of a new political system, culture,
identity and sense of normalcy. After the war, many families struggled to
come together and find their place, especially with men returning from
prisoner-of-war (POW) camps, who often had difficulties in adjusting to a
normal life. These soldiers were in shock about what they had experienced
and what they had done. They experienced guilt and shame concerning the
suffering, grief and violence they had inflicted on others and pain over what
they had endured. This was shared with the civic population and led to a
nation-wide attempt to achieve normalcy.5
With the self-inflicted horrors of the war still clearly in mind, Germans
Katharina Bonzel Soccer to the Rescue: How The Miracle of Bern Gave Germans Back Their Identity — Twice
turned away from values and virtues such as strength, bravery and pride
that had been associated with their nation for thousands of years.6 These
values had been fully discredited by the catastrophe of war. This loss of
identity was expressed in the confusion and contradictions of the early
post-war period, when the German language was still infused with
nationalistic overtones and statistics showed widespread distrust in the
new democratic system. Society tried to steer as far away as possible from
anything overtly political, and following each win of the national soccer
team, the newspapers were full of warnings against another uprising of
nationalistic sentiment. While the first fruits of the Economic Miracle had
begun to be felt at an individual level, the economic upturn alone was not
capable of bringing the population together as a nation. It was clear to
the government of the young Federal Republic that, despite the concerted
avoidance of politics by the general population, this World Championship
could turn into something it desperately needed in order to find greater
acceptance among the population — a collective emotional experience that
could bind West Germany together as a community.
While a democratic nation-state had been formed in West Germany
after 1945, it was widely perceived to be a fabricated apparatus that had no
'natural' origin, but which had been thrust upon the people. For Benedict
Anderson, the nation is an 'imagined community' conceived as a 'deep,
horizontal comradeship'.8 National identity was the means to both identify
with and strengthen the nation state through its assembly of symbols and
rituals in relation to the state.9 Germany in the 1950s had not yet found
appropriate rituals and symbols — or indeed narratives — that could
emphasise the traditions and continuity of the nation. As historian Robert
Moeller argues, 'the problem for Germans after 1945 was not how to create
a conception of the nation, but rather how to establish a sense of collectivity
that did not draw on a nationalist rhetoric contaminated by its association
with Nazism'.10 In other words, what Anderson describes as the imagined
community necessary for a sense of nationhood was still more imagined by
the politicians than an actual community of the people.
When the soccer final was broadcast on television and radio, however, an
estimated 60 million Germans watched the match and listened to reporter
Herbert Zimmermann's phenomenal commentary.11 Indeed, three television
manufacturers reported completely selling out of their warehouse stock.12
Most of these 40,000 television sets went to pubs and clubs, making the
experience of watching the final a distinctly collective one. Strangers huddled
together in front of radios and shop windows, creating a spontaneous
moment of collective joy relatively untainted by nationalistic fervour. The
impact of this is vividly described in Friedrich Christian Delius' novel, The
Sunday I Became World Champion,13 in which he describes his experience as a
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young boy listening to the radio in the local priest's study.14 This collectivity
is important because it provided for two developments. Firstly, it allowed for
the creation of a popular myth that would become deeply embedded in the
German collective imagination. Secondly, it enabled the politicisation of a
sporting success to form the basis of a major push for the acceptance of the
young Republic both nationally and internationally: nationally, because it
gave the population an emotional success seemingly far away from politics;
and internationally because it marked, as Heinrich puts it, 'something like a
re-entry into the world, this time in a civilized fashion.'15
So, when the commentator Zimmermann excitedly shouted at the end
of the final those famous words: 'Over! Over! Over! The game is over!
Germany is World Champion! Beats Hungary 3-2 in the final in Bern!' 16
he inadvertently gave the German population a new set of heroes that they
were all too ready to embrace. These were no fearless Teutonic Siegfrieds,
they were ordinary young men who held ordinary jobs to support their
families, and who even more importantly were considered politically
untainted. They represented a new set of admirable and untainted virtues
such as perseverance, humility and propriety, which would form the basis
of a newfound German identity. This identity, so desperately needed at the
end of a reorientation phase following the war, would allow Germany to
join the international community once again, as well as restore some dignity
to the population. This sentiment found expression in the phrase 'We are
somebody again', which in the decades since the World Cup win found a
solid place in the collective memory.
The Mythification of 1954
The winning of the World Cup final was of symbolic significance for the
German population in terms of self esteem and establishing a desperatelyneeded value system that was unblemished by National Socialism. In the years
to come, some of the moments of the event would be ignored or repressed
and then happily forgotten, such as the singing of the forbidden first verse
of the national anthem during the awards ceremony. Both the national and
international press reacted with outrage and fear of a resurgence of Nazism,
which the German government, together with the national press, tried to
quickly defuse by sombre reminders of the horrific Nazi past.17 The London
Times also commented on the greeting of the footballers by Dr Peco Bauwens,
president of the German Football Association, which it declared could 'only
be called an hysterical nationalist speech', but favourably noted the stern
reaction to this speech by the columnist of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.18 In line
with the public amnesia, director Sonke Wortmann chose to tell the story
of the 'Miracle of Bern' without these unpopular moments. In doing so,
the film highlights the selective nature of filmmaking and particularly of
narrative cinema in the representation of history.
While such unpleasant memories were successfully repressed by the
general population, the 'wisdom' of coach Herberger infiltrated everyday
language, with sentences like 'After the game is before the game' or 'the
next game is always the hardest' becoming all-purpose phrases. An example
of how strongly such sayings have permeated German culture is evident in
the 1998 hit film, Lola Rennt, which begins with a quotation by T. S. Eliot
set alongside one of Herberger's most famous quotations ('After the game
is before the game'). This quotation, reinforced through the narrator in
the opening sequence of the film, is thus implicitly elevated to what has
traditionally been termed 'High Culture'.19 Only because the World Cup
had turned into a collective experience, and an event that, arguably, could
not have been missed by many, was it possible for the mythology of the
'Miracle of Bern' to become embedded into the German national psyche.
The World Cup audience had extended to encompass not just football fans,
but all sections of the population, from housewives to children to managers,
affecting these diverse groups in different ways. While the older generation
gained most in terms of international rehabilitation, the World Cup win
against such a formidable opponent as Hungary engraved into the minds
of a younger generation that anything was possible, and all odds could be
overcome. This message could not have been conveyed nearly as strongly by
party slogans or government programs. These young people would be the
generation to carry the story forward and gradually turn it into a founding
myth for West Germany, helped along by various successive governments
who were ready to use this sporting achievement as a symbol of Germany's
increasing success.
The tournament itself provided a perfect script for such myth-creation.
Opponent Hungary had become an international soccer Goliath, unbeaten
in 32 games. They were the first team to beat England at Wembley Stadium
and had beaten the German side at the group stage with a score-line of
8-3. The media helped to heighten this status by playing up Hungary's
invincibility, thus making the German victory look even more heroic than
it actually was, as Florian Breitmeier argues.20 Such a strategy is widely
accepted as a common trait in the formation of myths.21 Meanwhile, the
German team, while frequently discredited as a group of nobodies, actually
consisted of highly-skilled players, such as Jupp Posipal, who had played in the
FIFA World Team in 1953. Through clever tactics and perfect employment
of his team's capabilities, coach Herberger had brought his team to the
final with sizeable victories over Turkey, Yugoslavia and Austria. In the final
itself, Germany was down two goals to nil after only nine minutes, making
victory seem impossible, and humiliation more likely. After another nine
minutes, however, the score was equalled and Germany was fighting off
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one Hungarian attack after the other. Germany found itself on the attack
in the 84 th minute, and striker Helmut Rahn scored the winning goal. An
equalizing goal was not given due to the offside rule, and finally, after 90
minutes of sheer drama, the referee ended the game.
According to Breitmeier, myths develop at times of historical and societal
rupture, when the need for the evaluation and legitimisation of value systems
in relation to the past is especially urgent. 22 For Germany, the time after the
war was such a time of rupture, and affected the population at all levels, as
described above. Thus the remarkable story of how Germany beat Hungary
in the 1954 final became a myth that signified a new start for a country still
struggling with the notion of national identity. It was carried through time by
the relentless quoting of Herberger's wisdom, the widespread reproduction
of Zimmermann's radio commentary and, of course, by serving as a timeless
reference for every subsequent soccer match of the German national team.
The 1990s saw a revival of this mythology due to the fortieth anniversary
celebrations, with the publication of several biographies and monographs
dedicated to the players and the matches. Also in 1990, a recently reunited
German team again won the World Cup in Italy - a win that has been said
to have done more for the reunification of East and West Germany than any
political or economic contract could have achieved. The fiftieth anniversary
celebrations in 2004 reached an early highpoint with Wortmann's 2003 film,
The Miracle of Bern, which was a box-office success throughout Germany, and
which forms the focus of the final section of this article.
The Miracle of Bern
The Miracle of Bern has three intertwining storylines. The first and central
narrative follows young Matthias Lubanski and his family, and the impact
of the World Cup on their lives. Matthias' father Richard has just returned
after eleven years in a Russian POW camp, and the familial relationships
reach breaking point as he tries to adjust to their unfamiliar 'normal' life.
The second storyline provides the constant reference point for the other two,
and follows the German national team's preparation for and struggle to win
the World Cup, as seen through the eyes of Coach Herberger and striker
Helmut Rahn, who is also Matthias' soccer idol. The last storyline provides
comic relief in the form of newlyweds Annette and Paul Ackermann. Paul has
been ordered to attend the World Cup as a reporter and Annette decides to
accompany him to see what all the fuss is about. Her character symbolises
the millions of Germans who were generally uninterested in soccer, but
became swept up in the excitement of this particular tournament, thus
paving the way for a truly collective experience.
The Lubanski family is produced as the archetypal 1950s family in
Germany in the very first scene, which is set in a pub and introduces the
various family members. Christa, the mother, has inventively carved out a
living for her family by taking on the running of a corner pub, in which her
daughter Ingrid helps out. She is less a fiercely independent woman than a
breadwinner out of necessity. Like millions of other German women, she is
uncertain whether or not her husband is still alive, let alone if he will ever
return home. Therefore, and characteristic of the times, everyone pitches in
to earn money, elder son Bruno by playing in a band, and even Matthias adds
his bit to the kitty by taking the tobacco out of cigarette stubs and reusing
it for new cigarettes, which he then sells. This scene also sets up one of the
main conflicts of the story: that between Bruno and his — at this point still
absent — father Richard. When Bruno enters the pub he casually hangs up
a poster of the KPD, the German Communist Party, thus showing his affinity
with the socialist system then under construction in the East. He has also
taken on the role of the patriarch in his father's absence, which is illustrated
when, after a chat with his little brother, he reminds a customer of his debt
as if he was the local stand-over man.
Bruno: 'My mom wants to know when you are going to pay off your
tab?'
Tiburski: 'Don't go playing the big boss now. You're worse than your
old man;
Bruno: 'You listen to me! My old man's been in Russia for eleven
years, and as long as that's the case I'll be the big boss as much as I
want to. So when are you paying?'
Tiburski (impressed): 'As soon as I get a job. You can count on it.'
Bruno: 'Alright!'23
Bruno clearly sees himself as the 'man in the house' and has taken on
that role with relish. The family has found ways to deal with the absence of
the father and their lives run relatively smoothly. With the unexpected return
of Richard, the husband and father, this careful arrangement is thrown
into turmoil. The family struggles to incorporate him into their world of
shared responsibility and support, which is very unlike the traditional,
authoritarian family model that Richard remembers. In addition, Richard's
plan to close the pub as soon as he has found work evokes disappointment
and hostility among his family, and he soon finds himself at a loss, uprooted
and disoriented. He no longer knows how to get by in this new post-war
Germany.
Richard's struggle to re-adjust his whole belief system embodies the
tensions between past and present in 1950s German society. Richard, in
a way, is stuck in two worlds, neither of which have anything in common
with his present. On the one hand he is still infused with the authoritarian
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National Socialist value system, which is displayed when he slaps Matthias in
the face and says: 'And don't you start crying! A German boy doesn't cry!'.
On the other hand, he tries to forget the horrific time in the POW camp that
stripped him of humanity and which he barely managed to survive. These
experiences are clearly at odds with those of his family, who have successfully
moved on and managed to build a life out of the rubble of the war. However,
Richard's POW experience also provides the first tentative steps towards
bonding with his family again, as he finally decides, to share his experiences
and accept their support. His difficulties represent those of a generation of
men who returned long after the war was finished, at a time when Germany's
population had already turned decisively away from its past.
What were the techniques that director Wortmann employed to present
the 'Miracle of Bern' as fact? It is argued here that it is only because the
events in Switzerland are presented as unquestioned truth that a transfer to
a new myth is possible. In other words, by producing the events in the style of
a documentary — albeit a re-enacted documentary — Wortmann presents
the events from his own point of view.
Wortmann's sleight of hand can be seen in his depiction of the World
Cup games. By painstakingly recreating the well-known set pieces of the
matches, and by perfectly re-enacting Zimmermann's original commentary,
he achieves a sense of authenticity that offers the represented myth as fact.
This effect is enhanced by the documentary-like titles introducing the
matches, and by Wortmann's perfectionist sense for details, from recreating
television bulletins to Adi Dassler's (the founder of Adidas) famous invention
of screw-on cleats. But his version of the World Cup becomes a clear-cut and
uncritical David and Goliath story. Wortmann enhances the David factor
by showing the team's lack of self confidence and the incredulous question
of a Hungarian reporter: 'Do you really think that the German side has a
realistic chance of beating Hungary?'. Additionally, Wortmann leaves out
all the undesirable actions during and reactions after the matches. In doing
so, he deliberately reinforces the German public's amnesia about the darker
aspects of this success story. For example, the Hungarian offside goal is
omitted in order to eliminate any doubts as to the legitimacy of the German
win, and the crowd's singing of the banned verse of the national anthem is
replaced by a roaring triumphant score.
Through such omissions, but even more importantly, through the
addition of his own mythical elements, Wortmann reinvents the myth of
1954. In particular, he uses two highly-charged scenes to great effect in the
masterful depiction of the final.
The first scene depicts an eruption by the impulsive Annette Ackermann.
Convinced that Germany will win the final, she has made a bet with her
husband Paul: if Germany wins, she gets to name their children, while
if Hungary wins, he may choose. When, with Germany down 2-0, Paul
announces that their first girl will be named Roswitha, Annette reacts with
pure outrage, and begins chanting 'Go Germany, go Germany' To her
astonishment, the crowd joins in and, as her lonely chant turns into a roar
by the crowd, a despairing captain Fritz Walter suddenly takes notice. A
slow-motion tracking shot of Walter starts at eye-level, then moves in a half
circle down to a low angle, making him appear bigger and bolder. At the
same time, his expression changes from despair to determination while his
body straightens up as he surveys the cheering crowd. With this newfound
determination he begins to lead the charge to equalise the two Hungarian
goals. This scene underlines the importance of Annette Ackermann, the
at first disinterested every-woman, in the making of the myth. Without her
outburst, Wortmann seems to suggest, there would have been no change
of atmosphere, necessary to motivate the German side to challenge the
Hungarian team.
The second mythical addition follows shortly after. At the beginning of
the film, Helmut Rahn tells Matthias that he can only turn around the tight
matches when Matthias is there. In a spur of the moment decision Richard
has taken Matthias, who is both the catalyst for and now beneficiary of his
father's slow change, to Bern for the final, conceding to his son's football
fever and admiration of his idol by saying that Rahn needs Matthias in order
to win the game. In the dramatic high point of the film, Matthias sneaks
into the stadium to the voice-over of Zimmermann's more and more excited
commentary, a scene which is intercut with frenetic shots of the action on
the pitch. Just as Matthias arrives at the side of the pitch, the football rolls
towards him. Again shot entirely in slow motion, he picks up the ball and
throws it to the unbelieving Rahn. The slow motion gives this sequence an
unreal, mystical feeling, with Matthias literally lending the magic touch.
Snapping suddenly back into 'reality' and Zimmermann's commentary,
Rahn storms toward the Hungarian goal and shoots the winning goal. When
he looks back, Matthias is already gone, leaving him with a sense of wonder.
This suggests, of course, that without (the fictional) Matthias there would not
have been a 'Miracle of Bern'.
Although these two scenes with Matthias and Annette Ackermann
feature relatively late in the narrative, their importance is highlighted by the
not so subtle, but effective use of slow-motion, especially as this is contrasted
with the fast-paced shots of the football action before and afterwards.
Furthermore, they build on an overall sense of authenticity that has been
developed throughout the film. The painstakingly recreated atmosphere of
the early 1950s, complete with American soldiers, everyone pitching in to
make a living, and, of course, the perfectly re-enacted radio commentary
throughout, helps to pass off the myth as fact. This authenticity lends further
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impact to another aspect of the Lubanski family's storyline: Matthias' brother
Bruno's relationship with his father Richard.
Unfortunately Richard's eventual change of heart, which leads to him
to open up to his family, comes too late to salvage the relationship with his
eldest son Bruno, the rebel of the family. Bruno is part of a new generation,
disdained by their fathers for questioning their role in the war, and has
run off to East Germany filled with enthusiasm for the socialist movement.
Wortmann's positive and uncritical portrayal of Bruno and his enthusiasm
for the GDR carefully avoids alienating East Germans. Significantly, this
sets Bruno up as a vehicle to invite East German complicity, and reclaim
the myth of 1954 for all of Germany. As was seen in the clip, this is achieved
through the inclusion of a single shot in the montage that shows how all
of Germany is tuning in to the live coverage of the match. Swept up in the
midst of this scene is a shot of Bruno with a group of Young Pioneers, the
youth group of the GDR's leading socialist party, who are easily identifiable
for today's audiences through their bright blue shirts and yellow bandanas.
This carefully placed shot clearly implies that when it came to soccer, there
was only one Germany.
This inclusion of East Germans is of central importance because, like
the original myth of 1954, Wortmann's reinvented myth comes after another
time of rupture, the Reunification of Germany in 1989. The film's depiction
of a slowly reorienting post-war society reverberates with a population still
negotiating the social and political implications of the fall of the Berlin wall.
To add insult to injury, the national soccer team, usually a reliable source
of pride, made it to the final of the World Cup in 2002 only to be easily
demolished by the Brazilian side.
Against this backdrop of unsettled national identity and lack of both
social cohesion and suitable national heroes, the timing of Wortmann's
film, which introduces a set of nostalgic heroes for a pan-German audience,
could not have been more perfect. While East Germans had once again
been stripped of their state and national identity in 1989, West Germans
struggled to incorporate these familiar strangers much in the way that the
Lubanski family struggles to welcome Richard into their world. By including
the East Germans in this scene whilst refusing to directly thematicise the
East-West division, Wortmann manages to naturalise the experience of this
sporting event as a truly collective moment that, then as now, has the power
to bring the nation together as a single, pan-German imagined community.
Thus the 'Miracle of Bern' has functioned to give Germans their identity
back not just once, but twice, with Wortmann's 2003 film both adding to and
strengthening the myth for a new, re-united Germany.
Notes
1
'Deutschland im Endspiel der Fußballweltmeisterschaft — das ist
eine Riesen-Sensation — das ist ein echtes Fußball-Wunder'. Radio
commentator Herbert Zimmermann on 4 July 1954 at the beginning of
the final of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
World Championship. All translations are by the author, unless otherwise
stated.
2
Das Wunder von Bern, produced by Tom Spieß, Sonke Wortmann and
Hanno Huth, and directed by Sonke Wortmann, 113 minutes, Germany,
2003.
3
Florian Breitmeier, 'Ein Wunder, wie es im Drehbuch steht: Die Wm 1954
— Ein Deutscher Erinnerungsfilm', in Wolfram Pyta (ed.), Der lange Weg
zur Bundesliga: Zum Siegeszug des Fussballs in Deutschland, LIT Verlag,
Munster, 2004, pp. 143-145.
4
'Herberger 3:2', Der Spiegel, 7 July 1954, accessed via www.spiegel.de
on 28 June 2005.
5
Richard Bessel and Dirk Schumann, 'Introduction: Violence, Normality,
and the Construction of Postwar Europe,' in Richard Bessel and Dirk
Schumann (eds), Life after Death: Approaches to a Cultural and Social
History During the 1940s and 1950s, Cambridge University Press, New
York, 2003, p. 3, Neil Gregor, 'Living with Loss Dealing with Shame',
History Today vol. 55, no. 5, 2005.
6
Breitmeier, 'Ein Wunder, wie es im Drehbuch steht', p. 129.
7
See for example, Arthur Heinrich, T h e 1954 Soccer World Cup and the
Federal Republic of Germany's Self-Discovery', American Behavioural
Scientist, vol. 46, no. 11, 2003, pp. 1495-1496.
8
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin
and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, London, 1991, p. 7.
9
Chris Barker, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, second edition,
Sage, London, 2003, p. 253.
10 Robert G. Moeller, 'Introduction: Writing the History of West Germany',
West Germany Under Construction: Politics, Society and Culture in the
Adenauer Era, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbour, 1997, p. 21.
11 Jurgen Leinemann, 'Fussball: Wie ein Kleiner Konig (Teil 2)', Der Spiegel,
30 December 1996, accessed via www.spieqel.de on 28 June 2005.
12 'Herberger 3:2', accessed via www.spiegel.de on 28 June 2005.
13 Friedrich Christian Delius, Der Sonntag, an dem ich Weltmeister wurde:
Erzaehlung, Reinbek bei Hamburg, Rowohlt, 1994.
14 Delius, Der Sonntag.
15 Heinrich, The 1954 Soccer World Cup and the Federal Republic of
Germany's Self-Discovery', p. 1493.
16 'Aus! Aus! Aus! Das Spiel ist aus! Deutschland ist Weltmeister. Schlagt
Ungarn mit drei zu zwo Toren im Finale in Bern!'.
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12
17
See 'Bundestrainer Adenauer', Der Spiegel, 7 July 1954, for a collection
of reactions from the international press — for example, Pierre Fabert
in Le Monde on 8 July 1954: 'Young, strong, excited the Germans are
singing, powerful, so that the whole world shall hear and know that
Germany is again, above everything. Now I am chilled to the bones
and I tell myself: Beware! Beware!' ('Jung, fest, begeistert singen die
Deutschen, machtvoll, auf daß es die ganze Welt hore und wisse, daß
Deutschland wieder einmal 'uber alles' erhoben ist. Nun frostelt mich
mehr und mehr, und ich sage mir: Achtung! Achtung!'). Der Spiegel
accessed via www.spiegel.de on 28 June 2005.
18 'Politics in Football: Cup Hysteria in Germany', Times, 10 July 1954, p. 6.
19 Run Lola Run, produced by Stefan Arndt et al, and directed by Tom
Tykwer, 77 minutes, Germany, 1999.
20 Breitmeier, 'Ein Wunder, wie es im Drehbuch steht', p. 136.
21
Richard Patzner, 'Das Wunder von Bern: Ein Myhos wird geboren', in
Marion M. Helmes and Gabriele C. Weiher (eds), Mythen in Moderne
und Postmoderne: Weltdeutung Und Sinnvermittlung, Weidler, Berlin,
1995, p. 209.
22 Breitmeier, 'Ein Wunder, wie es im Drehbuch Steht', p. 129.
23
Das Wunder von Bern, and directed by Wortmann.

HOW THE MIRACLE OF BERN GAVE GERMANS

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