As Germany prepares to host Euro 2024, the 2006 World Cup – the last major international football tournament on German soil – still plays a formative role in the country’s collective consciousness.
Now widely known as the Summer Fairy Tale (Sommermaerchen), the tournament is remembered as the moment when a united Germany threw off the shadows of its dark past and showed the world a new, modern face.
On the field, the German team coached by Jurgen Klinsmann overcame terrible pre-tournament predictions to reach the semifinals.
Despite losing in extra time to eventual champions Italy and finishing third, Germany’s performance began a decade of dominance that culminated in their 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil.
Off the field, the tournament changed not only the way the world viewed Germany, but also the way Germany viewed itself.
Philipp Lahm, a key player in 2006 who captained Germany to World Cup glory eight years later, told AFP: “In 2006 we could see the whole nation supporting the team and giving us energy.
“The celebrations are good. Let people come here to Germany and celebrate a great festival together.”
– ‘Where are all the Germans?’ –
German sports sociologist and philosopher Gunter Gebauer told AFP the tournament had a sudden and lasting impact.
“Before the tournament, the climate in Germany was very, very bad. The economy was not doing well. The weather was bad and the football was horrible.
“And then the World Cup started and during Germany’s first game against Costa Rica, Philipp Lahm scored and the sun came out – it was almost like something out of the Bible.”
Living in a middle-class suburb of Berlin, Gebauer saw a neighbor unfurl a German flag on his balcony, previously considered “taboo” due to the country’s post-World War II reservations with nationalism.
“From there we saw German flags and sang the anthem at Germany games – something that simply didn’t exist before.”
The dissolution of the internal reserves meant that World Cup visitors saw a different side to the straight, rule-enforcing Germans familiar from national stereotypes.
“The foreigners who came to Germany were enchanted by the German public.
“The English people asked ‘where are all the bloody Germans? We only find friendly people who are partying everywhere’.”
Wolfgang Maennig, a rower who won gold for Germany at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is now professor of sports economics at the University of Hamburg.
– ‘Well-being effect’ –
In an interview with AFP, Maennig said that although the economic benefits of major events are often insignificant, “the feel-good effect was the essence of the 2006 World Cup”.
Before the World Cup, “Germans weren’t exactly considered world leaders when it came to being welcoming”, but after 2006 “Germany improved significantly in international perceptions”.
“I believe that foreigners see us completely differently, no longer as unenthusiastic and somewhat quirky people, but as open and happy people, which has made us more comfortable with how we see ourselves.”
Jan Haut, a sports sociologist at Goethe University, told AFP that “the German people became a little less rigid. They were more comfortable and confident celebrating the national team’s victories.”
“What was quite new was that the Germans themselves became more aware that in other countries Germany’s image is not as bad as the Germans thought,” he added.
– ‘Only football can do this’ –
Although 18 years have passed and both Germany and the world have changed, many parallels remain.
Germany is once again beset by economic uncertainty, infrastructure concerns and fears of poor performances on the field.
Haut said the world’s attention would once again shine on Germany, for better and for worse.
“In the worst case, there could be some surprises – maybe people will realize that things don’t work so well in Germany these days, like public transport.”
After the humiliation of two successive World Cup group stage exits, Germany showed signs of life under coach Julian Nagelsmann.
They have won just three of their 11 games in 2023 but bounced back with strong wins over France and the Netherlands in March.
Whatever the team’s results at the tournament, Maennig said Germany can count on the unifying impact of national sport.
“As a rower I say this with a little sadness in my voice, but only football can bring people together like this. Cafes and restaurants broadcast the games on monitors and you can sit and watch in a friendly atmosphere.
“It’s really quite charming.”
dwi/hmn/dj/gj
