The team is now the center point of the good mood that’s radiating into the country. Klinsmann, who has no stars in his ranks aside from Michael Ballack, wanted to forge a collective, a single entity. So far he has succeeded. And what’s more: as long as the team is successful, it also unifies the country.
It is in fact a mood of unity that has taken hold of Germany. And this is new, for the debates of recent months revolved more around differences, incompatibilities. Around an underclass whose contact to societal life has been ruptured. Around immigrants who are having a hard time adjusting to national customs. Around East Germans who still have not arrived in the Federal Republic. These groups are now uniting during the World Cup, in the stadiums and in front of TV screens.
It’s the 64th minute when the fans in the stands notice that Germany needs support. The score is 0:0, the Poles look stronger, the game could end badly.
From the Eastern curve, upper stands, “Germany, Germany” rings out; the call spreads over the entire arena, becomes stronger and stronger; then suddenly the young David Odonkor appears on the screen. He was just put in, and the people in the stadium stand up, scream, stomp their feet.
This is not the Westphalia Stadium in Dortmund. This is the arena in Berlin. Adidas built a small replica of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on the field in front of the Reichstag, an arena of plastic and steel, with artificial turf, with upper and lower stands, with space for around 10,000 people. Tickets cost three Euro, technically.
Shortly before the kickoff many fans were standing in front of the entrance with small cardboard boxes; they were looking for tickets. In the glow of sunset the inscription on the Reichstag portal – “For the German People” – was sparkling, the starting whistle was drawing closer, and prices on the black market were rising.
In the end, some paid 40 Euro for a ticket; 40 Euro to watch soccer on television. It’s not even a large screen they’re looking at. You can probably watch the game in better quality in any German living room. But it’s not about the picture quality.
It’s about sharing emotions. Shortly before the beginning of the game, when the TV is broadcasting the national anthem from Dortmund, all those in Berlin rise from their seats and sing along. Later they clap rhythmically, they do “La Ola,” the wave; they rollick and scream and tremble and rejoice.
They paid 3 or 30 Euro not to be alone with their emotions, to hear, see, and feel others. Thus the large screen becomes a campfire around which to gather in search of warmth, and soccer becomes the glue for a society that’s drifting apart. For the duration of the tournament, Hartz IV recipients, investment bankers, and intellectuals share the same interest. The jubilation blurs the boundaries of social background.
The jubilation dissolves the conflicts between East and West, in that many Easterners suddenly recognize themselves as citizens of the Federal Republic.
[ . . . ]
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