Celebrating 'A Peaceful and Tolerant Germany'

COLOGNE, Germany, July 10, 2006 — -- Last week, as German football fans grappled with their team's demoralizing loss to Italy on the verge of a dream World Cup finals berth, Mario Delold stowed away his national flag.

Recounting the decision after the German victory over Portugal in the third-place playoff, Delold, a builder's apprentice from Cologne, said he had removed the decorations out of respect for Italy's deserved moment of national pride.

By Sunday, the flag fluttered once more, covering a full two stories of Delold's apartment building. Shouting over the top of ongoing celebrations, Delold excitedly explained the new feeling engulfing the country.

"German nationalism has re-emerged with vitality," he said. "We are celebrating a peaceful and tolerant Germany."

Few before the tournament anticipated this overtly positive expression of national pride. The national team's past success always elicited celebration accompanied by an acute sense of embarrassment, and the Germans constantly found themselves having to justify their excitement as members of a nation that committed unspeakable horrors under Nazism.

Troubled by their own identity and scared of the impression left on international onlookers, subdued victory parties usually occurred in private. But with the World Cup to be staged at home, the opportunity emerged for Germans to demonstrate to themselves and the world that their national pride is deserved and benevolent.

'The Nazi Jokes Are Misplaced'

Leading up to the tournament, the media cautiously tested the waters, with doomsday forecasters predicting an uncomfortable resurgence of nationalism and a descent into drunken hooliganism, a sight not uncommon in the world of European soccer.

German authorities prepared for the worst. Playing host chiefly meant controlling any guests who wanted to spoil the party. English fans, particularly prone to brutish displays of violent patriotism, received their warning from the German police in the press: no Nazi salutes, no goose-stepping, no Hitler impersonations.

The infamous British cry "two world wars and one World Cup" might prove the undoing of a potentially peaceful tournament, and authorities stressed that misbehavior would not be tolerated.

"The police were very good," said Giesela Keuerleber, a radio reporter for Westdeutscher Rundfunk. "They quickly dealt with any problems and de-escalated potentially violent situations."

Aside from minor clashes in Dortmund and Stuttgart, the competition went without incident. This was particularly important for the effect it had on international spectators, Keuerleber said.

"It's positive because they had the chance to see how we really are," she said. "It let them see that the Nazi jokes are misplaced."

Playing With Pride

All gloomy expectations were quickly forgotten as the home nation cruised through the qualifying rounds. On the field, a dynamic and aggressive national team was winning over their impassioned countrymen. Flag sales across the country surged -- the colors red, yellow and black dangled from windows, draped over construction work and madly flapped behind speeding cars.

"At the beginning, I had a very uncomfortable feeling about all the flags," said Rosemarie Schatter, a 56-year-old film consultant originally from the country's south. "But then I eventually came to the conclusion that this was support for the national team within the confines of the World Cup."

Max Schmidt, a media science student in Siegen, shared this viewpoint.

"I was very skeptical at first," Schmidt said. "I found it pretty odd with people walking around cloaked in German flags. After a few weeks though, I shared in the feeling of national community. It was based on our support for the team."

Germans are understandably wary about a re-emergence of nationalism, particularly one pushed by right-wing extremists like the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD).

"For our generation, nationalism meant the Nazis," Schatter said. "But for this new generation, shouting 'Deutschland, Deutschland' doesn't mean anything evil. We must make sure that the neo-Nazis aren't allowed to manipulate this new pride for the wrong ends ... it's our national job."

Schmidt added that extremists would be mistaken to think pride in Germany meant support for their cause.

"[The NPD] think it's their chance, but their political aspirations and the soccer are two completely different things," he said. "You have Turkish kids running around waving the flag. The tournament has created an inclusive feeling."

Germans have sought such a turnaround for more than a decade. Today, despite the close of the competition, the flags remain unfurled in memory of the tournament that eroded international stereotypes and allowed Germans to revel in the success of their team.

As the retiring German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, said after the victory over Portugal, "It's unbelievable what football can do."