Author(s): Alice EGED

Title: „FUßBALL IST NIEMALS NUR EIN SPIEL”

Source: 11th International Conference of J. Selye University. Section on Language – Culture – Intercultural Relationships. Conference Proceedings

ISBN: 978-80-8122-331-0

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36007/3310.2019.47-62

Publisher: J. Selye University, Komárno, Slovakia

PY, pages: 2019, 47-62

Published on-line: 2019

Language: de

Abstract: The Hungarian national football team, the Golden Team arrived at the Swiss World Cup in 1954 as the highest potential team and a medal worthy of their reputation was expected from them all over the world. Leading up to the final, everything went as expected, however, something happened that the football fans least expected: Germany defeated Hungary 3-2, thus the German Federal Republic became the world champion for the first time. The significance of the victory reached far beyond the framework of a football match. In the Germans, it evoked the feeling of „we-are-somebody-again” and it restored the self-esteem of a nation that was ashamed. Many people look upon the Bern final as a far more significant event than the ratification of the Fundamental Law, the post-war currency reform or the fall of the Berlin Wall. For them, the real date of the foundation of the German Federal Republic is 1954.

Keywords: 1954 FIFA World Cup, Bern, German football team, post-war period

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