Ya iba siendo hora de que recuperara el orgullo nacional, y es que hacía 70 años que los alemanes no se atrevían a utilizar su bandera con orgullo. Sin embargo, la pasada Copa del Mundo de Fútbol ha cambiado muchas cosas. De vuelta a Alemania he visto que en la cantina donde como seguían con la bandera. Nunca la había visto antes. Además, un vecino de enfrente aún la tiene puesta en su ventana. ¿Y pensar que fui yo el primero de mi calle que la puso hace unas semanas? Junto con una española, por supuesto. Nunca había visto antes la utilización de la bandera alemana de forma privada.
¡¡¡ENHORABUENA!!!
Por cierto, aquí nos cuenta que los medios turcos están contra la visita del papa al país y que retratan a los cristianos como enemigos de Turquía. Cada vez entiendo mejor la Aliaza de Civilizaciones de Zapatero con el Turco. Por descontado, están en su derecho; por mi parte, yo estoy contra la entrada de Turquía en Europa y considero al Islam como una religión satánica, y un riesgo intolerable para el futuro de mis hijos.
World Cup a boom for German image
Friday, July 7, 2006 Posted: 1341 GMT (2141 HKT)
BERLIN, Germany (AP) — Like their freewheeling soccer team, Germans showed the world — and themselves — a new and more relaxed face during the World Cup, shedding a taboo about waving their flag while welcoming foreigners to a peaceful, international party.
In many ways, the past month has been a success story of what didn’t happen — there were no major outbreaks of hooligan violence, attention-getting neo-Nazi disturbances, terrorism or floods of trafficked prostitutes, contrary to fretting ahead of time.
What did happen was that Germans rediscovered mass displays of national pride suppressed for decades because of the country’s Nazi past, helped by an offense-minded team that exceeded expectations.
Young people, in particular, waved the flag in ways their parents couldn’t bring themselves to during their own youth, and crowds and players loudly sang their anthem before games — just like fans from any other country.
«Today it’s a completely different generation,» said Dunja Mueller, 19, a black-red-gold lei around her neck as she headed toward Berlin’s Fan Mile outdoor viewing area that regularly attracted crowds of up to 900,000 during games.
«We are not so much proud of the past, but of our present.»
The flag was everywhere — worn as clothing, painted on faces, hung from automobiles. Flagmakers struggled to keep up with demand.
A German victory in this Sunday’s final would have been best of all, but even with the semifinal loss to Italy, the soccer tournament has been a boon, bringing in billions of euros (dollars) and showcasing a nation with a newfound self-confidence, pride — and even a little flexibility.
«The people are experiencing Germany as a cheerful and confident country — they feel at home in this community,» President Horst Koehler said in an interview with the Bild newspaper. «Germans are identifying with their country and their national colors — and I find that terrific. And I think it’s great I’m not the only one with a flag on my car anymore.»
Guenter Gebauer, a sports sociologist at the Free University of Berlin, said the tournament gave Germans a chance to present their idealized image of themselves.
«I think people in Germany saw this World Cup as an opportunity to present themselves the way they would like to be presented, meaning, to make into reality for four weeks the wished-for image that Germans have of themselves,» he said.
That, he said, was not the stereotype of reticent northern Europeans but of «an open, friendly, playful people, that lives outside on the squares, with whom it is easy even for strangers to strike up contact — a rather southern people,» Gebauer said.
It doesn’t always square with reality, given the country’s bitter debates about immigration, for instance, he reminded.
In a more down-to-earth way, the tournament was a boon to several large German companies and to thousands of smaller ones such as hotels and taverns. Shoemaker Adidas used the tournament as a major marketing platform, as did fellow shoe company Puma as well as tiremaker Continental and Deutsche Telekom.
Heinrich Bayer, an economist with Germany’s PostBank, said the tournament should generate a total of euro2 billion-euro3 billion (US$2.6 million to US$4 billion) extra in domestic spending, in addition to an additional euro1 billion (US$1.3 billion) from World Cup tourists. He hopes the economic boost will last.
«One of the most positive effects that we could have hoped for was the positive picture of Germany that the rest of the world has gotten, which will mean more visitors for years to come,» he said. «I think Germany really used its chance to showcase itself to the rest of the world.»
Germany pushed the tournament as «a time to make friends,» and the message seemed to pay off with no major incidents of hooliganism at the matches or among the 11 million fans who, according to the German National Tourist Board, packed the country’s outdoor viewing areas ahead of the semifinal.
«It is a good World Cup, the weather is great and people are very friendly. It’s happy in the hotel, the stadium, the streets,» said Iranian Hamid Reza Hassanpour.
«The mood is so good. We think we look good in front of the world, so we have taken another look at ourselves and it has given us confidence,» said Klaus Selbach on his way to the Iran-Angola match in Leipzig.
Police were out in force, and widely drew plaudits from fans of all nations for their efforts to use personal interaction with the crowds to prevent problems, giving people leeway to celebrate instead of strictly enforcing rules — though stepping in quickly if difficulties seemed to be escalating.
«There were opportunities to see that the unconventional and relaxed does occur in Germany, that the people are no longer rigid and uncomfortable, sociologist Gebauer said.
Ahead of the tournament, there were worries that the influx of tourists would lead to a spike in the trafficking of women forced into prostitution, but across the board in all of the cities where matches were played, police said they saw no increase.
A study commissioned by Germany’s tourist board found 43 percent of World Cup visitors were in Germany for the first time, and 91 percent overall felt welcome in the country. In all, an estimated 2 million foreign tourists flooded into Germany during the month for the event, double the 1 million expected.
The question now is whether Germany will be able to ride the wave of the World Cup, or whether the momentum will fizzle along with the memories.
Two weeks into the tournament, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country’s budget situation was «desolate,» and where the HDE retailer’s association estimates the World Cup will boost retail sales from between 0.5 to 1 percent this year, spokesman Hubertus Pellengahr said that could be almost canceled out by upcoming tax increases in 2007 and other measures.
The mass-circulation daily Bild urged people to keep up the good mood.
«We have to maintain the sense of renewal, the self confidence, the good mood for our everyday lives,» the paper wrote. «This is just the momentum we so urgently need to face the tough tasks ahead.»
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/football/07/07/germany.cup.ap/
Lo que se dice arriba es que los periodicos (incluyendo los sensacionalistas) estan pidiendo a los alemanes que mantenga el buen humor
Y el orgullo recuperada de ser alemanes. Me parece muy bien.
Y a mi todo perfecto, mejor que no ganasen el Mundial porque se hubiese subido el sentimiento de nazismo; han recuperado el orgullo nacional y han perdido caballerosamente