German fußball—recent developments and origins

Fußball is the most popular sport in Germany. The reasons for this extraordinary status and success of association football in Germany are complex. In this article, answers are searched for in the context of the historical development of German society. After a review of the recent development of German football and football historiography, the paper focuses on two issues relating to the origins of German football. These are the transformation of football in the then dominant body culture of gymnastics, and secondly its impact on the German process of nation-building. Both processes are not only linked, but also related to the concept of manliness in German sport and society. This is the reason why women’s football in Germany was not accepted until the late 1960s in German society—and British as well.     

Football and its continuity as a classless mass phenomenon in Germany and England: rethinking the bourgeoisification of football crowds

Considering football’s popular notion of a working-class sport in England and Germany – at least in the 1950s – the shift towards present classless fandom in football is mainly explained by the genesis of a middle-class fan culture induced by the process of football’s accumulating (hyper-) commodification. However, this so-called ‘bourgeoisification thesis’ cannot be verified on the basis of empirical data – neither on the basis of the employment status of people attending football matches in the stadia of the top league clubs in England and Germany between 1977 and 2009 nor on the basis of representative data pertaining to the social-class profile of regular readers of German football magazines carried out in 1954. It is demonstrated that football has enjoyed continuous popularity among all social classes. Hence, the bourgeoisification of football fandom can basically be ascribed to the inter- and intra-generational upward mobility in postmodern societies induced by socio-structural change.     

‘The East’ strikes back. Ultras Dynamo,hyper-stylization,and regimes of truth

Abstract

This case study deals with Ultras Dynamo, the leading group in the active fan scene of Eastern German (the term Eastern Germany is used within this paper to refer to the territory on which the GDR existed from 1949 to 1990; it entails the federal states Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thuringia and the eastern part of Berlin) side SG Dynamo Dresden (throughout the paper, the club’s full name ‘Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden’ will be shortened using either Dynamo Dresden or simply Dynamo. Among the fans, the club is mostly called SGD (abbreviation of Sport[G]emeinschaft Dynamo) which is also used on flags, banners and in fan chants). The paper analyses styles of self-representation of the active fan scene at Dynamo and critically analyses the claim made by the group to being apolitical. The process of collective identity construction is linked to media images of the group and a ‘regime of truth’ is identified: a self-sustaining and interdependent cycle which overarches the process of image- and identity-construction at Dynamo Dresden and which can be traced back to processes of labelling, stigmatization and secondary deviance.     

Amerika: The Super Bowl and German Imagination

Abstract

The Super Bowl has played a central role in the diffusion of American football in Germany, as interviews with the ‘founding fathers’ of ‘gridiron’ football clubs and analysis of German media accounts reveal. American football and the Super Bowl have also played an important role in the construction of traditional German Amerikabilder – images, ideas, and symbols associated with America. German media rarely covered American football until the late 1970s. At that time, brief highlight shows of the Super Bowl on German television and broadcasts on the American Forces Network significantly contributed to the diffusion of American football and the emergence of an American football league in Germany in the late 1970s. In the process of covering the Super Bowl, German journalists reproduced Germany’s double-headed Amerikabild: America as a model of modernity on the one hand, and as a violent, cultureless society on the other. The press further invoked historical clashes between German Kultur and the dreaded Zivilisation of the West. This exploration of the social processes surrounding the reception of the Super Bowl in Germany employs the theories of cultural globalization, migration, and electronic mediation developed by the anthropologist Arjun Appadurai to explain the complexities of contemporary global cultural flows.     

Behind the Iron Curtain: Football as a Site of Contestation in the East German Sports ‘Miracle’

Sport is employed as a lens through which one can understand better the social and political inner workings of dictatorship. This paper treats sport as a cultural institution within GDR (German Democratic Republic) society and sets out to complement the two broad paradigms used to study East Germany: the first, a broad approach under the umbrella of ‘Cold War histories’ and ‘totalitarianism theory’, usually focusing on the few; the second, a so-called ‘histories of everyday life’ approach generally focusing on the many. Using an in-depth case study of the sport of football, the paper introduces a new paradigm: the ‘contested dictatorship’ approach. This approach rejects the broad totalitarian notion of dictatorship as applied to East Germany and shares many of the underlying assumptions of the ‘everyday history’ approach, in particular by allowing a far greater role for agency with much more room for manoeuvre for actors and institutions within the structures of an authoritarian state than ‘totalitarian’ understandings usually permit. Drawing on empirical archival material, the paper reveals the endemic rivalries between key personalities (and even large industrial enterprises expressing regional identities) in a struggle for influence over the game; rivalries between fans of GDR football teams; fan culture and hooligan behaviour as forms of self-determination; and how these issues contributed to the poor performance of football relative to other sports.     

Football with Friends? How the German Sporting Press Covered the German–Danish Sports Collaboration, 1939–1944

Abstract

This paper concludes that a number of different discourses marked the coverage of Danish–German sports collaboration during the Second World War in German newspapers, sports magazines and newsreels. From the outbreak of the Second World War to the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, the discourses cover neutrality and friendship with Germany. After the invasion of Denmark, a discourse of Nordic sentiments became very important in the communications of the press, with Danish athletes portrayed as Nordic citizens, which some circles of German society could interpret as a euphemism for the Nazi idea of a strong Aryan Scandinavia. During the autumn of 1941, the rising strain on Germany’s resources made the sports media a supplier of success. The discourse of a strong Germany replaced the previous discourses. As German–Danish sporting events ceased in 1942, Danish sport alone would still make occasional appearances in the German media until 1944, providing a German audience with entertainment and distraction.     

The Munich Olympics 1972: Its Impact on the Relationship Between State,Sports and Anti-Doping Policy in West Germany

This article about doping and anti-doping measures and policy in West Germany in the context of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich is part of a research project about ‘Doping and Anti-Doping in West-Germany’, supported by the German Government. The intention of this paper is to describe, analyse and discuss the process of changing relationships between state (including various governing sports bodies) and sport (including the German sport associations and federations) in West Germany in the context of the Munich Olympics, and how doping and anti-doping was dealt with in national and international high-level sports. The paper is based on relevant archives and documents from governmental and sports organizations, as well as on the current German and international state-of-the-art of doping (and anti-doping) research.     

Welcome to Norway!? The Discussions About German Participation in the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo

The German re-entry into the Olympic Movement after the Second World War took place at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo – the capital of a country which had been occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945. The wounds of war had by no means healed in Norway at the time of the Oslo event; thus, the 1952 Olympic Games became once more a political issue. In fact, prior to the event, the question of German participation had given rise to numerous discussions between Norway, the Federal Republic of Germany and the IOC. Therefore, the West German ‘Return to Olympia’ was a process which took two years and required patience and diplomatic tact. The objective of this article is to trace this process both from the Norwegian and German perspectives since the research results on the subject available to date emphasised either a Norwegian or a German perspective. This approach also seems interesting against the historical background of the onset of the Cold War.     

全球化背景下的竞技体育强国探究——以德国为镜

以SWOT分析法对德国竞技体育强国的进程进行了分析。结果显示：1990年后,德国竞技体育内部优势明显,主要体现在其制度统一后的国情、经济的复苏、竞技体育理念的改变和精英体系的严谨、规范;德国竞技体育面临的外部挑战主要来自欧盟,也包括美国、澳大利亚等国。统一后的德国,面对一系列的威胁和挑战,在遵循全球化背景下的评价标准的前提下,不断进行战略选择,制定竞技体育战略,以规避威胁,应对挑战,成为竞技体育强国。     

Philosophy of Sport in Germany: An Overview of its History and Academic Research

In Germany, philosophy of sport is still a young discipline which developed in the 20th century as a result of the growing significance of sport in society. Whereas the academic discussion in Germany which took place in the founding phase of the discipline in the early 1970s had much in common with that conducted in the Anglo-American academic community thanks to such integrative figures as Hans Lenk and Gunter Gebauer, who hosted the international conferences held in Germany by the Philosophic Society for the Study of Sport (PSSS)¹ in the early 1980s and the 1990s, the transnational dialogue abated almost completely in the following years.² As a consequence, philosophy of sport in Germany underwent a development of its own and acquired its own profile. The specific characteristics of German philosophy of sport are not rooted so much in any cultural particularities of sport practice, as is the case for bicycling in the Netherlands or hunting and cricket in England, for example, but rather in regional philosophical traditions established by such philosophers as Wittgenstein, Plessner, Nietzsche, Kant and Hegel.³

In order to give the reader an overview of the historical development and current status of research in philosophy of sport in Germany, relevant exemplary publications will be presented in the following and treated firstly in terms of their genesis, secondly in the context of current trends and tendencies, thirdly from the perspective of differences and commonalities between the German and the Anglo-American academic discussion, and fourthly concerning status and degree of institutionalization. Lastly an outlook on future developments will be given.     

德国的城市体育规划——以美茵河畔法兰克福为例

从公共社会政策的视角出发,对体育运动的发展具有非常重要的政策价值。德国是体育运动发展比较发达的国家,体育被纳入了社会政策的范畴,许多城镇都会进行专门的体育发展规划。本文首先概述了德国体育发展的现状,然后介绍了德国体育政策规划的一般步骤和方法,并且以著名的金融城法兰克福为例,从体育赛事、体育组织和体育空间的3个层面讨论了体育政策是如何与城市发展结合起来的,并推动了体育和社会的共同发展。最后,本文探讨了德国的体育发展政策以及规划对于中国体育发展的启示意义。     

德国体育俱乐部体制与竞技体育关系的研究

采用文献综述法和调查访问法,对原东德、原西德和德国统一后的竞技体育概况、目前德国的竞技体育体制与体育俱乐部的关系及其优缺点做了介绍和研究,通过实例分析,说明德国的竞技体育体制建立在俱乐部体制的基础之上,俱乐部体制是德国竞技体育可持续发展,尤其是群众基础较好的项目如足球和冰雪项目保持高水平的基础和保证。     

German football culture in the new millennium: ethnic diversity,flair and youth on and off the pitch

Germany sent its most ethnically diverse team ever to Poland and Ukraine to compete in Euro 2012. Over the last six years, the Germany manager, Joachim Löw, has not only revitalized and rejuvenated his squad but also included a considerable number of players with foreign roots and from ethnic minorities. This ethnic and cultural diversity of the current German national side is the result of some major policy changes in the country at the turn of the millennium that made it easier for immigrants and their offspring to gain citizenship. In comparison with other European nations, it is not a reflection of a colonial history but a model of contemporary German society. This paper argues that the above-mentioned changes on the pitch are also reflected off it. Both the 2006 and 2010 Soccer World Cups and Euro 2012 turned into widespread and colourful celebrations of a new, modern sense of Germanness underpinned by a non-threatening and playful patriotism. The creativity, diversity, youth, style and flair of both the German team and its supporters presented the country as a confident and more embracing place than ever before.     

柏林墙倒塌后原东德体育的转型过程

在关注原东德体育转型的文献中,很少有聚焦在体育社团和组织变迁方面的历史学研究。本文利用德国体育史中心的资料,探讨了原东德地区的图灵根州的体育俱乐部和相关组织在柏林墙倒塌前后的变迁过程。本文通过马格德堡俱乐部的个案,介绍了原来的东西德的体育组织在制度和文化上的差异。最后,通过一些宏观体育数据的比较,从体育设施、体育政策和体育文化等层面探讨了两德合并之后原东德地区的体育发展程度依然落后于原西德地区的原因。     

Social Change,Astro-Turfs,and Entrepreneurial Activities in the Context of German Non-Elite Football: The Example of Lower-Division Club BSV Bielstein

Abstract

This article explores the efforts of a German non-elite football club to revitalize itself using a combination of modernization strategies to overcome a perceived existential crisis. The modernizing strategies involved improving facilities (laying an artificial pitch and building a new club house) while at the same time actively pursuing a community role via, for example, work with refugees. The interdisciplinary approach used here stresses the peculiar character of institutionalization/bureaucratization (clubs/associations) in combination with the social world of club football as emotional community in Germany since the nineteenth century. In contrast to an emphasis on the systemic character of football as a closed social system with its specific set of rules in which the logic of action is historically predetermined, this article focusses on social actors and their constant struggle to recreate and redefine the social world of football through their actions.     

德国体育俱乐部建制探析

采用文献综述法和调查访问法,对德国体育俱乐部的起源与发展进行回顾,通过大量统计数据对德国体育俱乐部的现状和面临的问题进行分析和讨论,以期全面地介绍德国的体育俱乐部体制并研究其与竞技体育、群众体育和学校体育的关系,为我国的体育发展尤其是全民健身的发展提供参考和借鉴。     

The occupational socialization of German physical education teachers

To date, most of the work on the occupational socialization of physical education (PE) teachers has been completed in the United States and Britain. The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the occupational socialization of German PE teachers who were trained prior to unification of the two German states and worked in both their old nations and the new Germany. The two research questions we attempted to answer were (a) What were the perspectives and practices of West German (WG) and East German (EG) PE teachers? and (b) What factors influenced these perspectives and practices? Participants were five former WG and five former EG teachers. Data were collected using four qualitative techniques (formal and follow-up interviews, document analysis, film snippets) and analyzed by employing analytic induction and constant comparison. Findings indicated that there were distinct and different patterns of socialization for the former German states. The WG group possessed conservative teaching orientations nurtured during their childhood and youth and reinforced during their training and by their school cultures. Perceived changes in German society and culture led to slight modifications of these orientations over the teachers’ careers. Prior to reunification, the EG group possessed a high performance orientation primarily honed by the politics of the state. The perspectives and practices of WG teachers were relatively unaffected by reunification. In contrast, the transition to a new system was emancipating for four of the EG teachers who shifted to a teaching orientation. Conversely, the transition was particularly difficult for one of the former EG teachers who partially retained his high performance orientation and strategically complied with new national requirements.     

Zur Rolle der Wissenschaft im nationalen Spitzensportfördersystem

In the 3/2015 edition of the journal Sportwissenschaft (Sport science), Hottenrott and Braumann name many problems, which in their opinion are the reasons for the current tense situation in German elite sport. This article is thought of as the reaction, with which comments, contradictions and underlining of the individual problems from the perspective of the authors are undertaken: but extending beyond Hottenrott and Braumann, statements are also made on the benchmarks of a future research promotion system for German elite sport. These are derived as far as possible from the conceptional requirements of such a system. The final section is programmatically entitled “Critique/problems and sequelae/requirements” and aims to give a constructive opinion on the current discussion about a reform of elite sport in Germany.     

Gymnastics and Sport at German Universities: The Example of the Teacher Training College in Tübingen from the Beginnings to Its Academic Acceptance

The University of Tübingen in the southwest of Germany claims to have the oldest tradition for gymnastics and sports of any German University. In 1839, the Ministry for Education of the Kingdom of Wuerttemberg officially decreed that there would be a Gymnastische Anstalt, which was to be a department of the university giving students the opportunity to do gymnastics and exercises. The new institute for gymnastics (in German turnen) was controlled by the academic authorities of the university, chaired by the president and the disciplinary commission. The paper implies both a consideration of the chronological history of physical education, games, and sports at a university, which advanced to become one of the leading contemporary physical education colleges in Germany, and to elaborate the distinctive qualities of modern developments with respect to the institutionalization of sport science(s) at universities. The article is based on the study of original documents in various relevant archives.     

Historiography,Cultures of Remembrance and Tradition in German Sport

Erinnerungskultur (culture of remembrance) is a widely discussed notion in German historiography. First, the meaning of Erinnerungskultur, including the specific role of academic historiography of sport, is described and explained with respect to sport and sport historiography. One main objective is to reveal the diversity of cultures of sport history and the specific obligations of academic historiography. Second, the actors of sport memories and/or Traditionspflege (heritage) are characterised, and, third, some controversial and perennial debates that permeate German sports history are explained and interpreted, especially that of Carl Diem, internationally known as ‘Mister Olympics’ of 1936. All in all, the paper provides an overview of the mainstreams, cultures and politics of history in Germany with respect to sport.