Football Fever

Football fever has taken a hold of Germany.

So much so, that the U.S. embassy issued a travel advisory against venturing too far into the land of bratwursts and biersteins.

The advisory was issued for last night’s semi-final game between Deutschland and Turkey, warning Americans about “violent disturbances” that may occur before or after the mid evening match. Particularly in the “public viewing” areas where hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands in the case of the Brandenburg Gate — gather to booze the night away with their eyes glued on giant t.v. screens.

And don’t go anywhere near the demonstrations afterward when streets get blocked and vehicles rocked, the advisory goes on to say.

Yeah, that’s pretty much what we found out on our own. Only, after all the travelling we’ve done in Asia, Africa, and South America, we never thought to subscribe to the travel warning feed for Germany. I mean, this is a place where a lone woman like myself can feel quite comfortable jogging along down a deserted bike path at night.

Despite all the hype — from the U.S. embassy and the German media — the Germany vs. Turkey square-off in the Euro Cup turned out to be quite peaceful. Not a whole lot more eventful than the party scene around Karnaval — at least in the Rhineland. The songs may have been different, but even the clown wigs were the same, albeit in the German colors of black, yellow, and red.

The tensions between Germans and the sizable Turkish community concerning everything from the building of mosques and wearing of headscarves to immigration laws, for the most part did not carry over to the football fans. Though the story could have been different had Turkey won.

We saw lots of good will gestures in Bonn. Hand-slapping between Germans and Turks after the game ended with Germany’s close 3-2 victory. A number of Turkish eateries unfurled both German and Turkish flags, as if not to take sides.

What was most surprising to us as football fever became pitched starting a month or so ago was just how overt the signs of German patriotism have become. The flag waving only started two years ago when the World Cup descended on Germany and German patriotism came out of the closet for the first time since 1945. This year’s game, being held abroad in Austria and Switzerland, cemented those sentiments.

For the first time since World War II, people here can proudly fly their flag, wear the colors on an armband or hair scrunchie or skirt or painted across their faces … and not feel guilt. They can even sing their anthem — although hardly anyone knows the words — or scream from the top of their lungs chants like “Super Deutschland.”

The so-called “public viewing” events — yes, they use the phrase in English — have also helped normalize the patriotism. People, mostly the youth, gather in parks and watch the game together and the energy of the crowd helps carry the high.

In other words, you don’t have to quietly root for Germany behind your stone walls with the iron shutters closed anymore.

Doing so might have actually killed a lot football fever fans last night, when a thunderstorm shut down the broadcast signal from Switzerland a couple times during the game. The German fans had each other for support.

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If you look carefully you can find Tony in both of these videos.