Football is also part of Germany’s culture. It is considered the Germans’ favourite sport. Many have played football in a club themselves at one time. But even more follow the important games on television. Important games are not only the World Cup or the European Championship. The Champions League and the Bundesliga matches are also among the major sporting events that real fans do not miss. The German clubs prove that they have real class.
The German Bundesliga is one of the strongest leagues in the world. Every match is broadcast with professional commentary. But it is not only on television that football can be watched. Even better is watching it directly on site in the stadium. You won’t find an atmosphere like this in any living room in the world. Football matches are one of the events with the largest audiences. Clubs have their own blocks of fans and special choruses. Anyone who appreciates sport and can enjoy football will appreciate the opportunity to visit a stadium. And even the Deutsche Bahn makes it possible to travel cheaply to many an away game through suitable cooperation agreements. So if you want to support your team, you can also travel to an away game in Germany. Many Germans have a favourite club to which they have been loyal for many years. And it’s not just the heavy favourites who can count on large numbers of fans.
Many an underdog also has a longstanding audience. Clubs like FC St. Pauli, SC Freiburg or Eintracht Frankfurt have fans who have remained loyal to their club even through hard years. Each of the clubs has its own unique culture. Some fans are particularly loyal to a club also because of a favourite player. Football players can become celebrities in demand in Germany. Some football coaches or club bosses are even interviewed on political issues. Despite all the competition in the league, the sports clubs usually demonstrate sportsmanship and fairness. There have been repeated statements by football coaches that racism or discrimination have no place in football stadiums. When people fight each other on the pitch, they always remain fair and show solidarity. There is also hardly any other place where the migration society is as evident as on the football pitch.
Here, people from the most diverse countries and families play in a team for a common cause. Skin colour plays just as little a role as religion, personal origin or political preferences. The footballers are well aware of this. That is why discrimination against individual players is also consistently condemned here. Most fans of first division clubs have adopted this positive positioning of their clubs for themselves. That is a very special quality of the traditional German football culture. And it is precisely for this that you have to love the country with its special penchant for grassroots sport so much. It’s no wonder that football is enjoyed by rich and poor alike – no matter what level of education people have. Football is the sport that brings Germans together and in the process also makes them aware of the diversity of their own society time and again.
Last updated on 6. February 2023