Vibe of following the World Cup in Germany

June 13th, 2006 | by: Nick O'Neill | View Comments

Germany is a small country with a extraordinary train system, it is actually possible to attend 2 games in the same day, at different cities. Traveling in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Hanover in the last few days, I have come across a selection of the fans here, often converging at the main train station in whatever city has games. Its like a traveling United Nations, and is a good vibes affair. The only ‘agro’ I’ve witnessed involved England fans outside the train station in Frankfurt.

Out all day in the boiling sun and drinking 2 fisted at beer gardens, specially set up for them, the working class poor reverted to a type of behavior well practiced in Britain, disrespect for authority. Apart from that incident, things have been cool, and fans often sport more than one teams colors. I see Germans with Brasil stickers on their cheek, I see fans of African nations with German flags. Its all good and one can sense the excitement as a game approaches. I may not care if Tunisia beats Saudi Arabia, but those fans have been waiting for this event for months. Fan Fests are also a great place to mix with fans, as often times there will be 3 games on a day.

Giving a cheer to a unfancied team (Japan, Togo, Paraguay etc.) will often get a good response, even if a common language is missing.

One thing that has surprised me is the number of German fans who are not ethnically German. I’ve seen Africans, East Asians, Middle Easterners, and others, dressed from head to toe in Germany gear, obviously living here. Two ladies I met in Munich told me they were from Syria, but were born in Germany.

My conclusion is that although the World Cup arouses nationalism, most people are good natured and intelligent enough, not to let that get in the way of a good time with others.