Germans relive post-war football craze

By Ray Furlong in Berlin

It's the story of a boy and his father finding a path to each other, of Germany re-emerging from the ashes of post-war destruction, of the country's first ever World Cup victory.

And it had Chancellor Schroeder in tears at the premiere.

A difficult father-son relationship is at the centre of the plot

The Miracle of Bern has been pulling in the crowds at German cinemas ever since being released last month - racing to the number one spot in the box-office charts.

"At the moment the economy is not doing so well, and this film reminds people things were once far worse," says actor Peter Lohmeyer.

"The World Cup victory (in 1954) was a miracle because it was unexpected, and it was a positive sign."

Lohmeyer plays a traumatised German soldier just released from a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp, building a relationship with his young son Matthias who he had never seen before.

The boy idolises the striker in the German team, Helmut Rahn, who says he can only score the winning goal if Matthias is there.

Father and son argue furiously, but eventually come to understand each other before setting off for the Swiss capital, Bern, to watch the World Cup final.

Matthias is late for the match - but makes it in time to see Rahn drive home the winning goal, as Germany beat the much-fancied Hungarian team 3-2.

New identity

But if the plot-line sounds corny, it's perhaps the historical significance of the event that's made the film such a draw.

"Everybody can remember what he was doing and where he was when he heard the news from Bern. It was like when Kennedy was shot," says Juergen Leinemann, the author of a biography of the coach who guided Germany to victory.

"It was the beginning of a new German identity. The first feeling, since the war, that we are somebody again."

The film captures the mood of the time, contrasting the post-war poverty and bombed out cities with the joyous celebrations. As the team travel home by train across Germany, they are met by cheering crowds who shower them with gifts at every station.

"This was because Germany was still a barter economy, people didn't use money so much," says football historian Christiane Eisenberg.

"But the gifts the players received - food, drink, fridges, motor bikes - all anticipated the consumer society that was being born."

The film doesn't show everything though: there are no scenes of German fans singing the first verse of the national anthem, banned after the war for its nationalist tone.

Nor is there any sign of how politicians sought to play down the victory amid foreign unease at the unexpected displays of German patriotism - a real sign of the times.

Historic commentary

As the link between the new German identity and football was further strengthened by subsequent successes, political leaders have grown less reticent.

"German politicians are now keen to present themselves in the context of football because they feel this symbiotic relationship between football and the Federal Republic," says Einsenberg.

The World Cup victory in Bern was a landmark in German history

"Chancellor Schroeder was twelve years old in 1954, and other politicians were also contemporaries. They were socialised as Germans via football."

The film also features the original match commentary, guaranteed to bring a tear to German eyes.

"The ball comes back to Rahn, Rahn must shoot, Rahn shoots!" are classic lines well-known to every German football fan - the equivalent of "They think it's all over... it is now" for the English.

The commentator was actually reprimanded for going over the top, screaming "Tor! Tor! Tor!" (Goal! Goal! Goal!) as the winner went in.

But it's what the public at the time wanted to hear - and now it's giving cinema audiences goose-pimples all over again.