Teaching the 2006 World Cup and the Rebirth of German Patriotism

Prof. Prager conducting the workshop

The 2006 Soccer World Cup was the key event that lifted the German postwar taboo on displays of national pride. This presentation described a teaching unit that explores this watershed event and introduces intermediate-level students to the critical role of soccer in German culture, both as a popular pastime and as a vehicle for the expression of national pride and identity.

The segment employs a Blended Learning approach combining textual, audio and visual material, including film footage of the 2006 national team’s climb to 3rd place, and recordings of two hit songs (by Xavier Naidoo) that conflated the hopes for the team and for “Das Volk” as a whole – in a unified Germany. Students improve their language skills as they learn the vocabulary of soccer; read newspaper reports about the 2006 World Cup and the outbreak of national pride; use the internet to monitor and report on the current German team, and analyze song lyrics to identify how the language and symbols of religion, sport, and nation are often interchangeable. Finally, they discuss and write about the intersection between sports and nationalism in Germany and at home.