Miracle of Bern

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The victory of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland by the German national soccer team against the highly favored national team of Hungary is referred to as the miracle of Bern . The final, which ended in a 3-2 victory for the Federal Republic of Germany, took place on July 4, 1954 in Bern 's Wankdorf Stadium in front of 60,000 spectators. The players around captain Fritz Walter and national coach Sepp Herberger went down in German sports history as the "Heroes of Bern".

Winning the title triggered a frenzy in Germany. Nine years after the end of the Second World War , he raised self-esteem and strengthened the identification of many West Germans with their young state. It is therefore occasionally referred to as "the actual hour of birth of the Federal Republic of Germany ".

Germany Hungary

The way to the final

Federal Republic of Germany

The German team had to deal with Turkey and Hungary in the preliminary round . In the first game against the Turkish team, the Herberger team won 4:1. For the second game against Hungary, the world's best team at the time, Sepp Herberger made a tactical decision. He only played his second-best team to spare his best eleven for a decider against Turkey (goal difference or the game against each other didn't matter at the time). The encounter against Hungary ended accordingly high with 8:3 for Hungary. There was now sharp criticism from the local public, which focused primarily on coach Herberger and went as far as calling for suicide . But the tactics of the experienced coach were successful, because the West German selection won 7:2 in the decisive game against the Turks. In the quarterfinals, the opponent was called Yugoslavia . Here, too, the German team managed to win. Now they had to play Austria in the last four . The Austrian players were still weakened from the tough quarter-final game against Switzerland in Lausanne , where they won 7-5 in 40 degrees in the shade, and didn't really prove to be a touchstone for the German team (match result 6-1). Germany made it to the final, to the surprise of the general professional world, who hadn't given the team much credit before the tournament.

Hungary

The Hungarians had it easier in the preliminary round than the German team. In the first game against World Cup outsiders South Korea , coach Sebes' team scored 9-0. Germany couldn't stop the flow of the Hungarian game in the second game either and went under at 3:8. The first difficult task awaited in the quarter-finals. They won 4-2 against Brazil . The quarter-final against the Brazilians is now commonly known as the Battle of Bern , as there were initially three dismissals during the game (two for Brazil, one for Hungary) and the players continued to battle each other in the dressing rooms after the game. The Magyars achieved the same result as in the quarterfinals in the semifinals against Uruguay , the reigning world champions. However, the 4:2 only came about after extra time. This put Hungary in the final. The opponent there was the German team, which had already been defeated 8:3 in the preliminary round.

The final opponents

Federal Republic of Germany

The five Kaiserslautern World Cup heroes from Bern in bronze in front of the Fritz Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern, from left: Liebrich, F. Walter, Kohlmeyer, Eckel, O. Walter

German football also suffered greatly from the aftermath of World War II . The German Football Association had already dissolved in 1940 and the national team was boycotted by other nations. In 1950, Switzerland provided neighborly help and came to an international match at the Neckar Stadium in Stuttgart. The World Cup in Brazil had previously ended without a German selection, as national coach Sepp Herberger's team was not yet eligible to play. In front of 100,000 spectators in the crowded Stuttgart stadium, the German team won 1-0 with a penalty goal by Herbert Burdenski . Six months later, Switzerland was again the opponent in Zurich , where they won 3:2. On November 9, 1952, the German team played an international match against Switzerland in Augsburg , which they won 5-1. This game is considered to be the birth of the 1954 World Cup team , as it featured eight players from the future heroes of Bern (“ Augsburger Elf ”). A few weeks earlier, the team had traveled to Paris for a country competition against France . After a 3-1 defeat with poor performance, there was a lot of criticism from the German press. Fritz Walter then announced his retirement from the national team. Walter was accused of being too old at 31, too slow and not wanting to do it anymore. But Herberger still managed to get his injured captain back for the next game, that game in Augsburg. Soon after, the qualification for the 1954 World Championships began, which was completed with ease. The German selection played the last international match before the World Cup on April 25, 1954 against Switzerland. In principle, the German team preferred to play a 3-2-5 system similar to that of the Hungarians.

Hungary

Germany's opponents in the final, Hungary, were considered the world's best team at the time. Before the final in Bern, the Hungarian side, which included stars like Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis and Nándor Hidegkuti, had gone 32 straight games unbeaten. The series began on June 4, 1950, when they defeated Poland 5-2 in Warsaw . The next game, the Magic Magyars , as they were then called, won 12-0 against Albania . The first major tournament of the great Hungarian team was the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki . There they defeated Romania (2-1), two-time world champions Italy (3-0), Turkey (7-1), Sweden (6-0) and Yugoslavia (2-0) and became Olympic champions in football. Hungary's next success came in 1953, when they won the European Cup for national football teams , which had been held since 1948 ; a forerunner of the European Football Championship, in which Hungary, Italy, Austria , Switzerland and Czechoslovakia also took part. The decisive last game was won 3-0 against Italy on May 17, 1953 in Rome in front of 80,000 spectators. Puskás was the competition's top scorer with ten goals.

On November 25, 1953, perhaps the most spectacular game of the "Golden Elf", as Hungary's team is known today, followed. In front of 100,000 people, the team around Captain Puskás played against England , the motherland of football, on the “sacred turf” of Wembley, London . To this day, England had not lost a game on home soil against a side from mainland Europe. But what followed was a demonstration of Hungarian football art. The Magyars beat the English 6-3. There was a German guest in the stands at Wembley Stadium who understood how to defeat the Hungarians. Sepp Herberger had noted in his famous notebook that the Hungarians had a superb offensive, but had also conceded three goals against completely inferior Englishmen. That meant they had to have weaknesses on the defensive. After the victory at Wembley, the English were itching for revenge. They didn't want to put up with the humiliation and traveled to Budapest in May 1954 to catch a 1:7 swatter. This game was the last game before the World Cup in Switzerland. The Hungarians usually played with a 3-2-5 system, i.e. with five nominal strikers, and thus caused great problems for every line of defence. But they were also able to switch to 4-2-4, i.e. with four strikers, which they showed in the 6-3 win in England.

gameplay

Hungary Federal Republic of Germany lineup
Hungary
final
July 4, 1954, 5 p.m. in Bern ( Stadion Wankdorf )
Result: 2:3 (2:2)
Spectators: 60,000
Referee: William Ling ( England ) England 
[ Report ( Memento of March 14, 2013 at Internet Archive ) match report ]
Federal Republic of Germany
Position Hungary against Federal Republic of Germany
Gyula Grosics - Jenő Buzánszky , Gyula Lóránt , Mihály Lantos - József Bozsik , József Zakariás - Sándor Kocsis , Nándor Hidegkuti , Ferenc Puskás , Zoltán Czibor , Mihály Tóth Head Coach: Gusztáv Sebes(c)a white C in a blue circle
 Toni Turek - Werner Kohlmeyer , Horst Eckel , Josef Posipal - Karl Mai , Werner Liebrich - Helmut Rahn , Max Morlock , Ottmar Walter , Fritz Walter , Hans Schäfer Head coach: Sepp Herberger(c)a white C in a blue circle
goal1-0 Puskás (6th)
goal2-0 Czibor (8th)

goal2-1 Morlock (10')
goal2-2 Rahn (18 ')
goal2-3 Rahn (84')

First half

6 minutes, 1-0 for Hungary, cheering players

After the two captains Fritz Walter (Federal Republic of Germany) and Ferenc Puskás (Hungary) had greeted each other and exchanged the pennants of the two football associations, the game started at 16:53, 7 minutes earlier than scheduled. "Germany in the final of the soccer World Cup - that's a huge sensation - that's a real soccer miracle," was how NWDR radio reporter Herbert Zimmermann opened his radio report, which was followed with interest by thousands of soccer fans in Germany. However, after only six minutes of play, Hungary's first goal was scored by Ferenc Puskás, who had recovered from Werner Liebrich 's attack in the group stage match. Zimmermann responded with the sentence "What we feared has happened." Just two minutes later, Zoltán Czibor made it 2-0 after a bad pass from Werner Kohlmeyer to goalkeeper Toni Turek .

The German team encouraged each other and actually found their way back into the game. In the eleventh minute of the game, Max Morlock tackled what was actually an easy shot by Helmut Rahn to make it 1:2 into the Hungarian goal. "Thank God! It's only 2:1. And that should give us courage,” said Zimmermann. A little later, the Hungarians attacked again, but Czibor missed both Hungarian chances to score. In the 18th minute, Helmut Rahn converted a Fritz Walter corner with a volley to make it 2-2. The Hungarians recovered quickly and increasingly put the German team on the defensive. In the 36th minute, Kocsis fell to the ground in the penalty area after being pressed by Liebrich, but referee Ling did not award a penalty. Six minutes later, Grosics was just able to deflect a shot from Hans Schäfer out of the Hungarian goal, Rahn's follow-up shot was blocked by Buzánszky. Shortly before half-time, the momentum reversed – the Hungarian defense was overwhelmed by many crosses from Schäfer, Rahn and Walter. Finally referee William Ling whistled for the break. At half-time, Sepp Herberger told the players:

"Guys, it's great what you've done so far. Don't give up a millimeter of ground in the second half either."

Second half

The stadium clock of the "Miracle of Bern" was restored and erected as a memorial in the new Wankdorf Stadium .

In the 46th minute, a shot from Czibor was deflected by Liebrich before Turek saved it. A minute later, Puskás got the shot eight yards from Turek, but Turek saved the ball. In the 51st minute, after a Kocsis cross, Liebrich cleared Puskás; Kohlmeyer was able to shoot another cross from Czibor out of the penalty area. Only four minutes later, first Posipal and then Kohlmeyer had to save at the German goal line. In the 59th minute, Kocsis hit the crossbar with one of the many headers he was known for.

The Hungarians continued to create opportunities, e.g. B. had to save a shot from Puskás von Turek with his foot in the 67th minute before Kohlmeyer shot the ball away. In the period that followed, the German selection finally recovered and in the 74th minute Rahn had another chance to score. Grosics prevented the goal with a great save. In return, Turek had to clarify against Czibor. Herbert Zimmermann said: "Toni, Toni, you are worth gold. You're at least as heavy in gold as the Coupe Rimet ."

In the final phase, the German team gained more and more security and created more chances. When the 84th minute broke, Hungarian runner József Bozsik lost the ball to German left winger Hans Schäfer. This flanked the ball into the Hungarian penalty area. The Hungarian defense only clarified weakly, so that the ball came to Helmut Rahn. He faked a pass to Ottmar Walter in the penalty area, outsmarted two Hungarians and shot the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 3-2.

86 minutes: Puskás scores to make it supposedly 3:3, but offside

First, the Germans fired a shot at the Hungarian goal, which Grosics saved. But the German team got into trouble again. Hungary got into the German penalty area, Puskás had a shot and the ball was in the goal net (86th minute) - but linesman Mervyn Griffiths (Wales) was ruled offside. This is how listeners in Germany found out about what happened:

“Germany leads three to two five minutes before the end of the game. Call me crazy, call me crazy I believe that football amateurs should also have a heart and should be happy about the enthusiasm of our team and our own enthusiasm and should now keep our fingers crossed. Fingers crossed for four and a half minutes in Wankdorf. Germany leads three to two after Rahn's shot from the left, which went low in the left corner […] Three to two for Hungary – for Germany – I'm crazy too, sorry! […] And the Hungarians, as if stung by a tarantula, the Puszta sons are lurking, now turn up the seventh or twelfth gear, and Kocsis crosses – Puskás offside – shot – but no, no goal! No goal! No goal! Puskás off.”

When regular time was almost over, Czibor suddenly appeared free five meters in front of Turek, but he parried.

Then Fritz Walter cleared the ball for a throw-in on the center line. This was executed quickly and landed at Bozsik, but referee Ling whistled at the end of the game – Germany was world champion. A short time later, Fritz Walter accepted the World Cup trophy from Jules Rimet . He was the last World Cup captain to receive the World Cup trophy from the inventor of the World Cup, as Rimet passed away two years later at the age of 83.

Suspected doping and hepatitis diseases

Just a few days after the game, Hungary's captain Ferenc Puskás accused the opponent in the final of doping. Rumors about this persisted in the following decades, but were always denied by those involved.

One indication of injections was jaundice in various players on the 1954 World Cup team. An examination of the entire team in October 1954 revealed that practically all the players had suffered liver damage of varying degrees of severity. Richard Herrmann died in 1962 of cirrhosis of the liver , a consequence of hepatitis C, which he contracted after winning Bern. The death of Werner Liebrich can also be interpreted as a consequence of untreated jaundice . A report by the DFB in November 1954 attributed the infection to the "close team life" and considered it "unlikely" that the transmission had taken place through injections. This is now generally considered a misdiagnosis. It is more likely that the players were infected through a group injection. Since there were no single-use syringes back then, the players were probably injected with the same syringe.

In 2004 it became known that the groundsman of the former Wankdorf Stadium found empty glass ampoules in a drainage grate in the team room after the World Cup final. These empty ampoules suggested that the German team doctor at the time, Franz Loogen , administered a liquid to the players just before the final. As a result, Ottmar Walter and Horst Eckel , two of the players of the world champion eleven who were still alive at the time, finally conceded.

According to the athletes and DFB officials, the injections should have been a vitamin C solution. However, a study by scientists from Berlin entitled Doping in Germany from 1950 to today from a historical-sociological point of view in the context of ethical legitimacy came to a different conclusion. Sports historian Erik Eggers from Humboldt University explained: “The evidence suggests that there was no vitamin C in their syringes. It could have been Pervitin .” Pervitin is a stimulant drug and became popular during World War II when it was mass produced and distributed to soldiers . At that time there were no anti-doping regulations. Funds are also said to have been administered to the opponent in the final, Hungary. Goalkeeper Gyula Grosics also spoke of vitamin C and dextrose . In contrast to the Germans, the remedies are said to have been administered to the Hungarians in tablet form.

Return of the world champions

The Deutsche Bundesbahn provided a special train ( BR VT 08 ) for the homeward journey of the winning team . This started with the world champions in Spiez, Switzerland, where the Herberger squad was based. From there it went to Munich , where a huge crowd of cheering people was waiting at Marienplatz . After many people had already cheered the world champions on the way through, the more than 100,000 enthusiastic fans in Bavaria's state capital formed the highlight of the Finale Grande , as the book author Alfred Georg Frei noted in his documentation of the German team's return journey. From Munich, the heroes of Bern continued their triumphant march through other major cities of West Germany. Everywhere people came out onto the streets and presented Fritz Walter's team with congratulations and gifts.

"Frenetic jubilation, broken police barriers, gifts to the players as a foretaste of the economic miracle, brass band music, prepared speeches by mayors and district administrators that nobody wanted to listen to."

– Alfred Georg Frei : in his book “Finale Grande”

Historical Impact

Germany

The " World Champion Train " of 1954

“One had the feeling of being accepted back into the Union of Nations. You had the feeling that you were being treated with respect again, and that was good for us.”

– Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder

In 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany was founded. However, people in the country were still depressed and disappointed because of the effects of the past World War and Allied rule in Germany. However, by the early 1950s the situation seemed to be improving. Germany was in the process of being accepted by other nations again, and the World Cup in soccer was allowed to play again.

After the world championship ended with the unexpected title win, a collective “we feeling” emerged. In contrast to the other world championship titles, in 1954 it was " We are world champions" and not "Germany is world champion". The phrase “We are someone again” was also often found at that time. This was related to the apparent insignificance of Germany after World War II. Now that you had won the World Cup, you could be proud to be German. In connection with the miracle of Bern, the political scientist Arthur Heinrich and the historian Joachim Fest also speak of the actual birth of the Federal Republic of Germany .

Another important point is that the miracle of Bern played a large part in the development of the Federal Republic of Germany into a strong state after the Second World War. It resulted in a great spirit of optimism, which was certainly one of the decisive factors in the economic miracle that followed in the Federal Republic of Germany. The leitmotifs of the Herberger-Elf were also considered a role model for the people of that time. The principles of diligence, team spirit, discipline and integration into a collective were followed. These motives were also important for the economic miracle.

The fact that the German spectators in the Wankdorf Stadium sang the first verse of the Deutschlandlied when the national anthem was played after the final whistle led to criticism abroad and fears of a return to nationalistic arrogance . It is disputed to what extent this had a nationalistic background or was simply due to ignorance of the third stanza.

Hungary

In Hungary, whose team had lost a game for the first time in 4½ years, riots broke out shortly after the game. Players were interrogated and harassed by the communist regime . Some players who returned from Switzerland in German Mercedes cars were threatened with torture and accused of being bought off in order to lose on purpose.

Gyula Grosics was never entirely forgiven for the Germans' winning goal. He was arrested a year after losing the final in Budapest and exiled to Tatabánya Bányász SC in the province in 1957. Nevertheless, he played two more finals for Hungary. Relatives of players also lost their jobs. The defeat also had consequences for other players. So the lucrative smuggling across the border, which the authorities liked to overlook before July 4th, could no longer be practiced at away games. Ferenc Puskás later said people in Budapest looked at him as if he had an illness when he arrived after losing the final. Puskás, Kocsis, Hidegkuti & Co. were no longer the absolute favorites of the Hungarians.

“A few kilometers before Budapest we suddenly had to get off the train around noon, were taken to a training camp and weren't allowed to leave it all day. In the evening the highest politicians came - Rakosi , the general secretary of the Communist Party, also the interior minister and the military minister as well as people from the Hungarian Stasi. Rakosi gave a speech that second place was also a nice result and then he said: none of you should be afraid of being punished for this game. I can still hear the sound of his voice. When that sentence came out, I knew it meant exactly the opposite. I knew something bad was going to happen. I had often clashed with the State Security AVH , now I had the feeling that I was in danger. I knew they were after me. I was right."

– Gyula Grosics

For Hungarian football, the Bern defeat meant the end of all hopes of a World Cup title or a similarly sized trophy. The Goldene Elf stayed together for another two years and continued their winning streak. But when the Hungarian uprising was brutally suppressed by the communists in 1956 and the Honvéd Budapest team with stars like Puskás, Czibor and Kocsis were staying in Vienna , Austria, the era of the great Hungarian national football team ended. When the players of the club from the Kispest district of Budapest heard about the suppression of the Hungarian uprising, most of them decided to stay in Spain . Kocsis and Czibor played in Barcelona , incidentally together with their compatriot László Kubala , who had previously turned his back on Hungary, Puskás in Madrid . That was the end of the “golden” Hungarian football generation.

The "Heroes of Bern"

Autograph card of the world champions

The winning team from Bern has been revered at home since July 4, 1954. Above all, captain Fritz Walter , goal scorer Helmut Rahn and coach Sepp Herberger achieved the status of folk heroes.

Walter continued his national team career until 1958 and later did corporate advertising, wrote sports books and occasionally owned a cinema in Kaiserslautern. Herberger coached the national team for two more World Cups before retiring from public life. Helmut Rahn couldn't cope with hero status; he became addicted to alcohol and ended up in prison for drunk driving. There Herberger got him out again because he needed Rahn for the title defense mission in 1958 in Sweden . Other players on the 1954 World Cup team didn't fare well with the fame either. Like Rahn, Werner Kohlmeyer became addicted to alcohol and squandered all his money on his addiction. He ended up on the streets and also had to sell his World Cup medal. Kohlmeyer died in 1974 at the age of less than 50 as a result of years of excessive alcohol consumption. Ottmar Walter 's attempt to take his own life failed and he was offered a job in the administration of the city of Kaiserslautern after being unemployed for a long time. Horst Eckel , the youngest member of the World Cup team, died as Bern's last hero on December 3, 2021. Toni Turek became ill with a mysterious paralysis of his legs in 1973, followed by a heart attack and stroke, so that the former "football god" died in 1984 at the age of 65. Richard Herrmann , who had only been used against Hungary in the preliminary round, died as a result of jaundice.

Myth Miracle of Bern

The spirit of Spiez

The German national team is known today for a mostly good selection of team hotels for football world championships. This tradition began in 1954. At that time, the Herberger-Elf set up their quarters in Spiez on Lake Thun . It was there that the so-called “Spirit of Spiez” developed, which is said to have played a large part in the success of the World Cup. The German assistant coach at the time was Albert Sing , who knew his way around Switzerland as a coach at Young Boys Bern . He had relatives in Spiez who owned a hotel there. Sing asked his relatives if the German national team could stay at the Hotel Belvedere. After much hesitation, the hotel management finally agreed. The German team traveled to Spiez at the end of May 1954. Herberger's plan was for the team to find each other shielded from the outside world. Press and wives or girlfriends were not allowed in the team quarters. The coach's guiding principle was that the team could only go far as a community. This community was born in the team hotel in Spiez. The program included not only training, but also community empowerment. Joint excursions in the area and skat rounds promoted the social structure. Herberger also had individual talks with each player in order to prepare them psychologically for the upcoming tasks. The fact that Herberger actually formed a community in the sense of "all for one - one for all", i.e. a team in the most primitive sense, can be considered a decisive factor in winning the final.

Fritz-Walter weather

Fritz Walter was the best footballer in Germany in the 1950s. He captained the national team when they won the title in 1954 and made a total of 61 appearances for Germany, scoring 33 goals.

Like many other men born in 1920, Fritz Walter also served in World War II. Although Herberger was able to enforce privileges for his players, the national players were not spared from the war and so Walter first had to serve in France as an infantryman . After the end of the war he fell into Soviet captivity . It was there that Walter contracted malaria , a disease characterized by high fever and common in POW camps in the days following the war that had just ended. As a result of this malaria illness, he could only show his best performance in rainy weather, which is why it was soon referred to as Fritz-Walter weather. While he was a prisoner of war, Walter also played the “game of his life”, as he later called it. Weakened by an attack of malaria, he played football with the Hungarian and Slovakian guards. They recognized the German international and introduced him to the Soviet camp commander, Major Zhukov. Also a big soccer fan, Zhukov saved Walter and his younger brother Ludwig from being deported to a Siberian gulag . The brothers returned to Kaiserslautern on October 28, 1945 . On the evening before the final in Bern, a Hungarian reporter visited the German team's camp in Spiez. There he asked Sepp Herberger if he really believed his team had a chance against Hungary in the final. Herberger said that while Germany were defeated by Hungary, things could be different if it rained on July 4th. On the morning of the final day, the players looked up to the sky but no rain came. The first raindrops only fell when we left Spiez at noon. It was the Fritz sei Wetter , as it was called in the Lauter dialect. On the way to the final, Sepp Herberger said to his captain: "Fritz, your weather." Walter replied: "Boss, I have nothing against it."

radio report

The well-known image of the clock tower, around which the crowd is crowding, now adorns the back of the restored match clock in front of the new Wankdorf Stadium.

In 1954 there were only about 20,000 televisions in Germany. The soundtrack of Bernhard Ernst 's TV report has been lost, and only 18 minutes of the film material are still available. The film images of the decisive scenes are almost always accompanied by the radio commentary by Herbert Zimmermann . Here are the most famous excerpts:

“Six minutes to go at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern. Nobody wavers. The rain pelts down incessantly. It's difficult, but the spectators, they don't hold out [sic!] , how could they! A World Cup is held every four years, and when do you see a final like this, so balanced, so gripping – now Germany is on the left wing by Schäfer, Schäfer’s pass to Morlock is blocked […], and Bozsik […], the Hungarian right-hand runner , on the ball. He lost the ball this time, against Schäfer, Schäfer crossed inside - header - saved - Rahn should shoot from the background - Rahn shoots! - Gooooo! Gooooo! Gooooo! Gooooo! [...] Do you think I'm crazy, [...] I think even non-professionals should have a heart, should be [...] happy and should keep their fingers crossed."

The end of the game:

“it can only be an aftermath of one minute. Germany leads […], but there is danger, Hungary on the right wing – now Fritz Walter has hit the ball […] wide. Who can blame him? The Hungarians are awarded a throw-in, which is taken, comes to Bozsik – out! Out! Out! - Out! - The game is over! – Germany is world champion, beats Hungary by three goals to two in the final in Bern! ... After these 30 seconds, which you have to forgive the reporter [...], we want to try to describe what happened here at a normal volume and reasonably calmly. Hundred, two hundred photographers on the field, members of the Swiss army form a square with a rope. The German team – World Champion 1954! – is completely the focus of the ovations, next to them are the Hungarians, the Hungarians, calm, collected, a compliment for these boys who can lose great.”

Zimmermann had already been so upset by goalkeeper Toni Turek's reflexes when defending the 2-2 that he uttered the words "Turek, you're a devil of a boy - Turek, you're a football god ". For this he received serious reprimands from church representatives and had to appear before the director.

Andreas Obering plays Herbert Zimmermann in Sönke Wortmann 's film Das Wunder von Bern and speaks his commentary.

Exactly 50 years after the final, on July 4, 2004, at the same time of day, Deutschlandfunk repeated Herbert Zimmermann's radio report to commemorate the final. It was also released on two CDs by NDR. Robert Lembke , as announcer, opened the transmissions of the half times and also closed with a note that clarifies the political situation in Germany at that time with three politically independent areas (Federal Republic, GDR, the partially independent Saarland ) and the divided Berlin:

"Here are all stations in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin, connected to Radio Saarbrücken. We are broadcasting the World Cup final between Germany and Hungary from the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern. The reporter is Herbert Zimmermann.”

"Here are all stations in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin, connected to Radio Saarbrücken. [...] The show is over, we're going back to Germany."

cleats

Adolf "Adi" Dassler was the kit man for the German national team at the 1954 World Cup. Dassler was also the founder of the sporting goods manufacturer Adidas . In contrast to the other teams, he equipped the German team with shoes with screw -in studs, which were new at the time . This advantage was evident in the final in Bern, where it rained cats and dogs throughout the game. During the half-time break, the cleats were replaced and the shoes adapted to the changing conditions.

Goal scorer Helmut Rahn 's left shoe was donated to the German Football Museum in Dortmund and is part of the permanent exhibition.

film adaptations

The Miracle of Bern has in some cases provided the basis for films. The first film to deal with the German title win in 1954 was the 1994 television film The Miracle of Bern: Germany and the 1954 World Cup by Ulrich Lenze.

Eight years later, in 2002, three students from the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences produced the 11-minute brick film The Heroes of Bern , showing the highlights of the endgame of Bern using Lego figures. This animated film was accompanied by comments by Herbert Zimmermann . In order to revive the old tradition of the short film, those responsible carried out a non-commercial theatrical release in 2003. Thanks to some sponsors, an exposure on 35 mm film could be realized. A large number of copies were made of this, which were shown nationwide in selected cinemas.

A year later, in 2004, ZDF broadcast the 90-minute documentary The Miracle of Bern - The True Story . The film by Guido Knopp describes the events before, during and after the German team won the title. In it, numerous people involved, for example Ottmar Walter, assistant coach Albert Sing and substitute goalkeeper Heinrich Kwiatkowski , but also surviving players of the Hungarians such as Jenő Buzánszky and Gyula Grosics have their say. In the same year, the documentary The Miracle of Bern - The Game - A Reconstruction was shown by ZDF. For this purpose, the available original film material was compiled, cut together and underlaid with the radio commentary. A total of 38 minutes of the game could be reconstructed in this way.

Feature films have also referred to the miracle of Bern. For example, Rainer Werner Fassbinder used the radio report of the final in Berne in his film Die Ehe der Maria Braun to establish a time reference to 1954 throughout the film's final scene, which lasted several minutes. The best known is probably Sönke Wortmann 's film Das Wunder von Bern from 2003. The film describes the story of the unexpected victory at the 1954 World Cup in Bern. In addition, the film describes the difficulties of a prisoner of war who has returned home and who can no longer find his way in his old life, but who, parallel to the German success, is becoming closer to his son and his family again.

musical

In 2014, a musical entitled Das Wunder von Bern was created in Hamburg , which premiered on November 23, 2014. The plot is based on Sönke Wortmann's feature film. Stage Entertainment Germany is the producer .

literature

phonogram

web links

Commons : Final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ↑ The "Miracle of Bern": World Cup triumph in 1954 as the "hour of birth". In: news.at. November 29, 2007, retrieved December 18, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Chronicle of German football. pp. 82-85.
  3. ↑ Soccer World Cup 1930-today pp. 50-56.
  4. ↑ Soccer World Cup 1930-today pp. 51-57.
  5. ↑ Germany vs France 1952 .
  6. ↑ Hungary defeats England. faz.net, November 24, 2003, retrieved January 10, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Magical Magyars .
  8. ↑ www.das-wunder-von-bern.de: Comment by Zimmermann .
  9. ↑ a b The Miracle of Bern. fifa.com, 15 April 2010 .;
  10. ↑ Sporthelden.de: Highlights of the final ( Memento from September 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Sporthelden.de: Text on the final ( memento from January 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Report on fifa.com ( Memento of 24 May 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ www.das-wunder-von-bern.de: Game report of the final .
  14. ↑ Soccer World Cup 1930-present. pp. 57-61.
  15. ↑ Doping allegations
  16. ↑ a b Adventure diagnosis history: The heroes of Bern and their mysterious suffering ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), RBB Praxis, rbb-online,5. November 2014.
  17. ↑ Christian Hoffmann, Heiner Wedemeyer, Tim Niehues: Soccer World Cup 1954: The viral hepatitis of the "Heroes of Bern" . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . tape 107 , No. 23 . Deutscher Ärzte-Verlag , June 11, 2010, p. A-1159 / B-1018 / C-1006 ( aerzteblatt.de ).
  18. ↑ Summary: "Doping in Germany from 1950 to the present day from a historical-sociological point of view in the context of ethical legitimacy" ( Memento of July 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ Private website The Miracle of Bern .
  20. ↑ Alfred Georg Frei: Finale Grande .
  21. ↑ Quote from Mayer-Vorfelder .
  22. ^ "Birth of the Federal Republic of Germany" .
  23. ↑ Significance for Germany .
  24. ↑ Jürgen Leinemann: The Miracle of Bern , Spiegel Special 1/2006, February 21, 2006 , retrieved July 17, 2014.
  25. ↑ Stefan Reinecke : This we meant the Federal Republic. Interview with Arthur Heinrich, taz, July 3, 2004, accessed on July 17, 2014.
  26. ↑ Michael Marek: A country is playing itself free , Deutsche Welle, June 23, 2009 , retrieved July 17, 2014.
  27. ↑ Quote from Grosics ( December 3, 2013 memento at the Internet Archive )
  28. ↑ Fritz Walter
  29. ↑ Helmut Rahn
  30. ↑ Werner Kohlmeyer
  31. ↑ DFB mourns world champion Horst Eckel. Retrieved December 3, 2021 .
  32. ↑ Toni Turek . See Werner Raupp : Toni Turek - "Football God". A biography. Arete Hildesheim 2019, ISBN 978-3-96423-008-9 , see especially, pp. 106-114 (final on July 4, 1954) and 158-170 (illness, end of life).
  33. ↑ Exceptions to this were the training quarters in Ascochinga in 1978 and the "Watutinki Hotel Spa Complex" in 2018
  34. ↑ Spirit of Spiez .
  35. ↑ Information on the spirit of Spiez .
  36. ↑ Fritz-Walter-Wetter ( Memento from September 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  37. ↑ Fritz Walter - Captain Walter was Germany's post-war hero ( Memento of June 4, 2015 at the Internet Archive )
  38. ↑ Information
  39. ↑ Dassler's shoes
  40. ↑ dfb-fussballmuseum.de: Rahn's World Cup shoe is reminiscent of "The Miracle of Bern" , July 4, 2014.
  41. ↑ www.cinefacts.de
  42. ^ " The Miracle of Bern " film .
  43. ↑ Information about the film
  44. ↑ Christof Siemes: The Miracle of Bern .
  45. ↑ The Miracle of Bern, musical ( Memento from May 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  46. ↑ Theater an der Elbe ( Memento from September 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive )