The Colours of My Country
If you are currently lingering on the streets of Berlin, you will see the city wearing an outfit of black, red and gold. As it’s the European Football Championship, residents have decorated the city in our national colours. Similar to the World Championship of Summer 2006, there is no short supply of black, red, and gold accessories. Wreaths of plastic flowers and Iroquois wigs are top sellers. Nail studios are offering manicures in “black-red-gold-optics“ and even dogs on the leashes are wearing black, red, and gold sweatbands with a certain dignity (though this could be my imagination).
In most other countries such displays of enthusiasm are probably standard, but in Germany this phenomenon is relatively new and still a little unfamiliar to me and others I know. Patriotism lesson one.
The German people have a, let’s say special relationship towards their own country. Typically, if public discussion turns to patriotism and national pride, alarm is raised. The Second World War happened more than 60 years ago and not many people here today witnessed it firsthand. Nevertheless the memory of German crimes is still alive and will long remain a part of our national identity. The shock from the drastic spread of national socialist ideas is deep rooted and is (and will be) a sensitive issue.
This is why national euphoria has been only sparingly shown – until the world football championships took place in Germany two years ago. At that time many people discovered their solidarity not only with our football team but also with our country. A game where boys are running around trying to kick a ball into a goal was the most harmless occasion for that. And now, for the Euro Cup, it seems that people around me are excited to attach little German flags to their cars again and stand up for the singing of the national anthem.
For me it has always been difficult to be proud of my country and at the same time keep in mind what Germany has done to the world in the past. This is what I learned at school: never forget. I was educated by a generation of history teachers who first and foremost wanted to prevent something like the Third Reich from ever happening again. I guess this is where my mistrust for patriotic statements and acts stems from. It is not a feeling of guilt that keeps me from singing the national anthem; it just feels unfamiliar and strange to me.
I have always been more than a little surprised and puzzled when I see people behaving like “biggest fans” of their country. For example, I remember only one thing from a winter holiday in Denmark as a child: a Christmas tree decorated with little Danish flags. The same effect wouldn’t be possible here in Germany; a Christmas tree adorned with little German flags? Unthinkable!
In my opinion the border between patriotism and nationalism is a very fine line and any political ideology that involves thinking yourself to be head and shoulders above the rest cannot lead to anything good. It is sometimes difficult to know whether people are aware of the difference. My hope is that an educated population will be able to see through polemics or the perversion of facts and will understand that some questions cannot be answered with one sentence, as social issues are multi-layered. But there will always be some people (and not necessarily non-educated ones) who don’t question the man on TV and follow the crowd. These people really frighten me. And I surely do not want to be in a nation claiming unity if it includes such men and women.
Nevertheless, when the German football team won against Portugal I was impressed and carried along by the rejoicing of the people who were dancing on the streets swaying German flags. Streets were blocked and you could see happy fans standing on top of cars and street signs. So cheering in black, red, and gold seemed to be very alleviative for all and actually considered to be politically correct.
In my head a shred of unease remains. The reason is not the German flag - it was not even used in the Third Reich (the Nazis created their own flags and therefore did not abuse the version we have had since our nation was founded).
What is more precarious for me is the movement of the crowd that suddenly becomes one. It starts as a beautiful thing - the feeling of being united, speaking with one voice, having lots of soulmates. The individual is not important anymore. But if the sensation lingers longer than this magic moment, it begins to feel strange to me. Perhaps because being german is not the only thing that defines me. And I am not the only one who feels torn when it comes to this whole “being a nation” thing.
Two weeks ago politician Hans-Christian Ströbele from The Green Party wrote an article in a german newspaper about feeling queasy when surrounded by so many german flags. There were many comments about this article – most readers dismissed his attitude as being out-dated and simply advised him to relax. Others were on his side and countered that national symbols ought to be used heedfully - that a national flag is not a fan article. Someone even proposed to create a football flag, so that people would not confuse Germany (the football team) and Germany (the country).
It would seem that younger generations have less of a problem with this issue and a more laid back approach than their elders. In a recent survey published by FORSA (the biggest german opinion research center), 86% of teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 stated that they are proud of Germany. However, 21% of these could not say why. As I said, we are still practicing.
To help with answering this question “Proud? Why should I be?” the youth organisations of two conservative parties created the internet page www.stolz-auf-deutschland.de ”proud of Germany” – which, significantly, is only available in the German language. There you can find information about german people, developments, events, sights and companies that are worthy of mention. Interestingly, in the category ‘Persons – Miscellaneous’ Martin Luther appears right next to Heidi Klum. Maybe this isn’t a bad thing, to learn about all the good developments that germans have been involved in. These snippets of history were missing from my classes at school.
Still, it wasn’t me who achieved these things but other people who were coincidentally also born in Germany. So I do feel respectful… but not proud. I am also not sure if being a “proud german”is a very productive state of affection. Other emotions, anger, envy, even sadness, have led to the creation of wonderful pieces of art, music, poetry and critical thinking. But being pride tends to stop with the feeling. Perhaps others have experienced this differently.
To recapitulate, I would say the lesson that I and the other germans are trying to learn is the best balance between what was and what will be. And this, like all things, will take some time. In my opinion it is surely important to know about the past but it does not help anyone if this knowledge constrains projects and ideas for the future.
As Albert Einstein said: “More than the past, I am interested in the future - because that is where I intend to live.”
