William Cook, a ‘closet Kraut’, grew up feeling ashamed of his country. This summer, during the World Cup, he finds that the stigma has finally lifted
I’m standing in a noisy bar in south London, watching a World Cup match on a giant TV screen, hemmed in on all sides by happy, tipsy football fans. The place is packed, but no one seems to mind. There are lots more people outside, peering in through the windows, all desperate to see the game. Yet these aren’t England fans. These supporters are all German. They’ve flocked to this German bar, called Zeitgeist, to cheer on the German national team. They’re a symbol of how much Germany — and our view of Germany — has changed.
Growing up half-German in England, I never used to mention the Nationalmannschaft. Supporting Germany was the love that dared not speak its name. In 1996, I went to Wembley to see England take on Germany in the Euro ’96 semi-final, and looked on furtively as Germany won on penalties, surrounded by devastated England fans. On the Tube journey home I saw a few other German fans, but we kept our eyes down and kept our distance. Being a German fan was a guilty secret, something grim and shameful. This summer, to my amazement, I find that stigma has disappeared.
In 1996 it would have been inconceivable to find a bar like Zeitgeist, decked out in German colours, right beside a large council estate. It might not have been dangerous, but it would have felt uncomfortable to say the least. Yet when I went there last week, the streets were awash with German fans wearing German football shirts, and none of the locals seemed to bat an eyelid.
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