An American Among Strangers: Bundesliga (Day 42)

The Game
Olympiastadion Berlin

So I went to see some "football" today in the typical German style. I had been told that it was a bit of a thing over here, and so when I walked into the Stadium to sit next to my 75,000 some odd companions in a sold out Olympiastadion I was fairly impressed. I was witnessing the sort of fervor reserved for the Red Sox, particularly large Nascar rallies, or the public appearances of Rock Warren. I was sitting next to several towns of people! Most of whom were in Uniform! I tried to play it cool, but I don't think it worked.

The Crowds Assemble
Olympiastadion Berlin

Needless to say, this was a Big Game. Hertha BSC (that would be Berlin's Team) was playing FC Bayern (the team from Munich) in a match that would determine the number one ranking in the Bundesliga (German Soccer League). Moreover, it was the cultural equivalent of New York taking on the state of Texas [the Bavarians, more than one exasperated North German will tell you, are a wholly different people] if everyone involved had a lot more flags. So wearing as much blue (Hertha's color) as I could, as well as about twelve shirts (its still Febuary here), I went off with my flatmate to sit awkwardly towards the Bavarian side of the Stadium.

The Hertha Fans
Ostcurve Olympiastadion

A brief note on the stadium. It is in fact the former site of the Olympic games in 1936, an event that was awkward for just about everyone, that is except for Jesse Owens, who was awesome. This was demonstrated by the large archaic staute of Aryan athletes we encountered on the way in. As such, the stadium is typical Nazi Monumentalism, built with the clear intent of countering the Coloseum in terms of grandeur (gotta beat those Latins somehow, even if there empire ended almost 1,200 years before you were born). But, like everything else in Germany, the Stadium has moved on having been the site of the World Cup final in 2004, and sporting a lovely new awning for the fans. The lesson here: Awkward history can always be covered up with a hat!

A Nice Hood Orniment
Olympic Symbol outside Olympiastadion

The game itself turned out not to dissappoint and after a hair-raising two halves, in which the ball seemed to remain permanently on the Berlin side, Hertha emerged the winner with a 2-1 score, leaving them (at least for the week) as the top seeded team in Germany. Quite the upset! And then, in typical German style everyone went home in a perfectly orderly fashion on a perfectly puntual transportation system.