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Germans aim for a World Cup surprise: they're fun
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Business English: Germans aim for a World Cup surprise: they're fun
The nation long seen as dull is plotting an image overhaul that could help it punch its weight on the national stage, and make people more open-minded about them.For the host country Germany, the football World Cup is about a lot more than its (pretty slim) chances of lifting the trophy. An image overhaul for Europe's largest economy is the prize in its sights.
Robert Rode, a Berlin bus driver, understands the scale of the challenge. The stocky man was one of 4,000 drivers who recently struggled through a "World Cup language course." He says that, despite the tongue-twisting, the course was worth it. "When people arrive in Berlin and the first German they talk to is a bus driver who either cannot understand them or tells them to go and ask someone else, then that doesn't create a very good impression."
Mr Rode is in good company. True to the tournament motto "A time to make friends", chancellor Angela Merkel and her government, companies, cultural organisations and local authorities, have planned thousands of initiatives in the most ambitious attempt by a country to alter the way it is viewed. Ms Merkel heralded the tournament as "a unique chance for Germany to present itself as a welcoming, tolerant and modern country, bursting with ideas".
As teams arrive in Germany ahead of kick-off on June 9, a senior German official is disarmingly candid. "The world generally sees us in a positive, but one-sided way. A bit like the cars and household goods for which we are famous, Germans are seen as efficient, reliable but a touch boring. We need to show we are more than this: friendly, surprising and fun".
At stake is more than national amour propre. The transformation is seen as vital if Berlin is to maximise the country's post-reunification potential on the world stage. "An opportunity of this kind will not return for another 50 years," says Franz Beckenbauer, president of the German tournament organising committee.
Since 1990, Germany has stepped up its public diplomacy, as it has increased its role in international peacekeeping operations and intensified efforts to gain a permanent United Nations Security Council seat. Its World Cup campaign marks not only a new milestone in its engagement with the world but also a form of laboratory experiment in whether image offensives work.
Germany's endeavour includes a €30m arts programme linking soccer and culture, a "friendly service campaign" and giant sculptures in Berlin of football boots and aspirins to illustrate the wonders of German creativity.
Attempts to stir national pride raise some discomfiting parallels, however. "You can't conquer history, or wash it away by just being happy," says Ulrich Maly, mayor of Nuremberg, the city infamous for Hitler's Nazi party rallies.
Meanwhile, Volker Perthes, director of Berlin's Institute for International and Security Affairs, points out that in 20 years, West Germany went from post-war international pariah to economic beacon - only to see its attempt to present a more open face to the world go "terribly wrong" when Israeli athletes were murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Germany's campaign is part of a broader debate on the value of public diplomacy and "soft power" - the tools increasingly used by national governments to deepen their influence without resorting to economic and military might.
Germany is not the first country to attempt a national makeover. Britain tried with limited success to repackage itself as "Cool Britannia" early in Tony Blair's premiership. Japan, co-host with South Korea of the 2002 World Cup, ran a less elaborate image campaign than Germany's. But visitors were surprised to find Japan more vibrant and accessible than expected. Tokyo has since deployed "soft power" to exploit the popularity of manga cartoons and Japanese design and fashion. The number of tourists has noticeably increased - in part the result of a "word-of-mouth" effect from the World Cup.
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FTD.de, 26.05.2006
© 2006 Financial Times Deutschland,
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