The 1954 'Miracle of Bern' – The Political Instrumentalization of a Legend ; Das "Wunder von Bern" 1954 – Zur politischen Instrumentalisierung eines Mythos

Abstract

The unexpected victory of the German football team over the favorite Hungary on 4 July 1954 has gone down in history as the "Miracle of Berne," and the football match has been built up as a mythical place of remembrance in the history of German sport. The article deals with the construction of the legend and concludes that the event and its consequences were perceived as an emotional sensation by contemporaries, but that this perception was rather short-lived. For many years, the "Miracle of Bern" was an unimportant chapter in collective memory. The career of the legend basically began in the context of a new social contract made at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the final, and its exploitation by the media and politics with the aid of a successful movie. The legend was part of a political staging.