While the astonishment about the World Cup in Qatar is growing rather than decreasing with each passing day, the longing for authenticity in football, for emotional certainties, is growing at the same time. There are numerous exhibits in the German Football Museum in Dortmund, which firstly offer a loophole from the dusty World Cup reality and at the same time illustrate why football World Cups are so fascinating. One could say a bit exaggerated: almost every tournament has somehow made it into our football album of the heart.
The football-historical journey through the museum should probably begin with a pennant. Almost 70 centimeters long. The colors red, white and green have long since faded. In the center a red star and below it a hammer and an ear of corn. The year 1954 is embroidered in golden numbers. It is the Hungarian pennant that Ferenc Puskás handed to his opponent Fritz Walter on July 4, 1954, after the two captains had led their teams to the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern.
The pennant as a harbinger of a promise to be kept, because the Hungarians had expected nothing other than the title. And at the same time as a symbol for disappointed hope. Museum director Manuel Neukirchner says: “Football was the increasingly brittle social cement for a subjugated people”and the surprising defeat became the prelude to the popular uprising of 1956.
Germany – your football
Neukirchner also wrote a book about it. “Germany – your football”, is it[calledItisfullofsometimesverysurprisingchangesinperspectiveAndalsooffersinterestinglittlestoriesForexampleaboutthefinalballfromBernwhichWernerKohlmeyerhadtogetfromrefereeLing’sdressingroomatthebehestofSeppHerbergerinordertosecureitasapersonalsouvenirforhis”boss”
Many signatures of the world champions can still be read on the worn, golden-brown leather. Herberger had one “legible handwriting” asked. Today the ball is one of the most exciting memorabilia in the German Football Museum in Dortmund.
1954: What will happen to Horst Eckel’s World Cup jersey?
Horst Eckel’s final jersey also hangs there, a loan from the 1954 world champion who was still alive for years. Eckel died in December 2021, and his legacy was auctioned off a year later.
An anonymous telephone seller bought the jersey for around 78,000 euros. Eckel’s World Cup medal changed hands for 76,000 euros, his final shoes fetched 20,000 euros. After all: The buyer is said to be a German who wants to make the exhibits accessible to the public, said auctioneer Wolfgang Fuhr. Bidders from the World Cup host country Qatar and from China were also interested in some devotional items.
Horst Eckel’s daughter decided to sell because she needed money to care for her mother. According to her own statements, she canceled the loan contract for the World Cup jersey, which has been hanging in the football museum since 2015, a year ago.
1966: Wembley’s 101st minute
Since there can hardly be any doubts in the long shadow of video refereeing today, one of the most controversial decisions in World Cup history is of course of particular importance. Geoff Hurst’s goal in the 101st minute of the myth-ridden Wembley 1966 final. The third goal that wasn’t one and yet was recognized as such by a man who came from the City of Wonder, of all places. Namely from Bern, where referee Gottfried Dienst earned his money as a postman.
When Dienst stretched his arm to the middle and blew his whistle after a short “in or not in” discussion with his linesman Tofik Bakhramov from Azerbaijan, the final was lost for Seeler and Co. This small, silver whistle, produced in England, has aged with the myth of the third goal and is now the museum’s springboard for an always exciting journey through time, which always ends in a wrong decision.
1974: The last shirt for the opponent
When Gerd Müller gave away his last shirt, it immediately disappeared into Wim Rijsbergen’s sports bag. Because Müller’s last game in the jersey of the German national team was the World Cup final against the Netherlands, and “der Bomber” had of course delivered. It was clear beforehand that he would resign from the DFB team, everything else was not important to Müller.
He threw his shoes into the cheering crowd on the lap of honor through the Munich Olympic Stadium, and his jersey was given to Rijsbergen, his opponent, who came from Leiden, which somehow also suited the final. Only 38 years later did the jersey with number 13 return to Germany as a permanent loan. Today it hangs in the football museum, just like the famous hat of the man with the hat, from the tall man from Dresden, from Helmut Schön, who accompanied the national team into a new era as national coach.
1990: The trail leads to Rome
If you have the luck and privilege these days to talk to Andreas Brehme about the night in Rome, about his penalty in the 85th minute of the 1990 World Cup final, everything comes back to life. Gerd Rubenbauer’s television commentary, the confidence in Brehme’s face, Goycochea’s arms stretching in vain.
Andreas Brehme shot right to left, and you can still see this path to success today. The penalty spot from the Olympic Stadium in Rome is in the museum. Under glass, of course. And to the top left, a slight trace of lime can be made out. Brehmes Ball had taken this path.
And so this walk through the football photo album can be continued on and on. Past Lehmann’s cheat sheet from the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals against Argentina, past the match ball of the legendary 7-1 win in the World Cup semifinals against Brazil, which culminated in the final in Rio, and Mario Götze’s left-footed shot, with a few shreds of grass still visible under his shoe stick to the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.