Sport in Germany

Sports and physical training are deeply rooted in Germany . They were introduced into the school curriculum during the war with Napoleon, between 1797 and 1815 , when physical exercises preceded military training. At the beginning of the 20th century, a gymnastic and sports movement arose and became quite popular in Germany. Many German sports clubs and associations have existed since then. In the 1920s , the young Wandervogel movement (literally “bird flight”) spread throughout the country, praising its proximity to nature, outdoor recreation, especially hiking, and popular culture. These useful idealistic movements were replaced by forced membership in the Hitler party in 1930s. The famous film-documentary propaganda of the Olympic Games in Munich in 1936, Leni Riefenstahl - an ode to physical perfection. After World War II, communist East Germany elevated physical fitness to the rank of an idol, using sporting achievements to promote the regime.

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) is the main sports organization whose founding members are sports federations, sports unions and extraordinary membership organizations. Sports unions are part of district, regional or land leagues. Their main task is the development of individual sports, the identification and training of especially talented athletes, and the holding of competitions. In addition, they train coaches and referees, as well as provide general guidance for the sports movement in a given area or land. Land leagues for a particular sport are usually combined in sports federations of Germany . These federations were founded or restored since 1949. Currently, there are more than 50 major federations. The largest of them is the football union, with more than 6 million members, followed by the tennis federation, athletics federation, gymnastic union, the shooting sport federation, the swimming federation, etc. The federations and unions are responsible for representing the interests of Germany in international federations, organization of the championships of Germany, the selection of athletes for international meetings, world and European championships, the further development of the rules. Each federation enjoys a certain autonomy in its sport.

Modern Germans continue to play sports, German athletes are widely known. In addition, the Germans are not only passionate fans, many go in for sports on their own. They join various clubs: tennis, football, hockey, swimming, horse riding, cycling, running, hiking, mountain climbing and many other sports. These clubs enjoy government support. In summer, on the freeway, you can see many large cars carrying touring and sports bicycles, kayaks and canoes, skis and boats - it’s popular among Germans to spend weekends with friends for sports.

At the moment, Germany is among the five sports nations in the world in summer sports and the top three in winter sports.

The most developed summer sports:

• Football
• Tennis
• Athletics
• Swimming
• Rowing
• Handball
• Field hockey
• Horseback Riding
• Shooting
• Beach volleyball

The most developed winter sports:

• Biathlon
• Skiing
• Bobsleigh
• Sleigh
• Skeleton
• Skating
• Ski Jumping
• Hockey

Soccer

In Germany, football is the number one sport. He is the most popular sport in the country. Men's team - four-time world champion, is one of the most famous and strongest in the world . The German Football Union is an organization that monitors and controls football in Germany . Number of members: 6.35 million

After World War II, Germany achieved unique results in football . In the pre-war period, its highest achievement was third place at the 1934 World Cup . After the war, the country was divided, and in 1948 East Germany had its own association, team and its own championship. But in the GDR, the state paid more attention to individual, rather than team sports, and the East Germans were far from the successes of their compatriots on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Their two main achievements: Montreal-76 Olympic gold and a 1-0 victory in the only match against Germany at the 1974 World Cup .

In West Germany, things were much better. After being expelled from FIFA in 1946, the Federal Republic of Germany rejoined it in 1950 and four years later won the World Cup. This victory, led by coach Sepp Gerberger, was all the more valuable since the Hungarian wizards were defeated in the final. Having lost with the score 3: 2, they suffered only a second defeat in the last five years.

After that, the Germans achieved even greater success. At the world championships, they reached the semi-finals in 1958 , the quarter-finals in 1962 , and in 1966 they were second.

70s became the stellar years of the German national team and the Munich “Bavaria”. Bayern won the Champions Cup three times - in 1974, 1975 and 1976, and its players formed the core of the team that won the 1974 World Cup and the European Championships 1972 and 1980 , remaining second in 1976 .

Franz Beckenbauer, with his successful connections to the attack, changed his mind about the role of a cleaner and was recognized as one of the best defenders in the world, and Gerd Müller was a model of a “head-scoring machine." In 62 games for the national team, he scored 68 goals.

Victory traditions of the 70s. were supported by a new generation of players. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge , Lothar Matteus , Rudi Föller , Thomas Hössler , Jürgen Klinsmann and Mathias Zammer (the last 2 also played for united Germany) became world football stars. The German team at the 1982 World Cup in the final lost to the Italians. Also at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the German team reached the final again, where again it was content with only silver, losing to the Argentine team led by Diego Maradona . However, at the 1990 World Cup, she took revenge in the final, thereby becoming a 3-time world champion.

In the late nineties and early next century, German football underwent a major reorganization of national football. The biggest achievement was silver at the 2008 European Football Championship and at the 2002 World Cup . But already at the 2010 World Cup, the national team showed spectacular, attacking football and eventually took third place, which was a great success. At the 2014 World Championships in the final, the German national team at the expense of a goal by Mario Goetze beat Argentina in extra time and became a four-time world champion, catching up with the Italians in this respect. At the moment, the team is one of the youngest promising teams in the world and occupies the first line in the world ranking of FIFA teams .

The women's team also supports the rich traditions of men's football. The women's team is a two-time world champion and at the moment (2010) is the strongest in the world.

Tennis

This sport has gained popularity in Germany since the early 1980s, although it is one of the oldest in the country. Moreover, popularity was manifested only in Germany , in the GDR this sport was always on the sidelines, as it was considered a sport for aristocrats. In Germany, they thought otherwise, a huge number of tennis courts were built at that time, people went in droves to engage in this sport. About two million people were members of the German Tennis Federation, a record for the entire existence of this sport in the country.

Now that Germany has united, this sport is no less popular than in the 1980s. The Tennis Federation is the second largest after the football union and the largest in the world - 1.607.000 members (as of January 24, 2010). The German team won three times, the men's prestigious team tournament Davis Cup , twice in the finals. The women's team won twice the same tournament as the Federation Cup , four times was in the finals. Famous German tennis players: Steffi Graf , Boris Becker , Michael Stich , Tommy Haas .

Athletics

Athletics is one of the most popular and oldest sports in Germany . The German Athletics Federation is the third largest after the Football Union and Tennis Federation. Thousands of buildings and stadiums are specially built for practicing this sport, both for ordinary citizens and professionals.

For a century, Germany has been a leader in this sport. At the moment ( 2010 ), Germany is among the top five countries in professional Athletics. The world saw such great athletes as: Karl Schumann , Heike Drexler , Nils Schumann , Frank Ditch , Robert Harting and others.

Swimming

The sporting character of swimming in Germany begins to acquire from the middle of the 19th century. At that time, the first indoor pools were built in Berlin , which at the beginning were mainly used for teaching swimming to future officers, students of cadet corps and military schools. At the same time, the construction of pools makes swimming not only a military discipline, but also a sport, and by the end of the 19th century, swimming in Germany as a sport was already becoming popular. Throughout the twentieth century, German coaches and athletes are looking for more advanced training methods and are working on improving swimming techniques. In recent decades, the number of pools has become increasingly important. Artificial outdoor and indoor pools in Germany make swimming truly massive.

Swimming is one of the most popular and oldest sports in Germany . This sport is currently practiced by hundreds of thousands of Germans. Germany is one of the strongest countries in professional swimming, although from 1994 to 2008, a major crisis occurred in the country in this sport, which also coincided with the change of generations. In sports swimming, Germany raised such famous athletes as: Kristin Otto , Rika Rainish , Michael Gross , Paul Biederman , Britta Steffen and others.

Biathlon

Biathlon in Germany is the most popular winter sport. Germany was and is a trendsetter in the world biathlon.

The German biathlon team is one of the most titled national teams in the world, and most successfully performs at the Winter Olympics . On her account the largest number of medals won of each dignity. The first medal (Silver) for the GDR team was won in 1972 by Hans-Jörg Knaut in the individual race. These were the 8th Olympic Games , where biathletes took part. In 1980, Frank Ulrich brought the first gold medal for the GDR team. The Federal Republic of Germany won its medals at the Olympic Games, as well as at the world championships, later won by the GDR. In 1980, the men's relay team won bronze, and in 1984 Peter Angerer brought the first gold medal. It is noteworthy that the first gold Olympic award of Germany was won 5 years earlier than the first gold award of the World Cup. The most famous German biathletes: Sven Fischer , Ricco Gross , Michael Grice , Ears Diesel , Katie Wilhelm , Andrea Henkel , Magdalena Neuner and many others.

Ice Hockey

Hockey in Germany is one of the most popular and oldest winter sports. Many Germans practice this sport.

The Hockey Union of Germany is the main hockey organization in the country, with about 70 thousand members. There are a lot of clubs and various leagues in Germany , the most important is the German Hockey League, which has fourteen strongest clubs in the country.

The German national ice hockey team took part in the first serious tournament for themselves - the European Championship in 1910 , where it took 2nd place. The team repeated its success in 1911 , 1912 (canceled) and 1914 , in 1913 took 3rd place. After the First World War, the German team ceased to be one of the favorites, but in the late twenties began to win medals again: bronze at the European Championships in 1927 , silver at the 1930 World Cup and bronze in 1932 and 1934. After the division of Germany, the hockey team was also divided into the German national team and GDR

With the unification of Germany, the highest achievement was 4th place in the 2010 World Home Championship and 6th place in the 2003 World Cup , where the German team lost in the quarterfinals of Canada in overtime. At the 2018 Olympic Games in Korea, they reached the finals, where, playing with Olympic athletes from Russia , they won silver Olympic medals for the first time in their history. At the moment (2018), the German team is in 7th place in the IIHF ranking .

Famous hockey players: Udo Kisling , Uwe Krupp , Olaf Kölzig , Marco Sturm , Christian Erhoff , Dennis Seidenberg and others.