Das Wunder von Bern

Lore & Background

The film can be regarded as a portrait of post-war Germany. With over 6 million cinema visitors, it is one of Germany's best-selling films. Among those attending the première were Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Peer Steinbrück, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Otto Schily, Federal Minister of the Interior. Since November 2014, Hamburg's new musical theatre Theater an der Elbe is home to a successful musical production of the same name.

In Their Own Story

The rain had not stopped for two days. The Wankdorf pitch was a brown-green soup, the grass torn up in patches where boots had churned through it for ninety minutes of the group-stage replay. Fritz Walter stood at the edge of the centre circle, rain running down his face, and looked across at Puskás, who was already stretching his legs with the easy confidence of a man who had won every match of his adult life. Walter said nothing. He did not need to. Around him, Rahn was spitting mud off his boots, Morlock was taping his wrists, and the young Scharner was staring at the Hungarian goal as if it were a door he intended to walk through. The referee's whistle cut through the wet air. The ball was kicked into the grey sky. And the miracle — the one no one in that stadium, no one watching on the grainy television sets back in Frankfurt and Stuttgart and Cologne, had written into the script — began to unfold, one impossible, rain-soaked, mud-spattered minute at a time.

Reader's Guide

The plot follows Richard, a coal miner from Essen, who returns after eleven years as a Soviet prisoner of war in Siberia. His wife, two sons, and one daughter have reached a minimum standard of living without him. His 11-year-old son Matthias admires local football hero Helmut Rahn. Richard initially stern about Matthias' love for football, gradually softens, and father and son drive to Bern to see the final. An additional plot involves the personal triumph of Helmut Rahn, for whom Matthias becomes a lucky mascot. A third comic relief story line revolves around fictional sports reporter Paul Ackermann and his wife. The real sports miracle: the 1954 German team, captained by Fritz Walter and coached by Sepp Herberger, won the World Cup in a remarkable final against the Hungarian Mighty Magyars, coming back from an early two-goal deficit to win 3–2, with Helmut Rahn scoring the winning goal six minutes from the end.

Did You Know?

• The film's première was attended by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Peer Steinbrück, and Otto Schily.
• The 1954 World Cup final saw West Germany come back from a 2–0 deficit to win 3–2 against Hungary.
• Helmut Rahn scored the winning goal six minutes from the end of full-time.
• The film has a musical production at Hamburg's Theater an der Elbe since November 2014.