A Discussion of Patriotism

The World Cup and Germany’s dominance on the field for some time spurred quite a few conversations of nationalism in Germany. German friends of mine said that football is the only seemingly acceptable time to show your patriotism and national pride because there is otherwise such a stigma surrounding German nationalism. Basically, supporting the flag and whatever it stands for is equal to still ‘loving’ Hitler. When Horst Köhler became German president in 2004, he said in his initial speech, “I love Germany.” Which sent a not-so-subtle hush throughout Germany. This concept is just seriously taboo here.

In yet another Der Spiegel article, this one about Germany’s Patriotism Problem from April 21, 2006  explains:

“Sixty-plus years after the end of World War II, German patriotism just ain’t in the cards. Even the memorials the country builds these days are more anti-monuments. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is just the most recent example…[However], black, red and gold were traditional colors long before Hitler arrived — indeed he ditched the tricolor in favor of the swastika. The colors date back to those used by emperors during the Middle Ages and were again used by army volunteers resisting the Napoleon invasion in the early 1800s. During the 1848 revolutions across Germany, leaders officially adopted the tricolor as the movement’s flag.”

However, historian Detlev Claussen of the University of Hanover, as quoted in another Der Spiegel article, points out that:

“hard-core neo-Nazis never have in fact supported the German democratic state. By extension, they reject the national team. “Being a Nazi doesn’t mean supporting Germany. Nazis want world domination and National Socialism was always supranational,” he argues. He says this is what many on the left who feel uncomfortable about the German flag fail to understand — that the far-right rejects everything that flag stands for. Gabler agrees: “For true neo-Nazis, who identify with National Socialism, then the black, red and gold is anyway something they cannot identify with. And neither can they identify with the German team. (Der Spiegel)”

So, if this is the case, with the far-right-wing neo-Nazis and the left-wingers who fear the nationalism because they fear it will link them once again to nazi-ism it seems kind of schizophrenic or possibly manic. The flag most of the world is familiar with today was the one of the opposition AND the neo-nazis are actually against it.

I posited to my conversation class, that they (Germans) should not feel ashamed or embarrassed for being proud of where they come from, even slightly. Canadian backpackers often add a Canadian flag patch to their rucksack (and often so do Americans traveling abroad) to distinguish themselves from their American counterparts. Why can’t Germans feel comfortable enough to put a German flag symbol on their cars, on their bags, on their clothes or anywhere else they would like. God knows Americans are taught to love our nation all of it even the bad parts, much unlike our German friends who learn not to love their flag and the great things that Germany has accomplished with the exception of the effects of Hitler and World War II. Mind you this often leads Americans’ patriotism to look like it vomited all over absolutely everything the Americans own (see picture above). Yet the Americans as you can see wear their patriotism proudly on their sleeves and with a smile.

Stephen Fry’s most recent BBC special five-part documentary series is called Planet Word. In this series Fry explores language. In the first episode he introduces how languages began and how they separate us from our closest mammal relatives. In the second episode he explores how language helps shape our identity. In the clip below, from 8:28-9:40  a Basque farmer from the hills between France and Spain explains his language (Basque) as a point of pride. He shares with the audience his love of the language of his area as it has shaped who he is, helped to give him pride in himself, in his home and in his land and profession.