''The Miracle of Bern'' (german: Das Wunder von Bern) is a 2003 film by
Sönke Wortmann
Sönke Wortmann (; 25 August 1959 in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German film director and producer.
Biography
Wortmann's father was a miner. After Wortmann's A-Levels he wanted to become a professional football player and started playing ...
, which tells the story of a German family (particularly of a young boy and his depressed ex-
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
father) and the unexpected
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
''miracle'' victory in the
1954 World Cup Final in
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
, Switzerland.
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
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...
,
Peer Steinbrück
Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia f ...
, Minister-President of
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
, and
Otto Schily
Otto Georg Schily (born 20 July 1932) is a former Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany, his tenure was from 1998 to 2005, in the cabinet of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Earl ...
,
Federal Minister of the Interior (a position whose holder is also informally known as Minister for Sports).
Since November 2014,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
's new musical theatre is home to a successful musical production of the same name.
[ (German)]
Plot
Richard, a coal miner from
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
, returns after eleven years of being a
Soviet prisoner of war in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. In the meantime, his wife, two sons, and one daughter have reached a minimum standard of living without him. When he is unexpectedly repatriated in 1954, he has severe problems in reintegrating himself with his family and country. His wife is running a small bar, his elder son has become a
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
challenging his father's ideals of the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
time, his daughter flirts with British soldiers who are his former enemies, while his 11-year-old son Matthias, who never knew his father, admires a local football hero instead,
Helmut Rahn
Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as ''Der Boss'' (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup (West Germany vs. ...
of
Rot-Weiß Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...
.
While Richard is initially very stern about Matthias' love for football, he gradually softens such that, on the night before the final game, father and son drive to Bern to see the match.
An additional plot of the movie is the personal triumph of Helmut Rahn, for whom Matthias becomes a lucky mascot. Rahn, nicknamed "The Boss", has a successful record at club level, though is rarely chosen to play at national level in trainer
Sepp Herberger
Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...
's team.
A third more light-hearted comic relief story line revolves around the fictional sports reporter Paul Ackermann and his wife, who travel to the World Cup despite their fundamentally different views on the importance of football.
There are several miraculous events in the film. For Richard, it is the sudden joy of scoring a goal with an abandoned football. For Rahn, it is seeing Matthias on the sideline that spurs him into scoring the winning goal. For Sepp Herberger, however, the miracles are more mundane: the sudden rain that slows down the Hungarians (however, German captain
Fritz Walter
Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany a ...
tended to perform better in stormy conditions), but not so much the Germans fitted with
Adolf Dassler
Adolf "Adi" Dassler (3 November 1900 – 6 September 1978) was a German cobbler, inventor and entrepreneur who founded the German sportswear company Adidas. He was also the younger brother of Rudolf Dassler, founder of Puma. Dassler was an innov ...
's revolutionary screw-in football studs. For all Germans, it's the unexpected euphoria of a win that heals many wounds, becoming a symbol of the ongoing economic "miracle".
Cast
Lubanski family
* Louis Klamroth - Matthias Lubanski
*
Peter Lohmeyer
Peter Lohmeyer (born 22 January 1962 in Niedermarsberg) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1980.
Life and career
Lohmeyer is the youngest of three children of the Protestant pastor Dieter Lohmeyer and his wi ...
- Richard Lubanski
*
Johanna Gastdorf
Johanna Gastdorf (born 1959) is a German actress. She has appeared in more than 100 films and television shows since 1993.
Filmography
References
External links
*
1959 births
Living people
German film actresses
Actresses from Hambur ...
- Christa Lubanski
*
Mirko Lang
Mirko Lang is a German actor, who has appeared in many different screenplays, television shows, as well as stage productions. Born in October 1978 in Bremen, Germany, he currently lives in Berlin. After doing his Abitur he started studying musi ...
- Bruno Lubanski
*
Birthe Wolter
Birthe Wolter (born 4 October 1981) is a German actress.
Career
She studied at the Munich's ''August Everding Music and Drama School'' (2002–2006). Her most popular role so far was one of the leading role in the RTL series '' Schulmädchen''. ...
- Ingrid Lubanski
Football team
* -
Sepp Herberger
Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...
* -
Helmut Rahn
Helmut Rahn (16 August 1929 – 14 August 2003), known as ''Der Boss'' (The Boss), was a German footballer who played as a forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in the final of the 1954 FIFA World Cup (West Germany vs. ...
*
Knut Hartwig
Knut Hartwig (born 13 November 1969) is retired a German football midfielder. Hartwig portrayed Fritz Walter in the movie ''The Miracle of Bern''.
Career statistics
Personal life
Knut Hartwig is the father of Luis Hartwig
Luis Hartwig (born ...
-
Fritz Walter
Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany a ...
* -
Horst Eckel
Horst Eckel (8 February 1932 – 3 December 2021) was a German footballer. He was part of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He was the last surviving player of the 1954 World Cup Final.
Club career
Eckel debuted ...
*
Simon Verhoeven Simon Verhoeven (born in Munich on 20 June 1972) is a German film director, screenwriter, film producer, former actor, and occasional film music composer.
Life and family
Verhoeven is the son of international screen actress Senta Berger and BAF ...
-
Ottmar Walter
Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (6 March 1924 – 16 June 2013) was a German footballer who played as a striker.
He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. They also played together for the Germany nation ...
* -
Toni Turek
Anton Turek (18 January 1919 – 11 May 1984) was a German footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Career
Born in Duisburg, Turek started his career at Duisburger Sportverein, but he soon switched to TuS Duisburg 48/99. He first came to the at ...
* -
Hans Schäfer
Hans Schäfer (19 October 1927 – 7 November 2017) was a German footballer who played as an outside left.
Career
Schäfer was born in Zollstock, Cologne. He played for 1. FC Köln between 1948 and 1965, and for the West Germany national team, e ...
Others
* Katharina Wackernagel - Annette Ackermann
*
Lucas Gregorowicz
Lucas Gregorowicz (born 31 August 1976 in London) is a German-Polish actor.Fritz Walter
Friedrich "Fritz" Walter (, ; 31 October 1920 – 17 June 2002) was a German footballer who spent his entire senior career at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He usually played as an attacking midfielder or inside forward. In his time with the Germany a ...
and coached by
Sepp Herberger
Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...
, won the World Cup in a remarkable final against the legendary Hungarian
''Mighty Magyars'', undefeated for four years (Hungary had even thrashed the German back-ups 8–3 in the group stages). A determined Germany came back from an early two-goal deficit to win 3–2, with Helmut Rahn scoring the winning goal six minutes from the end of full-time. This was a euphoric event for Germany, which had been spiritually and economically shattered by the war. Winning the
Jules Rimet Trophy
The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...
by beating the world's strongest team gave the country new pride and is seen as a herald of Germany's economic and political recovery.
Awards
* Prix du Public UBS, Locarno International Film Festival 2003
*
Goldene Leinwand The Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) is an award created in 1964 by the HDF ("Hauptverband Deutscher Filmtheater e.V.", literally translated "Federal Association For Movie Theatres") and the journal ''Filmecho/Filmwoche''.
Like a Golden Record, it ...
* Deutscher Filmpreis 2004 for Best Picture (Silver), German Film of the Year, German Actor of the Year (Peter Lohmeyer)
* Bavarian Film Award 2004 to Sönke Wortmann as Best Director and to Johanna Gastdorf as Best Supporting Actress
References
External links
*
Review of the film in English*
ttp://www.das-wunder-von-bern.de/download/wunder_05.rml "The legendary radio annotator from Herbert Zimmermann (RealMedia)"br>
IMCDB – Internet Movie Car Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miracle of Bern, The
2000s sports films
Films directed by Sönke Wortmann
German association football films
Sports films based on actual events
Films set in 1954
Films set in West Germany
Films set in Switzerland
Films shot in Cologne
1954 FIFA World Cup
Football mass media in Germany
West Germany at the 1954 FIFA World Cup
2000s German films