''The Miracle of 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 playi ...

, which tells the story of a German family (particularly of a young boy and his depressed ex-

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

father) and the unexpected

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

''miracle'' victory in the 1954 World Cup Final in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, 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 () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

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 ...

, Minister-President of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, 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) and wa ...

, Federal Minister of the Interior (a position whose holder is also informally known as Minister for Sports). Since November 2014,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

's new musical theatre is home to a successful musical production of the same name.

Plot

Richard, a coal miner from

Essen Essen () 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 Dortmund, as well as ...

, returns after eleven years of being a Soviet prisoner of war in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. 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 () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

challenging his father's ideals of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

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 (association football), forward. He became a legend for having scored the winning goal in 1954 FIFA World Cup Fin ...

Rot-Weiß Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße. The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the List of German foot ...

. 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 Germany 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 an ...

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 Shoemaking, cobbler, inventor and businessman who founded sportswear giant Adidas. He was also the younger brother of Rudolf Dassler, founder of Puma (brand), Puma. Dassler ...

'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 - 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, West Germany, he currently lives in Berlin. After doing his Abitur he started studying ...

- 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

* -

* Knut Hartwig -

* -

Horst Eckel Horst Eckel (8 February 1932 – 3 December 2021) was a German footballer who played as a wing-half. 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. ...

Simon Verhoeven Simon Verhoeven (born in Munich on 20 June 1972) is a German-Austrian film director, screenwriter, film producer, former actor, and occasional film music composer. Life and family Verhoeven is the son of international screen actress Senta Ber ...

Ottmar Walter Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (6 March 1924 – 16 June 2013) was a German footballer who played as a forward. He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. They also played together for the West Germany n ...

* -

Toni Turek Anton Turek (18 January 1919 – 11 May 1984) was a German association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Career Born in Duisburg, Turek started his career at Duisburger Sportverein, but he soo ...

* -

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, ...

Others

* Katharina Wackernagel - Annette Ackermann *

Lucas Gregorowicz Lucas Gregorowicz (born 31 August 1976 in London) is a German-Polish actor.Karen Joy Cifarelli

The real sports miracle

The 1954 German team, captained by

and coached by

, 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 FIFA World Cup is a golden 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 different trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 19 ...

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 "Main Association For Movie Theatres") and the journal ''Filmecho/Filmwoche''. Like a Golden Record, it is ...

* 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 Films produced 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 2000s German-language films