Germany Celebrated Its World Cup Win with Fireworks and a Lot of Honking

We sent photographers Björn Kietzmann and Jermain Raffington into the streets of Berlin last night to get a feel for how the country is celebrating.

by Lisa Ludwig

July 14, 2014, 5:35pm

Photo by Björn Kietzmann

Yesterday Germany won the 2014 World Cup in a nail-biting final against Argentina. In the 113th minute, during the second half of extra time, Andre Schürrle made a perfect cross to Mario Götze, who scored the first and only goal of the day with a left-footed ninja kick past Argentina’s goalkeeper, Sergio Romero.

Photo by Björn Kietzmann

In Berlin, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in cafés, bars, and public-viewing areas. Thirty-five million people tuned into the game, making it the most popular televised event in German history. After the win, fans flooded the streets and did the obnoxious things fans always do after winning a big sporting event: Fireworks were shot, car horns were pounded mercilessly, and vocal chords were pushed to their limits. For the most part the celebrations were peaceful, although one person died after being stabbed at a public viewing in Bremen, and about 100 teenagers in Berlin’s notorious Neukölln district attacked the police with fireworks.

Photo by Björn Kietzmann

Twitter and Facebook naturally exploded. Posts by squad members—like Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger’s double kiss with Rihanna and Podolski’s selfie with Angela Merkel—ricocheted around the internet, helping to create the feeling that the whole world was celebrating with Germany. The chancellor, who had been following the game from the VIP stand all night, cheered the boys on like a proud mother.

While the general mood in Germany was one of euphoria, some locals were hesitant to show their national pride. To a small but vocal faction, everything about German stolze is distasteful and offensive, bringing back memories of just how far German nationalism has gone before. There were reports earlier in the Cup of spectators trying to exploit the celebratory mood by sneaking in little Hitler salutes here and there, and this fan who climbed on top of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial to wave a German flag will always be remembered as a total dick.

Photo by Björn Kietzmann

But for the majority of the partying masses around the country, nothing could dampen the spirit and camaraderie the biggest national event since Merkel’s (alleged) nude pics brought to Germany. We sent photographers Björn Kietzmann and Jermain Raffington into the streets of Berlin after the win to get a feel for how the country is celebrating.