Berlin's football community joins protests against far right

Amid the 150,000 protesters surrounding the Reichstag on Saturday, holding up a sea of colorful flags and placards, were a number of banners emblazoned with the crests of Berlin football clubs and messages like "No football for fascists!" and "Football welcomes refugees."

"It's important that everyone speaks out about the far right now, because it is a crucial moment. And sports, and football in particular, have to stand up because so many people come together to play and watch football," David Hoffmann told DW.

Hoffmann is a part of "Gesellschaftsspiele," a Berlin organization focusing on football fan culture and political education. He helped to organize a "sports bloc" within the broader demonstration against the far right.

He said 30 organizations, most of them football clubs and fan groups from sides ranging from the Bundesliga to the very base of Berlin's football pyramid, officially signed on to join the protest. But many more were represented at Saturday's demonstration.

Shutting down the right wing

This weekend's protests, also held in various cities around Germany, are part of a countrywide wave of mass demonstrations where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets against the far right.

They were sparked by a January 10 report exposing discussions last November by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, some right-wing Christian Democrats and business people over secret plans to deport millions of people with immigrant backgrounds, including German citizens, from the country.

"It's really important for our democracy that we all stand up, that we're against the [far] right. That we take care that our democracy doesn't falter and that the wrong parties don't come into power," Petra, a Hertha Berlin fan for more than three decades, told DW. Petra joined the demo with a group of fellow Hertha supporters.

While support for the AfD has dropped since the protests began, it's still polling nationally at 19% — making them the second-most popular party in Germany.

Football takes a stand

For Union Berlin fan Max, who joined the protest's "sports bloc" with his wife and two teenage sons, football is much more than weekend entertainment.

"Football reflects society," said Max. He added that fighting for democracy means "living it out, whether that's at your football club, school, work, or in your neighborhood." 

Numerous Bundesliga clubs have encouraged fans to attend these demonstrations, and coaches like SC Freiburg's Christian Streich and Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso have voiced their support. But backing hasn't just come from Germany's top tier.

"Football has the potential to bring people together — especially those from different cultures, with different languages, nationalities, religions, genders or world views. And you can use this power to take a stand against exclusion, discrimination and racism," said Arne, who plays for FSV Hansa 07, a non-league side in Berlin's multicultural neighborhood of Kreuzberg.

Getting political on the pitch

Packed stadiums and widespread grassroots participation don't just make football a powerful vessel for reaching the masses. In Germany, football culture itself is highly politicized.

Whether it's about the sport's increasing commercialization, autocratic regimes using football to launder their reputations or reforms to police surveillance laws, German football fans rarely shy away from making their voices heard.

While the efforts of engaged supporters, and more recently, many clubs themselves, have rooted out much of the right-wing hooliganism that was a hallmark of German football in the 1980s and '90s, Germany's football community still has divisions that reflect those within the country at large.

Racist abuse, both online and in stadiums, still plagues German football. And fan-led campaigns like the recent "Get Nazis out of the Stadium" wouldn't be necessary if football grounds were free from the extreme right.

"There are attempts from the far right to undermine football culture. But as you can see today, there are a lot of football organizations and fan groups that try to counter these efforts and show that football is more about bringing people together than splitting them apart," said Hoffmann.

German football in the spotlight

Germany's football culture will be on full display for the world to see this summer, when Germany hosts the 2024 European Championships.

While hosting FIFA's primary football tournament, the 2006 World Cup, helped normalize mass displays of patriotism, explicit shows of nationalism are often associated with the far right .

Hoffmann warned that the far right may try to take advantage of the upcoming Euros.

"I'm definitely concerned about nationalism in Germany during a major football event. But I think this is also an opportunity to get into a critical discourse about nationalism and what role football plays in nationalist strategies.

"And that's what we have to do — talk to our neighbors, talk to our friends, and make them aware that right-wing extremists are trying to use football."

For now, the fans attending Berlin's demonstration against the far right have made it clear that football has an important role to play in defending democracy.

"Football is a basis for everything. It's our society. It's for everyone, regardless of who you are, or what team you support. Just as our democracy is for everyone too," said Hertha Berlin supporter Petra.

Edited by: Kalika Mehta