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World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

Arrests - but the party goes on

DORTMUND 鈥 It was certainly a lively night in the city, with over 400 arrests and more van-loads of police in riot gear than I鈥檝e ever seen in my life before.

It seems that when the German police move in, they do it in numbers.

But the clampdown on suspected hooligans and drunken fans was only a part of the picture.

In the surrounding streets, tens of thousands of German and Polish fans carried on drinking and enjoying themselves into the night.

philipp_thomas203.jpgGerman fan Thomas Plaga (this is him on the right with friend Philipp Wegfahrt) from Dortmund told me he鈥檇 been only a couple of feet from where bottles were being thrown and the police moved in on hooligans.

Pretty scary, he said, but he and his friends managed to move away and carry on celebrating Germany鈥檚 win elsewhere.

Overall, the atmosphere was far more 鈥淐arnaval鈥 than trouble, he said, rivalled only by the scenes when Trinidad and Tobago were in town playing Sweden on Saturday.

鈥淚鈥檓 very proud that the World Cup is so friendly,鈥 he added.

The Poland fans were also determined to enjoy their night, judging by the steady stream heading into Dortmund鈥檚 Reduta Polish disco.

germanjoy_203.jpgEven a huge thunderstorm and torrential rain didn鈥檛 seem to dampen anyone鈥檚 spirits too much.

The red-carpeted Fan Mile leading up to the stadium was still going strong at 2am, and the Germans looked set to stay there all night.

I'm afraid I didn't join them - after an early hours police press conference and a thorough soaking in the rain, I was more than ready for bed.

Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 04:21 PM on 15 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

The Germany-Poland match was always going to be a flashpoint of the tournament. The lack of news on the subject leads me to believe that the English aren't getting involved. Can anybody confirm this or otherwise?


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  • 2.
  • At 04:30 PM on 15 Jun 2006,
  • Henning wrote:

No wonder the party went on almost all night: This Thursday is a holiday in the catholic part of Germany! (including Nordrhein-Westphalen/Dortmund)

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  • 3.
  • At 05:14 PM on 15 Jun 2006,
  • Andreas wrote:

So far German media haven't reported anything about English hooligans having caused trouble other than 12 England fans who were taken in some kind of police custody together with some 30 Germans after the England match in Frankfurt last week. That's it! So up until now no complaints ;-)

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  • 4.
  • At 06:44 AM on 16 Jun 2006,
  • Faris wrote:

We don't normally associate Germans with a carnival, do we? I never expected such street parties, but then, I guess they've been inspired by the likes of Sowa Warriors.

Come on then, Warriors, a win in the next match can still see you through. England will do them a favour, beating the Swedes.

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  • 5.
  • At 09:25 AM on 16 Jun 2006,
  • Natalie wrote:

The people of North Rhine Westfalia are crazy! Alaaf! Forget German the stereotype of Germany seriousness, they are the Scousers of the Fatherland! They use any opportunity to get dressed up, cut ties off (special tradition during Carnival time)and make fools of themselves in a good spirit.

Any another bit of trivia, in the bakeries all over Germany you can buy Weltmeisterbr枚tchen (World Champion rolls) for breakfast! These are special rolls made with lots of seeds on top, especially made by the Klinsmann family after the (they did it again) victory in 1990. Now you know.

I麓m from the West Midlands and have been living in Germany for 6 years now. I hope that this World Cup can show how great this place is! Germany is fab, tolerant and open to all nationalities and I think they are doing a great job to make this World Cup a very friendly one.

Just one thing though....Germany v England first in the final and not in the second round!

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  • 6.
  • At 09:54 AM on 16 Jun 2006,
  • Ken Barkway wrote:

Having grown up in Nordrhein-Westphalia I can assure you that they have more carnivals than we British. Rosenmontag and St Martins especially.

I suggest you park your stereotypes and get to know the Germans who are as a rule hospitable courteous people.

Of course like any race they have their share of numpties.

And I'm am quite surprised that no tabloids have mentioned Englands Nurnburg rally!

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  • 7.
  • At 12:02 PM on 16 Jun 2006,
  • Phil The Blade wrote:

We were in Colgne earlier in the year to see Arctic Monkeys. It just happened to fall on the day of the cities national festival, it was...odd to say the least. If you weren't in fancy dress, you were the minority!
The Germans really do know how to put on a festival, bank holiday for all!

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  • 8.
  • At 03:29 PM on 16 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Hi, so far no complaints about the English fans at all. I was in N眉rnberg yesterday (not at the game, but at the fan party next to the stadium) and there were no problems, just a great atmosphere. OK, there was the one English dude, who took a bath in the lake naked. Well, when he returned somebody had taken his clothes and he had to run around naked causing lots of laughs... :-) Apart from that there wasn't even anything mentioned in the local newspapers.

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  • 9.
  • At 02:34 PM on 21 Jun 2006,
  • Juergen wrote:

hi Laura,.. Maeve just has send me the link to this page.
It is unbeleavable how the people are partying here all day long.
Hope you had a nice trip. We will see us at the next event in London.

Bye for now Juergen

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