Change Of Perspective In German Hospitality - Case Study Example

Change Of Perspective In German Hospitality Introduction From the outset it is worth noting that Germany has grown to establish itself as a strong nation within the larger European region. To other people, perhaps Europe would have been totally different today without the presence of German. However, throughout the history of time, this country has always been viewed with a lot of suspicion and treated cautiously due to a number of reasons. In particular, Germany has been perceived to be a war mongering country based on its historical development which was largely characterized by war and bloodshed. One can not fail to mention the Nazi regime whenever Germany is mentioned especially in any debate as to whether this country is hospitable or not. Such developments dealt a blow to the country’s hospitality especially its involvement in the World War I. The fact that it was also involved in the holocaust has not made this debate any easier in the first place. Thus, having been eliminated from the global community during the War, the prospect of hosting the famous Berlin Olympics in the year 1936 offered a perfect platform for it to redeem its image. The 2006 FIFA World Cup also provided the ideal opportunity to present itself to the world community as a hospitable nation. The need to successfully plan and host the aforementioned sporting events could not be overemphasized. To German leaders, these events were seen as a chance to change the long-held mindset that it was indeed inhospitable. Everyone acknowledged that this the time for Germany to show itself as a friendly nation to the rest of the World. Hence, this research paper shall seek to explore how these events helped to change perceptions towards this country. By so doing, this paper shall also seek to bring to the fore the various factors which influenced the decision to let Germany host these important sporting events. Perceptional Change in Context The cradle for the much acclaimed Berlin Olympics can be traced to mid 1930 when Germany openly declared its interest in hosting the next Summer Olympics. From a political standpoint, it is widely believed that the then ruler, Adolf Hitler wanted to use the 1936 Berlin Olympics to camouflage his tyranny and dictatorship from the rest of the world. It is widely believed that the summer Olympics provided the much needed impetus to Hitler to advance his anti-Semitic agenda although silently1. This was necessary considering the fact that he had presented Germany as a country which was established on violating the basic and fundamental human rights of those communities it considered as enemies. To this end, Hitler had succeeded in painting Germany as being a militaristic and racist nation which would stop at nothing in order to achieve its objectives. Therefore, these Summer Olympic Games enabled Adolf to hide his territorial expansion agenda from the rest of the world under the pretext of unifying the country with the rest of the world through sports. Literature evidence shows that these Olympic Games were handed to Germany long before it came under the Nazi system of rule. Nonetheless, it is believed that they provided a perfect chance for this leadership to showcase itself to the world in terms of how efficient it can be. Most importantly, it was the perfect chance for the Nazi regime to prove to the world that indeed it was the Master Race. Others are of the opinion that these games provided an avenue for them to be in the limelight considering the fact that this event would bring together a multitude of nations from other parts of the World. Perhaps it is important to give a preview of the bidding process by Germany to host these games. From the outset, it should be emphasized that this bidding process marked the end of International Olympic Committee tradition of gathering in the bidding city in order to vote. This was the second time that this committee had actually met in the hosting city to conduct the voting process. The other time was during its inaugural in which case it met in Paris, France. During this time, the committee had also met in Athens which was the other bidding city although Paris won the bid eventually. Just as it was in the former case, there were only two cites which had placed their bids to host the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. Other than Berlin, Barcelona was the other city which had expressed its desire to host these games. However, unlike other cases, this bidding process was the first of its kind whereby the IOC member states were allowed to cast their votes on their favorite city. As was stated before, this vote was conducted in the year 1931, two years before Hitler ascended to power under the famous Nazi system of rule2. Throughout the two rounds of voting, one could not deny the fact that the world had decided that it was time for Berlin to take the plunge and host these games. Some of the sporting events which would feature in these Olympic Games included; Hockey, Football, Wrestling, Canoeing, Gymnastics, and Basketball among others. Statistics indicate that there were 21 sporting disciplines with Handball and Basketball making their debut. However, handball was later to be excluded until later in 1972 when it made a come back into the Olympic sports discipline arena. Organization of the Event Hans von Tschammer und Osten, played quite a critical role as far as the organization of these games was concerned. His immense contribution towards the organization of this event can be attributed to the fact that he held the opinion that sports would help to harden Germany’s spirit. To add to that, he believed that the use of sports within the country would help to foster unity among Germans. Yet still, he held the view that the use of sports was one of the feasible ways of weeding out the Jews who he considered to be quite weak. Against this backdrop, the Jews as well as the other communities which were perceived to be “undesirables” were banned from participating in these games. All the details of organization of this sporting event were trusted to Carl Diem and Theodor Lewald by Von Tschammer both of whom proved to be competent in this respect. It has been noted that Von Tschammer helped to promote the ideology of Nazification of sports just as it was in other areas. In this regard, sports were used as one way of strengthening the Arian race within the country. Sports were therefore used to prepare this community for war and to allow them to exercise their political control over the so called weaker races within the nation. Consequently, they were only allowed marginal training facilities in addition to the fact that they had very limited opportunities to participate in any of these sporting events. Debate Surrounding Participation The controversy surrounding the country participation in these Olympic Games was actually initiated by the United States of America. At the time, the debate on whether other countries were supposed to attend these games was brought to the fore by notable and influential personalities from the United States of America. Judge Jeremiah Mahoney, Ernest Lee Jahncke alongside the future president of the IOC. Avery Brundage was very instrumental in terms of sustaining this debate. In principle the United States had considered boycotting these games altogether. The decision of not attending these games stemmed from its standpoint that participating in an event of such magnitude would symbolize its endorsement of the Nazi system of rule. America was very critical of this rule owing to its anti-Semitic ideologies not to mention the fact that it was largely characterized by tyranny and dictatorship. Proponents of this opinion cited various incidences whereby the Nazi regime had blatantly violated fundamental human rights. At this stage, Germany’s decision to exclude the Jews and other “undesirable” races was brought to the fore by the said persons. On the other hand, some people held the view that such an event should not be marred by political ideologies but rather ought to be taken to be an opportunity for the world’s greatest sporting personalities to compete. These sentiments were echoed by Avery Brundage who was quite vocal in opposing the planned boycott by the United States. In his defense, he was on record saying that the Jews were actually being treated very well contrary to the wide spread allegations. To him, there was no justification to stop these games considering the fact that Germany’s Berlin City had received overwhelming support in its quest to host this summer sporting event. This was clearly evidenced by the landslide victory it got against Barcelona. Brundage strongly believed that politics had no place in sports and was appalled by the manner in which those calling for the boycott of these games were bent on entwining them with sports. In this respect he stated that the modern-day spirit of Olympic Games was founded on the premise of abolishing restrictions in the participation of sports in any way. Thus restrictions based on race, creed or class had no place in the modern Olympics contrary to what the opponents of Germany’s hosting of the games were advancing. Furthermore, he was convinced that those calling for boycott of this sporting event were part of the wider Jewish-Communist conspiracy which had been established with the main objective of preventing the United States from participating in the summer games. Unlike Brundage, Mahoney was in support of the boycott idea. Being the President of an Amateur Athletic Union in the country, he helped to lead anti-Nazi groups and a group of editors in protesting against America’s participation in these Olympic Games. In particular, he was against the whole idea of racial discrimination which he believed was a contravention of the Olympic rules. Furthermore, he held the opinion that America’s participation in these games would be construed to mean its endorsement of the Nazi regime and therefore in support of the Third Reich. However, throughout these developments, the African-American community remained steadfast in its support for participation in such events. Indeed majority of their newspapers supported the idea of black community participation in these games. There was a renewed sense of belief that victories by the black community in the summer Olympics helped to change the much acclaimed notion of superiority of the Aryan race among the Nazis. The prospects of toppling and overpowering one of the world’s strongest races certainly would promote pride among the black community which at this time was fighting to have a stake in the American society. Meanwhile the Jewish community within the United States was not taking the idea of America’s participation in these Olympic Games lightly. In order to pass their message across, the community through the Jewish Labor Committee and American Jewish Congress staged a series of protest rallies across the country. Also, they supported the idea of boycotting goods from Germany which had gained momentum at the time as one of the ways of protesting the Nazi regime of rule which appeared to be bent on victimizing the Jews and other “undesirable” communities within Germany. Eventually, this debate was won by Brundage by his tactic of manipulating the Athletic Amateur Union to vote in favor of support towards America’s participation at the said games. Yet still, Mahoney still the believed that America was not supposed to participate in these games. However, his efforts in inciting a possible boycott of the games did not succeed. Furthermore, his efforts were dealt a blow when the then president demanded America’s full participation in these games3. This decision was based on the need by the president to keep America’s tradition of not being influenced by external forces as it was about to be disapproved in the event that he decided on the contrary. Other than the United States of America, Spain was opposed to the idea of Germany hosting these summer games. In response, the Spanish government, under the tutelage of a newly elected left-wing administration organized for a parallel sporting event. This event came to be known as the Peoples’ Olympiad and was scheduled to be hosted in the city of Barcelona. It is impressive to note that this idea received some sizeable support going by the 22 countries which actually registered for this parallel sporting event. However, as fate would have it, this event was aborted at the eleventh hour owing to the outbreak of the famous Spanish civil war. It was extremely difficult for this event to go on considering the fact that the said war broke out only a day prior to these games. On a personal level, some of the participants also chose not to attend this event. The Jewish-American Norman Canners was one of such athlete who decided to boycott this event to voice their protest in light of the way the Nazi regime had decided to commit atrocities to the Jewish community in particular. However in the overall, the Berlin Summer Olympic Games were a success. Evidence from literature shows that this event was the best ever attended sporting extravaganza considering the fact that a record 49 nations had taken part4. Did the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games Change Germany’s Hospitality Perception? The answer to the question as to whether the 1936 Berlin Olympics helped to change the world’s perception towards Germany’s hospitality is two fold. On one hand, this event was marred by hues and controversy on the issue on whether indeed Germany had the moral standard to host such a sporting event. To say that these Olympic Games were eclipsed with political issues would be an understatement in this regard. In particular, these games brought the country into the limelight. To some, this event provided an opportunity for the rest of the world to focus on the type of leadership that was being practiced by the Nazi regime. In nutshell, a great deal of emphasis was placed on the country’s administration with the main issue being Hitler’s oppression of the minority groups in Germany. A closer look at Germany’s preparation for this event reveals that the Nazi regime had perceived these games to be an ideal opportunity to show the rest of the world that the much touted Aryan race was indeed superior. In this regard, the leadership failed to underscore the fact that these Olympic Games were to be used as a platform by the global athletes to battle for top honors period. The decision by the country’s organizing committee to segregate the undesirable communities further aggravated the negative perception of other European nations towards Germany. In direct violation of the rules governing the Olympic Games, the famous Osteen organizing committee chose to block the Jews and other “undesirable” communities from participating in this sporting event. As it was expected, this decision was met with widespread condemnation across the globe. However, Adolf Hitler’ theory of the Aryan race being the superior race was proved beyond reasonable doubt when Germany emerged to be the top nation among the 49 contenders based on gold medal standings. That these games had been transformed into a battle for racial superiority can not be overlooked. At the same time, it is noteworthy that to Adolf Hitler, this was the long awaited chance to hoodwink the rest of the world that his regime was not autocratic and oppressive as it was widely believed. Of importance to note is the fact that by this time, Hitler was laying strategies which would enable Germany to expand its territory as one way of showing its dominion in Europe. Hence, he chose to camouflage his anti-Semitic and militaristic leadership style by making sure that the 1936 Berlin Olympics were well organized as much as possible. However, the popularity and publicity that his nation received especially from the United States and Spain served to dent its image to the rest of the world despite the fact that these games were well attended5. On other hand, it is justifiable to state that these games helped to change the perceptions on the whole issue of Germany’s hospitality. One of the ways through which Germany got its vindication can be traced back all the way during its preparation for this sporting extravaganza. Indeed, one can not overlook the fact that the Berlin city got majority votes against Barcelona during the bidding process. Literature evidence shows that Berlin City surpassed Barcelona by 27 votes out of the 57 total cast votes; a move that indicated the growing confidence in Germany’s ability to host such an event. From a political perspective, Germany had finally won the hearts of many nations within the larger European region. In order to live up to its expectations, the government dedicated massive resources to see to it that the summer Berlin Olympics Games were not only successful but well organized. This efforts paid dividends when a record 49 nations despite the wide spread calls for boycott by both Spain and the United States attended the event. Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Portugal and Greece are some of the nations which participated in this event in addition to the United States of America6. Germany’s decision to include one of the Jew in the national Olympic Games team also helped to improve its image a great deal. This was also given the much needed impetus when the black community was actually allowed to participate in this edition of the Olympic Games. Germany’s excellent treatment of the black community athletes during these competitions also helped to highlight the underlying issue of racial discrimination in the United States of America at the time. Throughout this sporting event, there was the general consensus among all the participating nations that this was an event well organized. Contrary to the expectations of many, Germany lived up to its expectation as being hospitable throughout the entire period of this sporting extravaganza. All the participating nations attested to its hospitality which in turn helped to quell the boycott controversy which had taken center stage prior to these Olympic Games. 2006 FIFA World Cup Just as it was the case with the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany again had the perfect opportunity to present itself to the rest of the world not only as a sporting nation but also as a hospitable one. Despite the fact that this event happened several years later, one can not rule out the deep rooted suspicion from the rest of the world considering its history. However, by this time, the country had established itself as one of the world’s best sporting nations of the 21st century. Having won the bid to host this event in the year 2000, it was expected that it would use this 18th edition of the FIFA world cup to brand itself. With every nation fighting to present itself to the rest of the world as the best, the stakes were high this time round. Sports have over the time evolved to become one of the best ways for a country to brand itself. As of today, such like sporting events are not only seen as a chance for nations to compete but rather as a platform to present national ideologies and strengthen bi-lateral ties. To add to that, global sporting events have evolved to become the ideal stage for representing a nation’s identity as each nation seeks to claim its position among the rest of the nations7. The economic benefits attached to such global sporting events further served to underline the importance of the 2006 FIFA World Cup to Germany. For this particular edition, Germany’s theme was based on a slogan that it was time to make friends; a move that helped to catapult the nation to the rest of the world as being friendly. The fact that Germany was also participating in this 18th edition would go a long way in advancing this slogan. Unlike the 1936 Berlin games, Germany chose to spread this event in its 12 cities, perhaps to aloe the world to sample its hospitality from different areas. Although the host nation did not win the ultimate prize, it was evident that this event had promoted Germany as a hospitable nation to the rest of the world. The event also helped the country to showcase its culture to the rest of the world; an aspect that is quite critical in terms of improving its image. (Word Count=3,527) Works Cited Bachran, Susan. The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936. Bt Bound, Munich: 2000. Kruger, Arnd and William Murray. The Nazi Olympics: sport, politics and appeasement in the 1930s. University of Illinois Press, 2003. Tomlinson, Alan and Christopher Young. German football: history, culture, society. Routledge, London: 2006. Read More