Daniel Wolfram
The newly appointed head coach of the German national football team started his press conference with a political message of unity ahead of his first official game.
During Jürgen Klopp’s long and storied career as a football coach in Germany and England, he has coached players from all over the world.
Players from Denmark to Senegal and Brazil have all been coached by the 59-year-old coach from Stuttgart, so he knows a thing or two about different cultures.
He is now pleading with his country to take back the “real” meaning of German patriotism in light of recent political events.
Reclaiming the German flag
While speaking at a press conference before Germany’s upcoming international fixtures at the Nations League, the newly appointed national coach took aim at the recent surge of far-right politics across the country. He used his platform as a sports coach to argue that regular citizens should not hand over national symbols to extreme political groups.
“I don’t want to leave national pride to the wrong people,” said Klopp according to The Independent, explaining that he wants to “reclaim the flag” for everyone.
His comments come after the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) scored a historic state election victory in Saxony-Anhalt. That political shockwave left millions wondering about the future direction of the nation. It even got 150,000 people out to protest the far-right movement.
Klopp wants a united Germany
Klopp made a plea for diversity, emphasizing that showing love for one’s nation is not patriotism designed for just one particular group.
“I want it so that when someone waves it, no one thinks: ‘What is wrong with you?'” he noted. “Instead, I want people to understand: you are happy and realise how lucky you were to be born, grow up, or move to this wonderful country.”
Klopp admitted that the voting results west of Berlin created deep shock across the population. “There have been an incredible number of things happening recently: an election took place which some people probably thought was fine, whilst many others thought, ‘Good heavens, what `on earth is going on?’,” he said.
‘Positive patriotism’
Rather than “traditional” displays of nationalism, he advocated for what he termed “positive patriotism” to unite people.
“Can you be proud to be German and still be open, diverse, nice and friendly – can you still show compassion?” Klopp said. “I am 100 percent certain: Yes!”
Franziska Hoppermann, secretary general of the Christian Democrats under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, seconded Klopp’s message in comments to Reuters. “We all should, and are allowed to, wear our national colours with pride and confidence as symbols of our freedom,” she said.
