EM 2024 - Schalalalalalala! The basics of German fan chants
Schalalalalalala! So good it's been for the German National Team for a long time. Happy fans celebrate, drink, and hop after Germany games well into the night. And they sing – on party miles, in small gardens, and in living rooms – German fan songs. But which ones are particularly popular among the fans? What's the text like? And where do they come from? A brief overview.
"Oh, how beautiful. Oh, how beautiful. Something like this we haven't seen for a long time, so beautiful, so beautiful" This opening chant is known to many soccer fanatics from the fans of FC Bayern Munchen, who regularly sing the German Championship with it. However, in the year 2024, it remained silent among the Munich fans – after all, Bayer Leverkusen had already made their first championship title clear on the 29th match day. The lines of the Shunkel song are from the pen of Hamburg's Walter Rothenburg, who rewrote the popular hit "Oh, how beautiful you are" in the early 1950s. Rothenburg, who died in 1975, is hardly known by anyone today – but "Oh, how beautiful it is" can be heard throughout the country.
"Pyrotechnics isn't a crime. We will fight for it and let emotions run free" The anthem of the hour. It comes from the smoky throat of TikToker "The Balconyultra". And he lives up to his name: From his balcony in Gera, the Balconyultra, who is named Niko Thoms in real life, sings football songs and posts videos online. So also with the Pyrotechnics Song, which he wrote to the melody of Bonnie Tyler's "It's a Heartache". The Mallorca stars Ikke Huftgold and Marc Eggers took notice of him, and recorded the Pyrotechnics Song with him again. Now Thoms' fireworks-friendly song is not to be forgotten from the stadiums – and the trained caregiver tours through Germany and Mallorca with it.
"Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh" "Seven Nation Army" by the band The White Stripes. What did it need to become a football hit? A few fans of the Belgian club FC Brugge and an Italian bar, where the legendary riff rang out. Later in the evening, their team played in the Champions League group phase against the towering favorite AC Milan. Brugge won the game 1:0, the fans reminded themselves of the catchy melody they had heard in the city center earlier and sang it through the whole stadium. Now this song is the anthem par excellence, which doesn't even need a text. And that's why it's sung worldwide in the arenas.
Berlin, Berlin, we're going to BerlinAs simple and catchy as it gets.This was heard from the Dortmund Tribunes, after the National Team eliminated the Danes from the EM 2024 European Championship with a 2:0 score in the quarterfinals. Originally used as a battle hymn of the club fans, whose teams are still represented in the DFB-Pokal. The final of the competition takes place at the Berlin Olympic Stadium, where they all want to go with their heart teams. Just like the fans of Musiala, Havertz and Co. – as the Home-EM final is also being held in the capital city. This song was invented by the fans of Bayer Uerdingen 05 on Good Friday 1985 after their DFB semi-final victory against 1. FC Saarbrucken. And in the final, the Uerdingen team actually defeated the mighty FC Bayern with a 2:1 score and won the golden cup. The fans of the German National Team hope for the same, in silver.
"One goes, one goes yet." If mockery were a song, it would be this one. Already during the German 7:1 victory in the semi-finals of the WM 2014 against Brazil, this classic was suitable to taunt the opponent. The German fans' song comes out whenever their own team scores many goals against the opponent. The German fans' song is popular – and it has even made it to Hollywood recently. The two actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence can now sing it. The German national players Ilkay Gündoğan and Antonio Rüdiger introduced it to them during a PR event for the new film of the two American superstars.
"Unity and justice and freedom" The national anthem belongs to football just like the whistle to the referee or the shin guards to Florian Wirtz. While some compatriots, like the Italians, sing their hearts out before the match even starts, the national anthem plays a role in the actions on the field for other nations. The English sing theirs when their team is behind, to spur them on. The French sing the Marseillaise throughout the entire game, as they don't have many fan songs. And the Germans pay homage to their fatherland after the game, when their team has won. The EM final is on July 14 – maybe the Germans will sing it again. That will be enough for the next two years, until the WM in Canada, Mexico, and the USA comes along.
During the European Championship, soccer fans enthusiastically participate in public viewing events, where they can witness pyrotechnics displays. The German national anthem, "Deutschland über Alles," is often heard at these events, as fans show their support for their team. In fact, the voice behind a popular Pyrotechnics Song, "Pyrotechnics isn't a crime," comes from TikToker "The Balconyultra," who lives in Gera and gained recognition by singing football songs from his balcony.
