Sport and sport achievements have become the national pride of Germans. Germans are also quite sportive people. Many people in Germany keep themselves physically active by taking part in some sports. Team sports, group activities and competition regularly take place in Germany. Playing with neighbors and friends is one of the most popular pastime activities of Germans. In Germany sport is also considered a cultural activity and therefore has a major role in everyday's life of Germans. German sport activities include basketball, volleyball, skiing, field hockey, ice skating and track and field events.
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| Bayern Munich is Germany's best ranked football club |
Soccer (football) has been the most popular sport in West Germany until 1980. West Germany has won the world cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990. Germany's top football league is also known as the Bundesliga. The Bundesliga was placed 5th in UEFA rankings in 2005, based on the performance of clubs in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Football (soccer) in Germany is the number one sport considering both popularity and practicing. Except for the national league, very popular among German population are also the Euro cup and the Fifa World Cup. Bayern Munich (Bayern München) is Germany's best ranked football club, with 21 national championships and 14 German Cups, 4 European Champions titles (3 European Cups and 1 Champions League) and 1 UEFA Cup trophies. Bayern Munich is a multi-sport club, with departments for bowling, basketball, gymnastics, chess, table tennis, handball and women's football team. The German national football team is one among the traditionally strongest teams in international football. It has won the FIFA World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990 and as West Germany it won the European Football Championship in 1972 and 1980. In 1996 it won the European Football Championship as united Germany. Gerd Müller was the main striker of the national team and one of the best goalscorers in the world with 68 goals. Another famous German sportsman is Franz Beckenbauer who became famous for winning the World Cup both as a coach and a player. Germany was a host of two FIFA World Cups - one in 1974 and another in 2006, when they were placed third after they've lost from Italy in the semi-finals. The women's national team is also a very good - they've won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2003 and 2007. This way Germany became the only nation who's won both the men's and women's World Cup and European titles. Women also have the Bundesliga, although it's only semi-professional and doesn't have as many fans as the men's team.
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| Michael Schumacher trying to get by Trulli |
Germany is among the leading motor sports countries in the world with many race winners coming from Germany. The world's best Formula One driver, Michael Schumacher has won more Formula One races and championships than any other driver since first season of Formula One in 1946. Schumacher has set a new driving record in 2003. The former record of Juan Manuel Fangio has stood for 46 years since 1957. Schumacher also has the highest salary in the history of sports, reaching around US$70 Million yearly from the Ferrari team plus about $25-30 million more from endorsements. According to Eurobusiness magazine, he became the first billionaire in the sports world in 2005. He has won 7 championships, more than any other driver ever, so he is considered the most successful driver of all times, setting up all significant records in F1. Michael Schumacher has won 91 races in his F1 career. The DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) is the series of national touring cars, which is among the world's best touring car series. Many Formula 1 drivers switched to DTM, including Jean Alesi, Mika Häkkinen and others. From 1995 on only German marks of cars can take part in the competition of the series. At the moment only Mercedes-Benz and Audi take part in the competition, although also Opel, BMW and Alfa Romeo used to compete. The races usually take place in Germany, but some races are also organized around Europe. The races are very popular and attract crowds of fans, not to mention TV publicity. Many celebrities attend the races regularly. The 24 hours of Le Mans is a prestigious and very popular annual race taking place in France. Porsche was the winner of the race 16 times, much more than any other constructor.
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| Boris Becker is the most successful German tennis player |
Germany was a host of the Summer Olympics twice, first time in Berlin in 1936 and the second time in Munich in 1972. They also hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1936 in the area of Bavarian twin towns Partenkirchen and Garmisch. Germany has won the most gold medals and the most medals in total at the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006. Tennis is also one of the favorite German sports, with German tennis players playing at the international competitions and winning the cup. Boris Becker has won Wimbledon as the youngest German tennis player. Germany has also won the Davis cup in 1998 and 1989. At that time Boris Becker was the leader of the team. Steffi Graf is another famous player of German and world tennis. She became a tennis player at a very young age and already at the age of 18 became the world's best woman tennis player. Steffi was also the winner of the Grand Slam tournament.
Rugby came to Germany through numerous British students, who either attended famous private grammar schools of Germany or studied at the University of Heidelberg; others came as soldiers to complete their military service in Hannover and played rugby in their free time. This had a major influence on the establishment of rugby in Germany till nowadays - Heidelberg and Hannover are the main centers of rugby in Germany. The first German rugby team was founded at Neuenheim College (today's Heidelberg College) in Heidelberg. In 1850 rugby became popular among students, who founded the Heidelberger Ruderklub von 1872 (HRK 1872) together with their teacher Edward Hill Ullrich in 1872. Hidelberger Ruderklub von 1872 is the oldest German rugby club. The German Rugby Federation was founded in 1900. Germany has won a silver medal at the Olympics in 1900. It has also beaten France twice in the 1930s. The Nazis hardly tolerated rugby since it was 'too English' for them. During the Nazi period Rugby Union lacked the financial support and lost its the popularity in the western and northern cities of Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Hannover. Many rugby players were killed in the Second World War.
Today rugby is experiencing a great come-back with more than 10.000 registered players and 100 clubs all over Germany. Germany's national rugby team is today competing in the Second Division of the European Nations Cup, but trying to get to the First Division in the next season. Cycling is very popular in Germany. Jan Ullrich, one of the best riders of recent times has won the Tour de France in 1997 by finishing a full 9 minutes before the second placed Richard Virenque. Jan was claimed to be Lance Armstrong's only possible rival. Ullrich finished second to Armstrong several times in the Tour de France. Germany has also been very successful in Bobsledding, winning more medals in the Winter Olympic Games than any other country except Switzerland. However, combining medal wins of East Germany and West Germany from 1949 to 1990 gives an extraordinary result of almost double amount of medals than Switzerland. At the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, both the two-man and four-man teams leaded by Andre Lange have won gold medals. Other popular sports in Germany include ice hockey and field hockey, handball and basketball. Germany was the main base for an American football league (NFL Europa) with five of the six existing teams being from Germany in 2007 when the league was founded. The German Football League was established in 1979. Dirk Nowitzki, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, is originally from Germany. From 2007 on, Germany is a host of three golf events - the Mercedes-Benz Championship, the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe and the BMW International Open.
