Ecstatic Germans greet proud world champions in Berlin

About a million jubilant Germans welcomed their triumphant national football team home to Berlin on Tuesday, many waving flags and banners saying “We are all World Champions!” as they basked in the nation’s fourth World Cup victory.

Hundreds of thousands of revellers packed Berlin’s “fan mile”, a 1.3km stretch of road running from the west of the capital up to the Brandenburg Gate, for a huge party. Many more lined the streets in the city centre along the team’s route.

The players danced and sang their way onto a stage at the Gate, a potent symbol of the Cold War, dressed in black T-shirts with the number 1 emblazoned on them and threw footballs into the crowd.

“Without you we wouldn’t be here. We are all world champions,” low-key coach Joachim Loew, affectionately known as Jogi, told the fans, many of them holding red posters with the words “Thanks Boys”.

“Without you we wouldn’t be here. We are all world champions,” low-key coach Joachim Loew, affectionately known as Jogi, told the fans, many of them holding red posters with the words “Thanks Boys”.

Young and old fans alike were decked out in Germany shirts, many with their faces painted black, red and gold and with wigs and bandanas in the national colours. Many had started drinking beer hours before the team’s arrival from Brazil.

Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in Rio de Janeiro marked the first time a reunified Germany has been world champion, with West Germany having won the trophy in 1954, 1974 and 1990.

The success of the national team since 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup, is widely seen as having helped Germans take greater pride in their nationality. History had previously made them uncomfortable about displaying such feelings.