Hey. Just for fun, I would like to ask people here to give opinions as to how life would be like over there in 2006, as opposed to 1974. If someone during 1974 were to jump inside a time machine and travel to the future, what changes would he/she encounter once arrived, besides the obvious, like no Berlin Wall, a reunified country, no Soviet Union, 9/11 and the war in Iraq? How would the World Cup in 2006 be different from 1974?
Interesting thread. Regarding the stadium visit: No terraces, no tracks, 100% roof, more expensive tickets, AMERCIAN (!) beer.... Regarding living in Germany: Hmmm, I wasn't yet born by then but there wasn't that much media (TV, press, not to mention computer and internet) around, not everyone had a car.... Other suggestions?
I went to Germany as a college student in '64 and returned again in 2000. I don't remember watching TV in the two months I was over there in '64. I went in 2000 during Euro 2K, so I was very much interested in the media, and there were TVs everywhere tuned to football. The people and the cities haven't seemed to change that much. Munchen was bustling and the smaller cities haven't changed that much. In 2000 there were Internet cafes, cell phones and many other signs of progress (?).
I'd guess that people in Germany in general were happier and more optimistic in '74 that they will be in 2006.
Well, you said diferences? lets see...umm..in 1974 Germany national team had a chance of winning the cup?
Good one Brownswan. Pardon me. I guess they were doing cartwheels after all. For a few days anyway. Until they got back to their sad, pathetic lives working for the man, er, I mean the state.
But they did have the hostage crisis at Munich 1972. I am wondering how that affected the security at West Germany 1974. I know it increased the security at the Montreal Olympics.
are things as bad as they they were in the East? Of course not. But we're talking about all of Germany here, of which the western part was quite prosperous in 1974. They are not exactly doing cartwheels in a lot of what was the DDR now either!
That's very interesting. I think the people in Germany value older architecture more, which is in itself interesting considering how much of the country was destroyed in WWII. So there had to be a lot of modern building in place by 1974. Maybe they've built so much that there's no real incentive to build more unless it's to update.
I lived in West Germany for 6 years in the late 60s and early 70s so I feel somewhat qualified to comment on the general atmosphere. Nobody was jumping over the Berlin wall into EAST Berlin. Another bit of humour that may not be understood, "Nostalgia ain't what it used to be".
Sorry but I was saying that things weren't great in the East in the 70s. Of course I know that the West was quite prosperous in 1974. The cartwheels joke was about the 1974 WC victory by the DDR over Beckenbauer and company.
Emphasis on West. Until the late 70s the economy and the standard of living in East Germany were growing constantly, something you can't exactly say about today.
You have rose coloured glasses on. It may have been getting better, and there is no doubt that East Germany was way ahead of other Eastern bloc countries in terms of comfort level, but people still lacked basic personal freedoms. This is turning into a political debate. You are from the east, and obviously have some fond perception of the DDR that I sure as hell don't share.
Braunschweig is located in Lower saxony and is therefor an western German city ;-) And the 1849 revolution not working and wwI and wwII having lost the Germans never had that big of need for freedom and democracy. I think if you'd watch goodbye Lenin you'll see how many ppl felt about the GDR...
Actually i am originaly from East Germany, but we left in the early 80s when i was still pretty young. East Germany was by no means a free country, but i took some offense in the "sad, pathetic lives" part.
That was a joke actually. The North American based readers would recognize that line from the Joe Schoe Show!!! No offense meant, it was in reply to BrownSwan.
You can blow your pro-East Germany smoke out your arse. They didn't put up the fences, use guard dogs and armed patrols to keep people out of East Germany. A little sensitive about the past are we?
In 1974 we had: - Franz Beckenbauer (FC Bayern München) - Rainer Bonhof (Borussia Mönchengladbach) - Paul Breitner (FC Bayern München) - Bernhard Cullmann (1. FC Köln) - Jürgen Grabowski (Eintracht Frankfurt) - Heinz Flohe (1. FC Köln) - Dieter Herzog (Fortuna Düsseldorf) - Josef Heynckes (Borussia Mönchengladbach) - Ulrich Hoeness (FC Bayern München) - Bernd Hölzenbein (Eintracht Frankfurt) - Horst Dieter Höttges (Werder Bremen) - Josef Dieter Maier (FC Bayern München) - Gerd Müller (FC Bayern München) - Günther Netzer (Real Madrid/Spanien) - Wolfgang Overath (1. FC Köln) - Hans Georg Schwarzenbeck (FC Bayern München) - Hans Hubert Vogts (Borussia Mönchengladbach) - Herbert Wimmer (Borussia Mönchengladbach) - Hans Josef Kapellmann (FC Bayern München) - Wolfgang Kleff (Boriussia Mönchengladbach) - Helmut Kremers (FC Schalke 04) - Norbert Nigbur (FC Schalke 04) Today we have...
Ok then. But maybe next time you should put in a disclaimer for the European readers who never heard of this Joe Schoe .