Over the course of this season, the weekly round-up of footballing action in the German Bundesliga generally concludes with a segment known as the “Weekly Wortschatz.” This linguistic segment typically selects a German word, speculates upon its translative equivalent, and then relates it to German football in a lighthearted manner. Instances in which the section is absent from the “Bundesliga Bulletin” often reflect times that the piece evolved into its own separate article.

Such was most definitely the case this week. The current conflict between the Bundesliga fans and their FA means that this lover of football and admirer of the art of translation has far more than one word to contend with. Bundesliga enthusiasts supply the world with full paragraphs to interpret. After league officials stopped matches in the previous two rounds purported by hate-speech, a few defiant German football fans are now essentially daring the league to do it again.

Anti-DFB protests continued across all of Germany’s three professional footballing divisions this weekend. Large-scale choreographed demonstrations among one of the world’s most passionate fanbases are neither new nor uncommon. This time, however, the world watches as Germans are engaged in an intractable stalemate with their own federation that shall likely continue for some time.

In outlining why the protests would continue in a recent piece on the Pokal, I wrote the following:

“In implementing the three-step [discrimination] procedure, the DFB inadvertently stoked the fire of class warfare. How exactly are fans meant to respond to measures that, from their subject point of view, count as combative proscriptions forbidding them from being “anti-rich?”

Some of the banners unfurled this weekend demonstrate the poking and prodding of this nerve. Others stem from an understandable historic anathema Germans have toward the concept of collective punishments. At this point, the issue extends beyond that of dislike for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp, collective punishments by the DFB fan committee, or even class warfare.

Bundesliga fans know that the world is watching them this time. What’s the general message? Let’s start by translating some of what was shown.

The Common Man

Obviously, the SC Freiburg/FC Union Berlin match at the Schwarzwald Station was one of the most active hotbeds for banners. The Union fans are at the very center of this movement while new DFB president Fritz Keller hails from Freiburg. No fewer than six were displayed throughout the match. One of them read:

German:

“Mäzene werden beschutzt und hofiert. Der einfache fan verarscht und shickaniert.”

English Translation:

“The sponsors are protected and flattered. The simple fan pissed on and torn to tatters.”

It took some creative license to make this rhyme in the manner it does in German. The full meaning nevertheless remains faithful. Note that the noun personal “Mäzene” also has connotative implications. It has Latin roots, referring to wealthy patrons of sports who sat on the mezzanine level.

The Bayer 04 Leverkusen fans also got into the act:

German:

“Keller, Hopp & Infantino. Die Feinde des Fußballs haben einen Namen. Sie kommen nicht aus den kurven. Sie sitzen in die Führungsetagen!”

English Translation:

“[Fritz] Keller, [Dietmar] Hopp, and [Giovanni] Infantino. The enemies of football have names that are clear. They don’t come from the stands. They sit in the leadership tiers”

Once again we have to employ some liberties to get it to rhyme. Here the fans lump in DFB president Fritz Keller and FIFA President Giovanni Infantino in a broad condemnation of the upper echelons of football. The “Fankurven” (literally “fan curves”) are the stands where the diehard club devotees and season ticket holders sit. They’re usually the curved part of the stands to the left and right of the goal. “Führungsetagen” can also loosely translate to the luxury boxes.

FC Schalke 04 fans had something to say as well:

German:

“Ob Tönnies oder Hopp, Milliardäre sind keine schutzbedürftige Minderheit!”

English Translation:

“Whether its [Clemens] Tönnies or [Dietmar] Hopp, billionaires are not a minority in need of protection.”

When Schalke chairman Clemens Tönnies made what was deemed inappropriately racist remarks earlier this year, the club’s supporters staged a choreographed protest against their own leader. German fan societies actually have a rich history of anti-racism protests. The generations raised after the war remain acutely aware of their past.

Taking place immediately prior to all of this, ultras across Germany organized stadium choreos in observation of Holocaust remembrance day. Here we see how the class angle mixes with German resentment at having their protests against billionaire ownership being classified under anti-discrimination protocols.

This grievance was very much on display.

Don’t Stone us from a Glass House

Back to Freiburg, where the exact same fan group wasn’t quite finished:

German:

“Rassismus relativiert. Bewusst eskaliert”

English Translation:

“Racism relativized. Consciousness amplified.”

Another one where it’s tricky to get the rhyme right. The English verb “to relativize” isn’t used very often, but anyone familiar with the Theory of Relativity or the expression “it’s all relative” should immediately know what the fans are conveying here. They will not stand for having their core issues co-opted by the bigwigs for different purposes. Anti-racist groups feel as if their sentiments are being unfairly used against them.

Over to Berlin now, where it gets more specific:

German:

“Schmiergeld, Kollektivstrafen, und Tote in Katar. Wer die Hässliche Fratze des Fußballs ist, ist klar”

English Translation:

“Bribery, collective punishments, and deaths in Qatar. It’s clear where the grotesque faces of football are.”

I have to alter the tense to get it to rhyme here. Rest assured that none of the meaning is lost in this protest against the human rights record of the hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The concept of collective punishments accords some fans a political angle to work with. A dictatorship metes out punishment in such a fashion. The actions of a few are addressed by banning all.

Way down in the third league, fans of this my hometown of Kaiserslautern covered an entire side of the Fritz-Walter-Stadion with their message:

German:

“Menschenrecht Verletzungen in Katar? Nie Gesehen. Rassismus in Stadion? Nie Gehört. Korruption in den eigenen Reihen? Nie Passiert. Beleidigung eines Premiumpartners? Zuschauerausschuss, Spielabbruch, Sippenhalt!”

English Translation:

“Human rights violations in Qatar? Never seen. Racism in the stadium? Never heard. Corruption in one’s own ranks? Never happened. Defamation of a commercial partner? Fan expulsion, match stoppages, and arbitrary punishments.”

This one doesn’t have to rhyme. There’s enough to unpack. Leave it to the Betzenberg crowd to pull it all together. Here the Lautern fans are not only calling attention to widespread corruption in all levels of football, they’re also specifically criticizing the fact that German match officials haven’t used the anti-discrimination protocols to actually stop racist abuse. To take a recent example, the match was not stopped when Hertha BSC’s Jordan Torunarigha was racially abused in the third round of this year’s DFB-Pokal.

They’re also trotting out the word “Sippenhaft.” I’ve translated it as “arbitrary punishments,” but this is really an extremely loaded word that dates back to medieval Germanic law. The principle of “Sippenhaft” holds that all members of a family or clan must be held responsible if one theirs violates a law. It was utilized by the Nazi party to execute the families of those deemed treasonous.

A General Message to be divined

I wish to point out that not all Germans are exercising such a flair for the dramatic. True to form, many of my beloved countrymen have used this occasion to derive humor from the situation. My personal thanks to all of the creative silly hearts out there.

In the midweek cup fixture, the Eintracht Frankfurt fans rolled out a parody banner calling Hopp the “Son of a mother.” In virtually every stadium, including and especially the ones we’ve covered in this piece, the fans held up pejorative signs threatening to stop the match if the team didn’t win. Though some may consider it entirely too politically incorrect to be funny, the Schalke fans publicly apologized “to whores everywhere for having associated them with Dietmar Hopp.” It was a harmless enough joke that they packed away less than two minutes after kickoff.

At the end of the day, good-natured, cerebral shit-talking is a part of sports that few wish to do away with. Football fans won’t stand for that part of their game being taken away from them, even if so many of us agree that there is a specific line that shouldn’t be crossed. Certain German fans, most of whom are on the left side of the political spectrum, feel as if the line has been antagonistically moved on them. Most ultra organizations are vehemently anti-racist. They see it as their job to scold the league, not the other way around.

One serious point that does unify many of the fans participating is that they fear Dietmar Hopp’s exception to the 50+1 rule might lead to further changes that forever alter the landscape of their locally-sourced game. The Bundesliga is well on its way to becoming a global brand. As this transpires, some maintain a mutinous stance against the type of corporate and foreign influence that drove the English Premier League’s evolution.

I do my utmost to remain an impartial observer in all of this. Like most Bundesliga lovers, I believe that fan ownership and blue-collar roots remain fundamental principles in the league. These foundational tenets are basically sacred. On the other hand, I of course want the league to find a larger global audience. I wouldn’t be typing these words if I didn’t. If the price of this requires unnecessarily censoring the free expression of our valued ultras, I’m honestly not entirely certain I can get behind the project.

Sterilizing a product for global consumption shouldn’t be necessary. Either the world will take interest in the Bundesliga as it is or reject it as distasteful. Strong opinions and massive organized protests aren’t for everyone, but that’s just what post-war Germans happen to have and what they happen to do. A global audience can decide for themselves if this interests them.