Paul and Glenn are back for another fun, entertaining and educational episode. This week we are joined by special guest Catherine Williams. October 3 each year is Germany Unity Day which is the German national day that commemorates the German reunification in 1990 when the former German Democratic Republic officially joined the Federal Republic of Germany. We will discuss some well-known German sporting stars from the past and today and Catherine will talk about what life was like for her growing up in Germany and will talk about the structure of German sport and German culture. Paul will also talk about his time in Germany in 1994. Some of the sporting stars that we will discuss in this episode include:
- A former female goalkeeper who revolutionised the position and was one of the greatest female goalkeepers of all time.
- A former German Formula One driver who won four drivers championships, all consecutively and was also the youngest Formula One champion.
- Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, Michael Stich, Angelique Kerber
- Dirk Nowitzki
- Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Nico Rosberg.
- German football triumph in World Cups and European Championships.
- Great German footballers such as Franz Beckenbauer, Jurgen Klinsmann, Oliver Khan, Michael Ballack, Mezut Ozil, Miroslav Klose, Gerd Muller, Fritz Walter, Manuel Neuer.
- Hike Drechsler, Lina Radke, Waldemar Cierpinski, Jurgen Schult, Armin Hary.
- Max Schmeling
- Bernhard Langer
- Magdalena Neuner.
Paul gives his Claps and Slaps for the week, we have our Quiz, Who Am I? and Where Are They Now? Paul is corrected numerous times with his German pronunciation and Glenn finishes off with a cracking joke.
German Unity day references
1. Berlin.de the official website of berlin ‘brandenburg gate’,
2. Berlin.de the official website of berlin ‘reichstag’.
3. Berlin. De the official website of berlin ‘day of german unity celebrations’.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest
5. Expatrio.com ‘german sport’, nd.
6. Blog.lingoda.com ‘the 6 best german athletes of all time’, by leona quigley, 9/8/23.
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralf_Schumacher
8. Discoverwalks.com famous people ‘top 15 german athletes’ by lilian, 30/5/23.
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Langer
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Vettel
11. Pantheon ‘the most famous athletes from germany’,
12. the famous people.com ‘famous german sportspersons’.
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schmeling
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelique_Kerber
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_FIFA_Women%27s_World_Cup
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Women%27s_Euro_2013
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_Women%27s_World_Cup
18. https://www.timbers.com/players/nadine-angerer/
19. Fifatrainingcentre.com ‘meet the experts, nadine angerer’, 14/7/23
20. Fifa futbol mundial ‘angerer: women’s goalkeeping on the up”.2/4/2014.
