Heimspiel

The ‘Wellblechpalast’ is a hockey rink in the Berlin suburbs. It is the notorious home stadium of ice hockey team Die Eisbären. Since German reunification, the club has grown into a cult symbol for many sports fans in the former German Democratic Republic. The fact that, for many inhabitants of former East Germany, the dissent between East and West is nowhere near concluded is apparent from comments from fanatical supporters. ‘I’m proud to be an Ossi’, one of them says, and in fact they do not like West Germans at all. During home games of Die Eisbären, the fans sing the club song at the top of their voices and the players are welcomed as heroes. The whole entourage looks like that of a pop concert and every victory over a team of ‘Wessis’ is celebrated like a national triumph. The matches are obviously an ideal outlet for deeply rooted feelings of frustration and repression.