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Boris Johnson in London on September 9th
Photo: STEFAN ROUSSEAU / AFP
Kampfner, 57, is one of the most influential political commentators in the UK. He worked for the BBC, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph, among others. For the latter he was working as a correspondent in Berlin at the time of the fall of the wall. His highly acclaimed book "Why the Germans Do it Better" (published by Atlantic) has just been published in Great Britain.
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Kampfner, do you remember the "Sun" headline when Germany and England met at the 1996 European Football Championship?
Kampfner:
Yes, of course.
"Let's Blitz Fritz" - let's defeat the Germans in the Blitzkrieg.
All of these headlines, songs, and jokes have been engraved on my mind since I was a child.
SPIEGEL:
Talking about the war has always been a popular sport in Great Britain.
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Author Kampfner: "Like a hole in the heart"
Photo:
Ossi Piispanen / DER SPIEGEL
Kampfner:
That should often be funny, but it always drifted into arrogance and signaled to the "Krauts" that they just shouldn't come up with stupid ideas.
SPIEGEL: A
lot has happened since then.
British museums recently regularly honored artists such as Sigmar Polke or Andreas Gursky.
The coach Jürgen Klopp has celebrated the first championship with Liverpool in 30 years.
Londoners stand in line to eat sausages from the Black Forest at "Herman ze German".
What happened to the good old clichés?
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