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Kampfner, 57, is one of the UK’s most influential political commentators. He worked for the BBC, the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph, among others. For the latter, he worked as a correspondent in Berlin when the Wall fell. His acclaimed book “Why Germans Do It Better” (published by Atlantic) has just been published in Britain.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Kampfner, do you remember the headline “Sun” when Germany and England met in the 1996 European Football Championship?
Fighters: yeah yeah “Let’s Blitz Fritz”: let’s defeat the Germans in the Blitzkrieg. All these headlines, songs, and jokes have been etched in my mind since I was a child.
SPIEGEL: Talking about war has always been a popular sport in Britain.
Fighters: That should often be funny, but it always led to arrogance and indicated to the “Krauts” that they shouldn’t have stupid ideas.
SPIEGEL: A lot has happened since then. Recently, British museums regularly honored artists such as Sigmar Polke or Andreas Gursky. Coach Jürgen Klopp has celebrated the first championship with Liverpool in 30 years. Londoners are lining up for Black Forest sausages in “Herman ze German.” What happened to the good old cliches?
