The Blizzard: Austria 2-0 Germany, 1938
Football Ramble
Stak Production
4.6 • 9.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 April 2020
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We’re delving deep into the annals of history on today’s episode of Greatest Games, in association with The Blizzard. Archivist, researcher and Blizzard copy editor Kat Petersen joins us to discuss Austria 2-0 Germany from 1938, with geopolitical tensions at fever pitch.
Austria’s footballing and social landscapes were in a state of flux by 1938. The huge Jewish influence on football throughout the 1920s and 30s meant the Nazis treated the game with a certain suspicion, while the middle classes of Vienna established numerous clubs to try and formalise a game previously played on the streets. This match was played after Austria had been annexed by Germany and featured one of the finest footballers of the inter-war era: a humble and unassuming Austrian by the name of Matthias Sindelar.
Kat talks us through the context and endless myths surrounding this momentous game while detailing the extraordinary influence that Sindelar had on Austrian and European football of the era.
For more stories from the annals of football history, visit www.theblizzard.co.uk to explore their archives that contain over 700 articles of stories just like this one!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Austria was showered with swastikers. |
| 0:07.0 | It was the 12th of March 1938, and Hitler had finally emerged from his self-imposed inactivity. |
| 0:14.0 | He crossed the border near his birthplace at Bratau. |
| 0:18.0 | From the balcony of the Imperial Palace, he announced, |
| 0:21.0 | that he was killed and can't for the lives of all of his race. |
| 0:26.0 | Many of his lives were killed, and the hatred of the German in the title. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Greatest Games podcast on Football Rumble Daily |
| 0:39.0 | in association with the Blizzard. My name is Mark Aspel. |
| 0:42.0 | Opposite me is Jonathan Wilson. |
| 0:44.0 | And today, on the pod, we have Kat Peterson, Archivist, researcher and Blizzard copy editor. |
| 0:50.0 | That a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you. |
| 0:53.0 | Now, you've picked a right old historical one today. |
| 0:56.0 | We go back to 1938. Austria to Germany, Neil. |
| 1:00.0 | Why have you chosen this game, Kat? |
| 1:03.0 | Before I start talking about that, can I take you back to the absolute basics, |
| 1:07.0 | which is who's actually playing in this game? You can. |
| 1:11.0 | So the game takes place on the 3rd of April 1938, as you may or may not know. |
| 1:16.0 | On the 12th of March, the Nazis invaded Austria as part of their policy to extend Germany. |
| 1:24.0 | The law was signed on the 13th of March, so strictly speaking, Austria by that point |
| 1:29.0 | is already a part of greater Germany. |
| 1:31.0 | So when you say Austria playing Germany, they're kind of the same country at this point. |
| 1:36.0 | So the people who are actually playing, even at the time, the newspapers found it quite difficult to give them a name. |
... |
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