A score for Germany patriotism --- BERLIN — In the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, in a city scarred, then divided and reborn, the final moment of the 2014 World Cup brought a sound once rare in this capital: the collective scream of German pride. -- Fireworks erupted across the city, car horns blared and a stoic nation dropped its guard in bear hugs, beer-mug toasts and tears of joy. In Rio de Janeiro, an ecstatic German Chancellor Angela Merkel — a soccer fan extraordinaire — staged an impromptu receiving line to kiss the 11-man team. On the “fan mile” in central Berlin, where tens of thousands braved preternatural summer chill and early rain, Alexander Nolte, 24, captured the sentiments of a nation that views the victory as a harbinger of changing times. -- “I feel amazing, unbelievable, this is pure euphoria. I hope that I won’t wake up tomorrow and find out that it’s a dream,” said Nolte, an electronics engineering student. “This victory will be pure prestige for Germany, and it could also affect other areas beyond sports, like politics and the economy.” -- Sunday’s fourth World Cup title for Germany — its first as a united team following reunification — will be remembered here as a touchstone moment in a nation at a crossroads in its post-World War II history. In the past five years, Germany has emerged as Europe’s reluctant leader, an economic superpower and a model for harnessing the promise of globalization. -- The right to national pride was thought lost after the grim tableau of the war. But Sunday’s joyous sea of black, red and yellow — the colors of the German flag clutched in hands from the Baltic Sea to the Alps — seemed to mark a new leap forward here, moving Germany down a path toward a 21st-century relationship with patriotism and identity. - More, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-score-for-germany-patriotism/2014/07/13/0d2d2618-666a-4919-9b3b-1bbeec1d8645_story.html