Momente din istoria relațiilor sportive româno-germane
Historical glimpses of Romanian-German contacts in sports

Summary/Abstract: To do justice to history, we cannot ignore the deep cultural ties between Germany and Romania which boast the source and the delta, respectively, of a great European river: the Danube. Attitudes toward the two countries' political and diplomatic relationships have been controversial, often downright hostile, especially with regard to the interval that covers World Wars I and II . However, since the German cultural heritage ranges high in world hierarchies, as does her economic and political background, a more realistic and less biased approach is called upon in terms of cross-cultural contacts between this country and our own. For all their appearance of sheer entertainment, sports have proved a valuable cultural asset as they definitely involve certain moral values, as well as an amazing potential of bringing people together in awareness of the ultimate common goals: peace and welfare. These are the reasons why we have chosen to make a survey of Romanian- German contacts in the field of sports. Going back to ancient times and sweeping along twenty centuries, our record focuses on the more productive moments in terms of German influence and contribution to Romanian sports. Various branches are featured, from skiing to horseriding to flying to athletics to gymnastics to ball games and more. Results, performances and comments are quoted from current records, and historical reflections are made in parallel to provide a reference background of the evolution of sports in Romania and of major sports events in the course of time. The survival of sports under circumstances of political disturbance and national trouble is an aspect which is paid due attention along the survey. On the whole, the present survey may serve as both reference material for specialists and an opportunity for the general audience to speculate on the role of sports in cross-cultural and even political or diplomatic contacts.

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