Topic: 2025-Safeguarding and Promoting Traditional Sports and Games
Country: Germany
Delegate Name: Alexander Stillman
Traditional sports and games (TSG) exist across every country in the world. Traditional sports and games (TSG) encompass a wide range of culturally significant activities passed down through generations. Thus, TSG are immeasurably important to many individuals, regions, and groups with many carrying their diverse array of TSG. German culture is also filled with many of these games ranging from sports to board games, such as Platzbahnkegeln (square bowling), Mensch ärgere Dich nicht (board game), and Coppit (Capture the Hat). Games like these not only serve to help individuals and groups connect to their cultural heritage, but they also encourage problem solving and physical activity.
However, these activities’ very existence as many of these sports that became increasingly less-known and unpopular during the colonial era are dying out due to the rapid globalization of the 20th and 21st century. Germany acknowledges that traditional sports and games are crucial for maintaining intergenerational knowledge transfer and community identity. Germany believes that TSG should not be viewed as relics of the past but as dynamic cultural expressions that can be adapted to modern contexts. The country acknowledges that unless active steps are taken to preserve and promote these games, they may be lost forever, along with the unique values, traditions, and histories they embody. Therefore, Germany calls for a balanced approach that respects historical authenticity while also allowing for innovation and modernization to keep TSG relevant.
As a federation consisting of many, culturally diverse states, Germany has long been engaged in the promotion of cultural heritage through various initiatives, including the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). Traditional sports have been integral to regional identities and continue to be promoted through local and national efforts. Germany actively supports the documentation of traditional sports and games through ethnographic studies, digital archives, and academic research and is committed to expanding such efforts within UNESCO’s frameworks. With the important acknowledgment of the role that media plays in cultural promotion, Germany will advocate for increased digitization of traditional sports through documentaries and online tutorials. Partnering with broadcasters and digital platforms will help bring TSG into the mainstream. Germany will push for the integration of traditional sports into school programs worldwide.
Germany remains steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding and promoting traditional sports and games as a means of preserving cultural heritage and fostering global unity. The delegation calls upon UNESCO member states to collaborate in advancing sustainable policies and initiatives that ensure the longevity and relevance of TSG for future generations not just in Germany, but around the world.
