Thousands of fans lined the streets of Frankfurt on Monday to give Germany's defeated Euro 2022 finalists a heroes' welcome for winning the "hearts of the German people".
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's side narrowly lost the final 2-1 to England on Sunday evening. Sarina Wiegman's side secured their first major honour thanks to Chloe Kelly's extra-time winner at Wembley, kicking off 24 hours of joyous celebrations across the country.
The Lionesses enjoyed a huge party in Trafalgar Square on Monday with thousands of supporters cheering on English football's newest icons. Yet Germany also threw a well-earned parade to celebrate their superb performance in the memorable tournament.
The Germans defeated Denmark, Spain, Finland, Austria and France to reach the final, yet couldn't add to their record eight European titles on Sunday. Despite this, thousands of supporters gathered outside Frankfurt's City Hall to celebrate them reaching Wembley.
Sunday's final captured the imagination of the British public as more than 87,000 fans were at Wembley and 17.4million watched on TV, making it the most watched women's football game in UK television history and the most watched TV event of the year so far.
Yet Germany was also engrossed in the football. As reported by The News Tribune, nearly 18million viewers watched Sunday's final on German broadcaster ARD, breaking records. Remarkably, more than 12million viewers watched their semi-final win against France.
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"We actually wanted to be European champions and not the champions of hearts," said Voss-Tecklenburg at the parade. "But if the great performances helped us play our way into the hearts of the German people, then we’re happy to be champions of hearts."
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke is hoping Germany's success in England can have a huge impact on the Frauen-Bundesliga, the highest level of women's domestic football in Germany. Unlike England's WSL, it is not a fully professional league.
"Tournaments are nice and important, but ideally they should reflect on everyday sporting life," he told Kicker. "I’d like that very much because I see the immense commitment put into women’s soccer. But in the end it’s always the same – you vote with your feet."
The women's game is growing in Germany. Frauen-Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, while England midfielder Georgia Stanway recently completed a move from Manchester City to Bayern Munich.
Lina Magull, who scored Germany's equaliser in the final and will play alongside Stanway at Bayern next season, has urged German football's governing body to professionalise the country's top two divisions. The Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, is still only semi-professional.
"We players should earn enough from the second division so that nobody has to work part-time anymore," Magull told Bild. "We’re talking about a minimum salary of 2,000 or 3,000 euros a month. This is how you can advance the development of women’s soccer sustainably."
