75 years ago, experts on the island of Herrenchiemsee began drafting the Basic Law. It only took 14 days to get a result that Germany can still be proud of today.
Although it was three years since the end of the war, there was still oppressive poverty in large parts of Germany. Some cities were still in ruins, people were hungry and the occupying powers were in charge. Normality returned only slowly. On August 8, 1948, a German football champion was crowned for the first time. 1. FC Nürnberg won the final on that cloudy Sunday against 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2-1 and took the championship trophy to Bavaria, where another remarkable event was to take place two days later. Several dozen politicians and lawyers arrived on the island of Herrenchiemsee with an outstanding job to do. According to instructions from the western occupying powers, they were to lay the foundations of a democratic constitution for the future Germany. There is no evidence that there were euphoric supporters of 1. FC Nürnberg in the group, but the atmosphere on the island was surprisingly easy-going and relaxed even without football enthusiasm.