Deutscher Handball 1920–1978

How could a team sport, initially developed as a solely women’s game, attract such popularity within a short time in Germany? Which cultural forces could it mobilise to its advantage? By taking into account both certain inherent appeals of handball as well as looking into the German discourse on the game, this research tries to find answers. It does so by taking a look at the media coverage of handball, with the underlying assumption that both the way in which a sport is presented to the public and the nature of its appraisal allow insights into prevailing norms and values of a society at a given point in time.