“Attending university was extraordinary for me.”  

Why did you decide to obtain your high school diploma (A levels) after completing your vocational training?

Streich: Because I really wanted to go to university. I was particularly interested in literature and history – especially German history because of the eventful 20th century. Sports was also an obvious choice.  

So you studied German language and literature, history and sports to become a teacher …

Streich: Yes, although it wasn’t really my goal to become a teacher. It was more about the studies themselves. But I did ask myself what I wanted to do after obtaining my degree. I was already 28. That’s why it seemed to make sense to study to become a teacher after graduating.

What was it like for you to go to university after completing your vocational training and spending years in professional sports?

Streich: Going to university was something really extraordinary for me because I come from a family of craftsmen. No one in my immediate family had ever been to university before. Being able to study, attend lectures and learn from professors are things I hadn’t expected a few years earlier and hadn’t even considered when I was at secondary school. This made me realise how different I was from those who had gone to college-oriented high school. Structured learning was very difficult for me because I had never really learned it before university. At the same time, I learned other things at secondary school.

Such as?

Streich: Becoming aware of social differences and conflicts that fellow students who had attended college-oriented high school were not familiar with. For example, there were schoolmates who did not attend school because they had to help with the harvest.

Professional sports require meticulous and disciplined work. Did this experience help you during your studies?

Streich: Yes, I do think it helped. Because I was already a bit older, I knew that I would have to invest a lot of time and effort to consolidate what I had learned and make progress.

How did you find your studies? Are there any particular instances that stand out in your mind?

Streich: What I particularly liked was the interaction with other students and the fact that I could choose what interested me, such as seminars or topics for term papers. My first term paper topic in my history studies was the ‘Stahlhelm’, a paramilitary organisation after the First World War. Two days after handing it in, I got the paper back and had to redo everything. The professor was very critical, but in a constructive and helpful way, for example about the footnotes. I wasn’t used to academic thinking yet, so I hadn’t learned that. Then I sat down again and the paper turned out fine. That’s how I worked my way through things.

The wide range of options gave you the opportunity to pursue your interests. What were they?

Streich: What I particularly wanted to understand were authoritarian structures: Why, for example, are things that are not rationally comprehensible accepted when they are presented by charismatic personalities? How does propaganda work? How are people manipulated?

You also demonstrated political interest later in your coaching career, when you frequently commented on current issues.

Streich: Yes, definitely. It’s important to me to be a political person and to reflect on current events and try to place them in historical context and recognise parallels. My studies have also been very helpful in this regard. I expressed my opinion because I was asked by journalists. And when I am asked, I don’t always want to say that I don’t comment on certain topics. I was aware that as a football coach, I also have a certain reach and can influence people.

After completing your studies, you began your teacher training, but did not complete it in order to pursue a career in football.

Streich: I started my teacher training, but I was already coaching the A-youth team. It was very intense because it coincided with the professionalisation of youth work in German football, which also created jobs. The games were on Sundays and were very emotional and focused. In contrast, there was the trainee programme and all the preparation that went with it. It was difficult for me to reconcile the two, mentally as well. Ultimately, after two and a half months, I decided to become a youth coach instead.

Was it an easy decision for you?

Streich: It was about security. I was 33 and had already been a coach for four years. I saw that it worked well. At the same time, I wondered whether I could fulfil what was expected of a teacher. Or whether I should pursue a coaching career with my skills, for which I might be better suited.

People often face difficult career decisions, such as whether to drop out of university or vocational training and pursue a different path. Do you have any advice for them?

Streich: In my case, I had a passion that I was able to turn into a career. That’s something really great. You should do what you enjoy doing. Because that gives you the strength to invest in something. If you enjoy something and are intrinsically motivated, it helps you get through the “dry spells.” You can feel that, and you shouldn’t listen too much to external opinions.

And how do you view universities today – do you have any advice for them?

Streich: The university is an incredibly important institution, and its members should be unequivocal and clear in their commitment to human rights, diversity and inclusion, and they should communicate this commitment. Out here [editor’s note: on the façade of KG 1], it says, “The truth will set you free.” But we no longer know what the truth is. Authoritarian people, structures and leaders tell us lies.  This means that it is extremely important that the university reports on the truth and also addresses falsehoods. And that we are taught how to recognise these falsehoods. Lies have always existed throughout history. Today, people lie deliberately and no longer hide it. Keyword: “alternative facts.” This also existed under National Socialism, which ended in catastrophe. People were tortured and murdered, millions of them. We all know that. The problem is that often after two or three generations pass, the lessons are forgotten. Or attempts are made to tell the story differently. And that is also what the university is there for, to point out these things and educate people so that they can distinguish between lies and truth.