Old Qatar near DFB hotel

Noh so much monotony in white and gray the eye is surprised when suddenly a monster in red appears on the horizon. What you can take for a real castle from a distance is the training facility of the local football club… no, wait a minute, we already had that text, and besides, dismantling is already taking place here, the Germans left their beautiful Stadionburg earlier than planned.

So this time it doesn’t go north, to al-Shamal, but to the west, al-Zubarah, the road isn’t the highway from Doha either, expanded to four lanes, but more like a country road, patched asphalt. But then it appears on the horizon, the castle, which looks quite familiar, just a bit smaller, more beige than red – and indeed: real. Al-Shamal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Qatar, not so much because of the fort that was built here in the 1930s, but because of the remains of the coastal town that stood here until the early 20th century.

Old Qatar, the time before the oil and gas discoveries, tells Ahammed, the guide, a different way of life and also prosperity. Fishing was practiced here, but above all the pearl fishermen went to sea, where they dived from their boats for weeks for the precious commodity. Early source of wealth, but also the envy of neighboring tribes and states, who invaded here several times by sea. Al-Zubarah, now in ruins, but once bigger and more important than Doha, you’re beginning to understand: what upheaval, what geopolitical entanglements.

Didn’t the Germans live here somewhere? Ahammed asks. Well, it’s 25 kilometers, but when he sees the picture of the training castle, he’s thrilled: Ooooh, it’s the same! A stadium as a larger copy of a castle, you have to come up with that first. It would be nice if the Germans had come here and seen something of the country, a World Cup like this is always a treasure, full of discoveries, even if it is burdened in many ways this time. But as a player you don’t have it so good. Too tiring, probably, and in the end – no time.