BERLIN, July 10 - Germany only finished third in the World Cup but the host country has won the hearts of many foreign guests who were shown a new side of the country -- spontaneous, cheerful and proud.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the month-long soccer tournament had "exceeded all expectations" and had helped to correct the stereotypes some people have of Germany and Germans.

"The stale cliches of before have been removed by a new positive image of Germany," Blair wrote in a guest column in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, published in German.

Nobel Prize winning novelist Guenter Grass told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily that the sudden burst of German national pride sparked by the unexpectedly strong performance of "the German 11" was genuine and heartfelt.

"Chubby elderly women found a new style of makeup: painting their cheeks with the black-red-gold," Grass said, referring to the colours of the German flag.

"The flag became all manner of clothing," he said. "The unorganised and spontaneous manner of it all was persuasive, I think also for many foreigners who experienced it firsthand."

Such pride in displaying Germany's flag or singing its national anthem is a new phenomenon for a country where post-World War Two school children have been spared no details of its dark history and the dangers of nationalism.

"The carefree spirit, the party atmosphere, has astonished people abroad. People have not seen Germany this way for years and decades," International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach told Germany's Der Tagesspiegel daily.

This did not go unnoticed in Israel, where an estimated 280,000 survivors of the Nazi Holocaust live today.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Germany had rediscovered "positive patriotism" -- not anti-foreigner nationalism.

"UNFORGETTABLE PERIOD"

"Despite their team's elimination on July 4 the month that has just ended will remain an unforgettable period for the Germans," wrote the French newspaper Le Monde.

"They have never been seen wearing their colours in such a demonstrative manner, and that includes when the country was reunified in 1990. We have never heard them chant the German national anthem with so much spirit," Le Monde said.

Arjan Paans, a correspondent for the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad, reported similar views on the newspaper's weblog.

"I am happy that I experienced this at a time in which the people in this country, Germans and immigrants, waved the German flag happily and carefree, without immediately creating the impression of dangerous nationalism," Paans said.

Even many German Turks, who often face discrimination and have trouble integrating into German society, displayed German and Turkish flags together on their cars during the tournament.

The positive image was reinforced not only by the fact that the event was so well organised but because the horror scenarios authorities warned about -- massive clashes of hooligans, violent far-right demonstrations -- never materialised.

Apart from a few minor incidents, there were few problems. Even Berlin's "fan mile" street party, where up to million fans would watch the matches and party, was relatively orderly.

There had also been concerns that the apolitical atmosphere of the tournament would be spoiled by a visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

But this never happened. The Iranian team was knocked out in the first round and Ahmadinejad never came. (Additional reporting by Francois Murphy in Paris)