 His West Germany career started with a youth call-up in 1961 that prompted Sepp Herberger to take him to the senior level a year later.Competing with Wolfgang Fahrian and Hans Tilkowski for the job in goal of West Germany at that time, Bernard made his first West Germany appearance under contract with Schweinfurt 05 on 24 October 1962.The Bundesliga trophy he won with Werder Bremen, three years later, helped him to achieve a spot in Helmut Schön's squad for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, but did not give him the competitive edge he had been longing for.