Southgate infamously missed a spotkick at Euro 96 at the same venue, sending England out at the hands of Germany in the semi-finals.
Germany knocked England out of the 2010 World Cup 4-1 and have actually beaten the Three Lions in their past four meetings in knockout games at major tournaments.
“I don’t need to demystify it,” Southgate said. “The history is an irrelevance for them.
“We’ve got boys born into the 2000s, which is obviously scary but it’s the reality of the group we’re dealing with.
“It’s of no consequence to them what we did in 1970 with Peter Bonetti and what happened in 1990 and so on.
“Of course, they’re watching that stuff and getting a bit of an understanding of it but it’s not something we’re speaking to them about.
“This team have put down lots of historical performances in the last couple of years, made their own history, made their own stories and this is how they should view this game.
“It’s an opportunity. We’ve only won one knockout match in a European Championship as a country, so they’ve got a great chance to go and be the first team since 1996 to do that.”
Germany boss Joachim Low, who will leave his post at the tournament, insisted he wasn’t thinking about the game being his last in charge.
He also encouraged his side to embrace the “captivating” rivalry and fixture against England.
“I think all the matches between England and Germany you talk about for years after,” Low said.
“This is a fixture that captivates everyone. It’s an all-or-nothing game for both teams. The excitement goes without saying I can feel the players are highly motivated and we have analysed the English side.”