1. FC Union Berlin: The Fans of Die Eisernen
Unsere Liebe. Unsere Mannschaft. Unser Stolz. Unser Verein. Union Berlin. Union Berlin.
(Our Love. Our Team. Our Pride. Our Club. Union Berlin. Union Berlin)
You can hear the chant during every single 1. FC Union Berlin match. It signifies the relationship between the fans and the club and the long and arduous journey they have both endured.
The Union supporters have been through the trenches to keep their club alive. From donating their time to rebuild their stadium. To donating their blood and money to prevent the club from disappearing altogether. Over the years, they have become one big family, and nothing will stop Union fans from ensuring their club survives.
The relationship runs deep in the club. President Dirk Zingler is a lifelong Union Berlin fan, along with other board members, coaches, media officers, ball boys, you name it. Many of them have a profound connection to Köpenick and the club.
“Without the fans, this club is nothing, and the unique thing about Union is that the club recognises the fans are integral.”
- Jacob Sweetman, Union Berlin Media Officer and Fan.
Union Berlin aims to prioritise their fans’ experience more than any other football club, and any strategy they wish to follow, they always seek the approval of their supporters.
Now, those who endured those darker days are enjoying a footballing dream. Union qualified for the Bundesliga for the first time in its history in 2019, qualified for Europe in 2020, and made it to the Champions League in 2023.
But where did that love and connection begin?
Union Berlin’s origins stem from 1906 in Oberschöneweide, Berlin. The club, first known as FC Olympia Oberschöneweide, played their matches at the Stadion An Der Alten Försterei in nearby Korpenick. The grounds remain to this day. They changed their name to SC Union 06 Oberschöneweide in 1910. They played in a blue strip not too dissimilar to the typical work clothing worn in the factories of the industrial district. This connection earned them the nickname “Schlosserjungs” (Metalworker-boys), which in turn was accompanied by the fan cry of “Eisern Union” (Iron Union).
The club relaunched in 1966 to 1. FC Union Berlin. Founder Herbert Warnke wanted it to be the club of the workers. To rival those in East Germany closely linked to the Police and the military. Its foundation in one of the largest industrial centres in East Germany attracted the working class.
Union Berlin became a rebellious football club in an unruly city. There are stories of the fans chanting “Die Mauer muss weg” (The Wall must go) during free kicks, as that was the only way you could express those feelings in East Germany then. Despite this, Union Berlin didn’t become an explicit political club. But, it became home to those who desired freedom and dreamed of a united Germany.
“If you were a young guy who wanted to feel freedom you came to Union.”
- Christian Arbeit, Club Spokesman and Lifelong Unioner.
When the wall came down in 1990, Union Berlin became a place where you could go and have a beer with your friends and watch your local team play football. But now competing with the much richer West German sides made it very difficult for the poorer clubs from the East. Financial trouble soon hit Union, and if it wasn’t for the fans, they may have ceased to exist.
Union Berlin did enjoy some minor joy in the decade that followed Germany’s reunification. They made their only appearance in a domestic cup final in 2001. They ultimately lost the DFB Pokal to Schalke, but they may not have even made the cup final had it not been for the fans. The semi-final match against Stuttgart occurred on a bitterly cold February night in Berlin. Heavy snowfall hit the city the night before and threatened to make the game unplayable. However, Union fans refused to accept this and attended the Olympiastadion en masse to help clear the field in time for the pitch inspection. The game went ahead, and after a 2-2 draw, Union won 4-2 on penalties.
The club hit financial trouble in the years that followed their cup run. In 2004, the club faced bankruptcy after succumbing to relegation. The board couldn’t afford the €1.5 million deposit required to participate in the third tier and risked disqualification from the domestic league. That’s where their unique fanbase stepped in. People receive a small fee for donating blood in Germany, so a group of fans set up the “Bleed for Union” campaign. Enough Union fans bled for their club that they stayed afloat and lived to fight another day.
It saved the club in the short term. But it didn’t rejuvenate them on the pitch, and in 2005, they dropped down to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord (fourth tier). Investment from Club President Dirk Zingler allowed them to bounce straight back up. However, the financial risk Zingler took meant that the club put plans to rejuvenate the crumbling stadium on hold. This decision caused severe problems when the footballing authorities came knocking.
In 2008, The Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) threatened to close the stadium as it no longer met the security requirements of professional football in Germany. Union Berlin was a small operation then; they only had ten employees who could afford to pay full-time and couldn’t afford the renovations required to meet the standards. So the club put out a fundraising call, and, once again, the Union fans stepped forward. Within days, hundreds of volunteers stepped forward. From trained builders to people without construction experience, they arrived at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei to offer their services. They came from all over, too. One Union fan, who had moved to Brazil, returned to Berlin for six months just to help save the stadium. It shouldn’t have worked. But by the start of the 2009/10 season, after one year away, Union’s home games were back at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Two thousand three hundred thirty-three people provided 140,000 hours of unpaid labour to rebuild their beloved stadium — a testament to what their home and Union Berlin mean to them.
Union organised a friendly against fellow Berlin club Hertha BSC for the first game back. It was a spectacle. Everyone who had helped with the rebuild was given a red hard hat for the match, which, in turn, earned endless hugs and pats on the back from grateful supporters. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
In 2019, for Union Berlin’s first-ever Bundesliga game, the supporters arrived with posters of their family and friends who had passed away. They held them aloft before kick-off so that they could share the first game in the German top flight with those who couldn’t be there. To have such an emotional moment that all the fans of a team could share shows just how powerful the sense of family that Union Berlin is.
“The 50+1 rule refers to the need for club members to hold 50 per cent, plus one more vote, of voting rights – i.e. a majority. In short, it means that clubs – and, by extension, the fans – have the ultimate say in their running, not an outside influence or investor.”
- The Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL)
Union Berlin fans will stand up for what they believe in. During matches, Union supporters use their collective voice to share messages of support or opposition with equal passion. This voice, or their lack of it, is notable in games against RB Leipzig, a club notorious for their growth through a loophole in Germany’s 50+1 membership rule. A foundation that goes against everything that Union Berlin represents. Die Eisernen will fall deafly silent during games between Union and Leipzig for the first 15 minutes.
“Union Berlin’s Alte Försterei is a bear pit. It is loud. Its terraces bounce to the beat of drums as the capo leads the chants through the flare smoke.
“But for 15 minutes, there was silence.”
- Seb Stafford-Bloor, The Athletic.
The silence highlights the collective thought that inhabits every Unioner.
One tradition highlights their togetherness above all others.
Losing their last game before Christmas had become common for Union, and demoralised fans went home and sulked without wishing each other a Merry Christmas. They wanted to change this. So one year, a group broke into the Stadion An Der Alten Försterei with some glühwein (mulled wine) and biscuits, huddled together on the halfway line and sang Christmas carols. This crazy idea a handful of Union supporters had has since evolved into an annual event. Now known as Weihnachtssingen, 20,000 people will descend on the stadium yearly just before Christmas. Every man, woman, and child will have a candle and song sheet to create one of the most astonishing scenes you will ever see at a football ground. It sums up perfectly the relationship the club has with its supporters. They are one big family.
The connection Union Berlin has with its fans is unlike any other. Even today, any decision made by the club has to be approved by a majority of the 40,000+ members. Every potential transfer, campaign, and project isn’t given the go-ahead without consulting the members first. As the club charges towards the next chapter of their incredible story, there’s little sign of them straying away from this beautiful and unique relationship.
