1. FC Union Berlin: Football Behind The Iron Curtain
German history is one of Europe’s most complex, interchangeable, and diverse. In the last century alone, the country has seen the fallout of one world war, a rise to powerhouse status on the continent, a second world war, and the nation split in two.
Germany’s periods of change have made German football history just as intricate. And for clubs like 1. FC Union Berlin provides a unique story. Based in the Köpernick district of East Berlin, Union has seen the footballing world around them evolve.
Following World War Two, Allied forces ordered the dissolution of all sporting organisations in Germany. Union Berlin had been known as SC Union 06 Oberschöneweide since 1910 and had navigated the various rehashes German football had already faced from the Third Reich. But they had to start again as a new club, and SG Oberschöneweide was born.
The division of Berlin in 1949 meant even further change for football clubs in the East. SG Oberschöneweide finished second in the Stadt Liga Berlin that year, earning them a spot in the National Playoffs. However, rising Cold War tensions led to Soviet officials stopping them from travelling to the West to play. Despite this, the coach and several players moved to West Berlin overnight and founded a new Union club to play in the National competition. They lost the game 7-0 to Hamburg. But as a result, the club split. The Union that emerged in the West became SC 06 Union. They played their matches at the Olympiastadion through the 1950s and attracted sizeable crowds. But that popularity quickly disappeared in 1961 as the newly built Berlin wall blocked their Eastern support entirely. SC 06 Union still exist in 2023. They still play in the club’s original blue and white colours in the amateur divisions of German football.
A handful of players and club officials stayed in the East in 1949 and continued as Union Oberschöneweide. But the loss of crucial components on and off the pitch caused them to drop down the Eastern divisions. They underwent numerous name changes before the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 forced another switch up. Compared to the rest of Europe, footballing success was sparse in East Germany, and the Soviet Authorities were so frustrated that they wanted to restructure football as a whole.
Football clubs became centres of development, and Berlin, the capital of East Germany, was to be the hub of it. Existing teams merged and became new ones.
There were to be two teams in Berlin for the new structure. ASK Vorwärts Berlin became the football club of the army, and BFC Dynamo Berlin became the football club of the Secret Police. A third team was formed in 1966, as Union Oberschöneweide and others merged to become 1. FC Union Berlin. The football club of the people.
During the 1960s, the army and the Secret Police battled for control in Germany. Consequently, Vorwärts and Dynamo formed a significant city rivalry on the pitch. Vorwärts succeeded in the 1960s, winning five East German (Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR)-Oberliga) league titles. But as the Secret Police acquired more power in the country, Dynamo reaped the footballing benefits.
In 1971, Vorwärts relocated to Frankfurt an der Oder on the German-Polish border. The reasons for this have never been 100% ratified. But there is the significant suggestion that Dynamo’s club president Erich Meilker convinced the Minister of Defence Heinz Hoffman that Dynamo should be the sole footballing representative of the armed organs of Berlin and that Vorwärts should move. Meilker knew that Vörwarts threatened Dynamo’s success in the capital, so he wanted them gone.
Vörwarts’ move led to a period of uninterrupted dominance for BFC Dynamo. From 1979-1988, the club won ten consecutive DDR-Oberliga Championships. But this conquering spell wasn’t without its controversies. There was a lot of speculation that because BFC was Erich Meilker’s club, they got favourable decisions from the referees. As time has passed, this has since been downplayed and is more likely down to BFC’s access to ample financial support, which allowed them to buy better players and hire better coaching staff. Plus, they had facilities that their East German rivals could only dream of. BFC’s dominant run at the top ended in 1989, but only to the benefit of another Stasi-invested club in Dynamo Dresden. The final DDR season in 1991 ended with Hansa Rostock becoming the last champions, as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990 provided the catalyst for all German football clubs to come together.
In comparison, the DDR era was a little unsteady for Union Berlin. There was hope in the late 60s that the club could start something special. Union won the 1968 East German Cup, which, at the time, would have been classed as a major trophy. It wasn’t to be. Despite being the club of the people, they were still state-funded. However, the financial boosts from the socialist party were pittance in comparison to the investment given to BFC, which left Union unable to compete with the top clubs.
Any top players that emerged at Union, or any of the clubs in the East, were quickly snapped up by the powerhouse of BFC, making progress impossible. Reinhard Lauck was one of those players. The East German international played for Union in the 68 Cup final win and was one of the top young players in the world. He inevitably transferred to BFC in 1973.
The gulf between the two clubs was evident in the access each had to youth training centres to recruit their players. At their peak, BFC surveyed 38 training centres across East Germany. Union had access to six.
As a result, Union yo-yo’d between the DDR-Oberliga and the DDR-Liga (Division Two), experiencing relegation on three occasions, as well as winning nine of the various iterations of the DDR second tier. They did reach a second East German Cup Final in 1986 but lost 5-1 to Lokomotiv Leipzig.
A comparison between Union and BFC at that time is from the final day of the 1987 season, where Union needed a 92nd-minute winner to escape relegation, while BFC achieved their tenth league title in a row. The success of staying up that season was huge for Union, and it is a memorable day in their history that is still marked annually.
Due to BFC’s connections to the Stasi and the Soviet Union, Union Berlin became the eternal underdog, rooted in their working-class background, and a natural rivalry formed between them. Union were the football club for everyone else during the 70s and 80s. There is a narrative that Die Eisernen (The Iron Ones) became a club against the state in East Germany, which has become overblown because there’s no way the state would allow it. To have a football club in the capital city that stood against everything the state stood for would be impossible. But, because Union were the club for everyone who didn’t want to support BFC. Naturally, those who were against the state went to Union games. As a result, Union would consistently attract a higher attendance than BFC throughout the DDR era, despite BFC’s dominance.
When league unification arrived in 1991, Union had just finished first in the East German second tier, their future unclear.
Reunification in 1990 was a disaster for most football teams from East Germany.
The Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) only gave two DDR clubs entry to the Bundesliga (Hansa Rostock & Dynamo Dresden); six went into the regional second divisions, while the bottom six went into the regional third tiers. Sponsorship was hard to come by, as Soviet companies who had previously provided it had since folded. Companies left in the East didn’t have the funds that clubs needed to compete with the West, and companies in the West had no interest in sponsoring football clubs from former East Germany.
The teams from the West were much more financially stable in comparison, and as BFC had previously done in the East, clubs in the West began to hoover up Eastern talent. Clubs from the East found it hard to compete at any level in a unified football pyramid. Hansa Rostock suffered relegation after one season in the Bundesliga. They did return in 1995 and enjoyed a ten-year stay in the top flight. The club suffered their final Bundesliga relegation in 2008, following several years of ups and downs. They currently play in the 2. Bundesliga.
Dynamo Dresden weren’t so fortunate. Despite surviving in their first three Bundesliga seasons, they couldn’t avoid relegation in their fourth. They fell as far as the fourth tier by 2000. The new millennium has been a bit brighter, and they’ve enjoyed a handful of seasons in the 2. Bundesliga. But relegation in 2023 means they will be playing the 2023/24 season in the 3. Liga.
The unification hurt no East German club more than BFC Dynamo. In the years leading up to the Fall of the Wall, the funding began to dry up, the Stasi started to rebrand, and players started to leave for the West. Political interference, police trouble and hooliganism marred the club’s start to the early 90s, and that, mixed with poor results on the pitch, led to a decline in attendance. The club had rebranded to FC Berlin in February 1990 to distance itself from its Stasi history. FC Berlin failed to qualify for the 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 1991 DDR-Oberliga campaign, accelerating their deterioration even more.
Without financial backing or stable sponsorship, BFC never returned to the top. The club have since remained in the amateur leagues and are currently in the fourth tier. Their rivalry with Union Berlin is as firm as ever. Several BFC fans were invited as guests by Hertha Berlin for the first Berlin derby in the Bundesliga.
As East German second-tier champions in 1991, Union went straight into the German third tier. They would remain there until they gained promotion in 2000 before a near financial collapse saw them drop to the fourth tier in 2005. They returned immediately and got back to the 2. Bundesliga in 2009. Ten years later, they made history as the first team from East Berlin to reach the Bundesliga.
Only two football teams from the former East Germany currently play in the Bundesliga. Union Berlin are heading into their fourth season in the top flight and are preparing for their first-ever UEFA Champions League appearance.
The other club is RB Leipzig (formerly SSV Markranstädt). Who, thanks to significant investment from energy drink company Red Bull, climbed five divisions in seven seasons.
The impact on East German football clubs that the merging of the German football leagues had is still pungent today. It is unlikely that the dominant clubs of the 70s and 80s will rediscover a route back to the top. But, thanks to Union Berlin breaking the mould in 2019, that doesn’t stop the football clubs in the East from dreaming.
