“Iron Union!”: East Berlin’s Favourite Football Team
To understand the lay of the land in footballing terms in the “Berlin – Capital of the German Democratic Republic”, it is helpful – appropriately enough – to take a dialectical approach. On the one end of spectrum, you had Berlin Football Club “Dynamo” (BFC), the country’s most successful, and despised, team thanks in large part its “sponsorship” by the state’s security organs including the notorious secret police the Stasi. (For an overview on BFC, see my earlier post on the club and its history here.) BFC’s opposite, in every sense, was 1. FC Union Berlin, a team with strong, genuine working class roots and a level of fan support unparalleled in the East.
Forging “Iron Union”: History to 1950
1. FC Union Berlin has its roots in the club SC Union 06 Oberschöneweide, a team founded in 1906 and made up in large part of employees of this southeastern district’s many factories. This connection to local industry helped give the club its working class image (not to mention its fans’ iconic cheer “Iron Union!”) and would continue through the GDR period when the team’s “sponsors” were a local cable factory and a transformer manufacturer. The team enjoyed some significant successes prior to World War II but was pulled apart afterwards when a 1950 Soviet order forbade the club from participating in all-German competitions. This in turn resulted in most of the team departing for the western part of the city where they continued operating. This part of Union 06 went on to play in front of large crowds at the Olympic Stadium until the building of the Wall in 1961 robbed it of many of its fans. Even after this event, though, Union’s connection to the western part of the city, never completely disappeared and remained – much to the annoyance of GDR authorities – an aspect of club’s image and appeal through to unification.
Meanwhile Back in the East . . .
“I’ll drink to that!”: Commemorative glass for Union’s 1968 Cup win (photo: editor).
The remnants of Union 06 which stayed on in the eastern half of the city continued under a number of names before becoming 1. FC Union Berlin in 1966 as part of the East German Football Association’s efforts to professionalize the sport. Receiving the designation “Football Club” ostensibly put Union in an elite group of teams, however, its proximity to the favoured BFC meant the team typically only received the city’s second best players. As a result, Union did not enjoy much success on the pitch with its most notable achievement being a 2-1 victory over FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1968 Free German Trade Association Cup. Typically, 1 FC shuttled back and forth between the country’s highest tier, the Oberliga, and division two, the DDR-LIga.
Fan Culture Köpenick Style
Independent of the team’s success on the pitch, however, Union enjoyed remarkable level of fan support from Berliners, primarily workers and their children from the districts of Köpenick and Oberschöneweide. The club played its home matches in Stadion an der Alte Försterei (roughly translated as “Stadium By The Old Forester’s Place”), a spartan ground made up largely of terraces which put fans close to the action and created what many remember as an unequalled atmosphere. One old timer recalls, “When I started going in 1973, the stadium hadn’t been expanded yet, so it the fans were packed in tight and the atmosphere was really one of a kind.” (pg. 54, Stadionpartisanen (Frank Willman (Ed.), Berlin: Neues Leben, 2007). In an East Berlin where the options for combating boredom were few and far between, Union quickly gained a reputation for being a place where some action could be found. For a taste of the enthusiasm and the stadium set-up, see the match report from a 1977 game between Union and reigning Oberliga champs Dynamo Dresden below:
https://www.bpb.de/mediathek/178613/und-freitags-in-die-gruene-hoelle
In addition to the attractive stadium experience, the Club also benefited, paradoxically perhaps, from its “weak sister” status vis-a-vis BFC. Accounts of the derby matches between the two clubs are rife with stories of preferential treatment from league and match officials and rumour of these perceived injustices (never publicly aired in the GDR media of course) helped burnish Union’s popular image as the Club of “the outsiders”, a status that was largely cemented by subsequent events.
Who Holds the Power on the Spree? – Union Fans versus BFC (and the State)
During the late 1970s, a number of developments had a profound impact on the Berlin football scene and helped cement Union’s reputation as the refuge of those opposed to the GDR. First, BFC emerged as the dominant force in GDR football and began its series of ten consecutive league championships. This success attracted a considerable number of young fans and while these were still significantly fewer than those mobilized by Union, this influx of young blood invigorated the rivalry between the two sides and fueled often violent confrontations between the opposing groups. Unwilling to see any fault in “their” fans from BFC, security services tended to blame Union supporters for such problems and often considered them a real and present danger to order in the “Workers and Peasants’ State”.
Unused ticket for Berlin derby between Union and Dynamo carried out at the neutral ground “Stadium of World Youth” (now the site of the new HQ of the Bundesnachrichtendienst, Germany’s version of the CIA). Final score: Union 2 Dynamo 3.
Another key development was that Union’s fans began to organize themselves into clubs and even put together a football league in which these could face off against each other. In a society where the state was obsessed with ensuring its control over all goings-on, such developments raised considerable suspicion. That chanting from Union’s terraces was often directed against manifestations of state power (Popular were “Stasi out!”, “Shit Dynamo!” or “The Wall has to go!”, usually popular when a team built one to defend a free kick) further reinforced suspicions that authorities had about the Köpenickers and their Club.
“Even the ‘Shit Wall’ Can’t Divide Us: 1. FC Union and Hertha BSC”: Fan patch from 1980s (Photo: Zentrum deutsche Sportgeschichte Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.).
A further aspect that made Unioners suspect to authorities was their open “fan friendship” with supporters of Hertha Berlin Soccer Club (BSC), the largest team on the western side of the Wall. Western Hertha fans often made their way to Köpenick for Union matches and initiated interactions which many authorities felt constituted “contact with the Enemy”. Such feelings would only have been confirmed by the text of this song sung which was sung from time to time at “The Stadium By the Old Forerster’s Place”:
“I live in thirty metres in a square
Mines and barbed wire just over there
Now you know where I call home
Home for me in is “The Zone”
We belong together, yes we do
Blue-white Hertha and FCU
Only two teams are on the Spree
Union and Hertha BSC.”
Cumulatively these developments led authorities to the conclusion that Union was home to what it understood as a “negatively-oriented youth culture”. To address this situation, security services and the Party took a two-pronged approach. First, the District Office of the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) gave the Free German Youth (FDJ) the task of organizing Union’s fan base in a formal way with an eye to “steering” this. Theo Koerner, Union’s original “Fan Relations Supervisor” and an employee of the Club, not the FDJ, recalls that this official oversight was rejected by some fan groups, but that others welcomed the resources that came with this status. For example, trips to away matches could be booked through the state travel agency raising the level of comfort for fans and groups got access to space for meetings with players or to prepare banners and the like. According to Koerner, the FDJ never managed to completely take charge of things and the official status helped “create a bit of room to manoeuvre during a time where things were not that easy.” (see interview with Theo Koerner, pgs. 181-185, Stadionpartasanen.)
The second reaction of authorities to the challenges posed by Union’s fan base was, not surprisingly, the “iron fist”. Persecution and prosecution of any Union fans who made themselves conspicuous through their “rowdy” behaviour was stepped up from the mid-70s onward. The East German legal code was sufficiently vague to give People’s Police and District Attorneys considerable leeway in determining what acts were criminal and which were not, an arbitrariness which Union fans in particular came to know rather well. An examination of police records after unification showed that Union fans were far more likely to be arrested for their activities than were their counterparts at BFC. In addition, Unioners tended to face considerably harsher penalties for their offences. Preferred means of dealing with the Köpenickers were jail time, forced emigration to West Berlin or the Federal Republic and early conscription to the National People’s Army. For BFC fans, punishments were typically far less severe and often involved “community service” and probation though stiffer sentencing was used on some occasions as well. (pg. 172, Anne Hahn, “Breaking Away From Boredom,” in Stadtionpartasanen.)
The cover of a 1978 issue of the Club’s program, Union Informationen, featuring Berlin’s iconic TV tower (photo: editor).
I have a copy of the Club’s publication Union Informationen from the halfway point of the 1977-78 season, a period when the team’s popularity was at a high and authorities clearly had the Club and its supporters in their sights. That FCU officials were feeling the heat which this situation was generating is reflected in some of the content of this lovingly-assembled time capsule. For example, in the letters to the editor section, a Wilhelm Meissgeier from 116 Berlin defends the Club’s fans and leadership from those who would criticize them:
“In conversation, I have repeatedly determined that some downplay the
sporting success of Union by pointing with a raised finger at the rowdy
behaviour of some so-called Union fans. I just want to say the following
in response:
First, this activity is not just a Union matter: other stadiums in our republic
are unfortunately having similar problems. . . . Finally, the responsible
parties at 1. FC Union have shown their commitment to order and security
not only through a number of organizational measures, but also in the
form of educational methods. I think here of the posters “Iron Union –
Sporting and Fair” and on the different flyers . . .”
“Iron Union: Sporting and Fair” reads the button: “Tute” in the FC-typical parka (photo: editor)
Another humorous article features a fictitious conversation between two Union fans touching on the sensitive subject of fan behaviour and its possible ramifications for the Club while simultaneously making light of and acknowledging Unioners’ feelings of persecution:
Tute: Look, as far as I’m concerned you can scream like a rutting stag
at the matches, as long as what you say has something to do with sport.
Benno: Drop the moralizing, brother! I’m not falling for that!
Tute: I’m not asking you to, but think about it. What happens if
we finish in the top four and then don’t get to play against
Inter Milan because our fans are so rambunctious? . . .
Benno: Fine, you’ve got a point. But as the people say, every
backside has two cheeks.
Tute: So, what’s the other?
Benno: I’ve had it up to here that whenever someone wearing a
red and white scarf happens to run a red light, he is immediately
treated like he’s some sort of career criminal.
Tute: I’m not sure I understand.
Benno: Well, I know a few that they’ve got their claws into for running
out on their beer bill, beating their old lady, or shoplifting – but do you
think you ever hear about how they belong to the Chess Club, the
Technology Chamber or Urania (Ed. GDR society dedicated to
spreading scientific knowledge)? Etc., etc., But if they are Union fans,
well, you’ll hear about that!
Cartoon featuring Union players in the centre of Union Informationen 1/78 (photo: editor).
Another favourite bit in this program is a short entry entitled “Important Note for Souvenir Seekers”. It reads: “Because of the many inquiries, we want to let everyone know that we are currently out of stock of team crests. We are doing our best to address this situation, but can not say when we will have this item in our inventory again.” A nice little window into the consumer world of the GDR football fan in 1978.
Hard-to-come-by in the winter of ’78, a Union club crest from my collection (photo: editor).
Union = Opposition?
Interviews with Union supporters conducted within the last several years suggest that the Club’s reputation as the home of the “opposition” was exaggerated to a significant degree. Theo Koerner, the Fan Relations man, argues,
“The great majority of Union supporters were just normal fans. By the end of the 80s, many people had had it up to here [with the GDR] and came to Union games to get their unhappiness off their chest . . . Union fans were always quick, but you shouldn’t make resistance fighters out of them. Provocation is a part of football and people yelled out whatever they knew they could get away with without too much trouble.” (pgs. 183-184, Stadionpartasanen.)
Another longtime fan offers, “The cliche is that Union was the club for “Enemies of the State”, but that wasn’t us.” (pg. 58, Ibid.) While another gives a perspective which I’d suggest is probably as close to the truth as one can get, “I think the claim that all Union fans were against the GDR is a fairy tale. I think that this critical attitude towards the system was something that football fans across East Germany had in common during the 70s and 80s. That’s youth’s prerogative in every era: to be against the ruling doctrine.” (pg. 41, Ibid.)
The East German film studio DEFA produced a documentary on Union’s fans in 1988. “And on Friday’s we go to ‘Green Hell'” follows a group of Union supporters to both home and away matches and features extended interviews with several in an attempt to paint a picture of the many sides of this football subculture. Sadly the film is without English subtitles, but it’s worth a troll for the scenes from a match at the Alte Försterei (from about 40:00 on; note the Hertha BSC patches on some of the jean vests!): https://www.bpb.de/mediathek/178613/und-freitags-in-die-gruene-hoelle.
Union Since Unification
After German unification in 1990, 1. FC Union was in a similarly difficult position to many other eastern German soccer teams. After failing to qualify for the upper leagues, the team was placed in the 3rd Division and experienced a number of turbulent years and more than one threat to the Club’s very existence. The condition of the team’s stadium was one cause for particular concern as the aging facility required considerable upkeep in order to meet licensing requirements placed by the German Football Association.
Union versus English side Wolverhampton Wolves at die Alte Försterei, July 1998 (photo: editor).
I attended a match at the stadium in the summer of 1998, a friendly between Union and English side Wolverhampton Wanderers (a head shaking meeting at the time, but I’ve since learned that trips to the GDR by English clubs from working class towns were not uncommon pre-1989. Apparently this match versus Wolves was an example of attempts to reanimate old connections). My recollection is of a stadium in the “old school” style with plenty of terraces and a small group of fans out on a beautiful summer’s evening. Apparently Wolves won it 2-1, but my main memory is of a sun-dappled tramp down a forest path to get to the stadium from the S-Bahn station. My friend remembers a few skinheads in Docs and bomber jackets making the Hitler salute and generally attempting to draw attention to themselves, something that would certainly fit with the tenor of those times in East Berlin, but my photo above doesn’t confirm that recollection . . .
At any rate, by the mid-2000s, the stadium’s condition was such a problem that Union was in danger of losing its license unless action was taken. When the city of Berlin refused to fund a renovation, a most remarkable thing happened: the Club’s fans stepped in and, in large part, fixed up the stadium themselves. What they achieved is remarkable and has apparently managed to maintain the ground’s storied atmosphere and proximity to the pitch while fulfilling all the mandarins’ safefy requirements. For a sense of the project, check out this English language article written while work was still going on in 2009. Below, a video shot just before renovations began in 2008 and which gives a sense of the stadium as it was in the late period GDR and for twenty years afterwards:
On the pitch, things have looked up for Union as well. They’ve enjoyed four straight years in the German Second Division and finished the 2012-13 season in 7th place, just edging out 8th place Energie Cottbus for the “title” of best team in “East German football”.
POSTSCRIPT I: In March 2014, I was able to catch a match in the newly -renovated Alte Försterei, an evening tilt against Energie Cottbus. I accidentally purchased a ticket in the Union fan block but that ended up being a wonderful experience as the club’s supporters are really enthusiastic and not particularly aggressive. It also gave me a chance to record them supporting their team in song, something they did from the moment I arrived until long after the final whistle sounded. You’ll find a video diary of my evening at Union below:
POSTSCRIPT II: Germany’s national weekly DIe Zeit just posted a nice piece on a fan league organized by Union fans for Union fans. This league, which has its roots back in the GDR period, caused its organizers no small amount of trouble as the attempt to set up anything outside of state auspices was deemed suspicious activity in the GDR. For those of you who read German, this is a nice bit of German social history, pre- and post-Wall.
The GDR Objectified 
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Responding to the German Football Federation’s decision to cover a poster “Kein Fußball den Faschisten” (No football to Fascists) for political reasons at St. Pauli’s Millerntor Stadium that was used as a training ground by the national squad, a friend and Union fan said: “And I remember football grounds as rare spaces of free speech in the GDR.”
Otherwise, after unification Germany’s upper two leagues integrated two (Bundesliga) and six (Zweite Liga) Oberliga teams. We have arrived at zero plus three if you want to count Red Bull Leipzig as an ex-GDR club (and if they will be allowed to participate in the 2. Liga at all.
As always: an eye-opening and widening post. Thank you!
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The link to the DEFA film “und Freitags in die Gruene Hoelle” is broken, here is where it can still be found:
https://www.bpb.de/mediathek/178613/und-freitags-in-die-gruene-hoelle
Thanks for pointing this out and passing on that link; I’ve updated the post accordingly.