The Incredible Story of Union Berlin

The incredible story of Union Berlin is one filled with twists and turns, social issues, financial and political challenges, and much more. While in recent times, at least in our country, there has been talk of the German team mainly in connection with the Bonucci gossip, it is important to remember that Union Berlin is playing in the Champions League this year after debuting in previous seasons in the Bundesliga, Conference League, and Europa League. However, discussing the uniqueness of Union Berlin's history "only" in terms of its recent success would be overly simplistic, just to give you an idea of the weight of the team's historical background. Among the many experiences it has gone through, one of the most sadly relevant is the Nazi regime. It was 1933, and Hitler's project also severely impacted the football sphere in Germany due to a reform that involved all the teams of the time, placing them within the so-called Gauligen. This was the name given to the old regional leagues, which were initially 30 but now reduced to 16, each containing 160 teams.

A complex history

Union was part of the Gauliga-Berlin-Brandenburg during those years, an environment filled with dissatisfaction, and it only came to an end in 1940. In that very season, the team achieved a small redemption: winning their district championship, aided by the outbreak of World War II that troubled many German teams. This marked the change of the team's name (from SG Oberschöneweide to SG Union 06 Oberschöneweide), admission to the DDR-Oberliga, the top division of East Germany, and the historic change of the team's colors to white and red, just as we know them today.

Probably, there is no other European team with a history so concretely shaped by social and historical dynamics – which is why the team has experienced periods where it felt lost. This is what happens when the identity of Union Berlin is shaped by the intervention of organizations, regulations, and rules. Among the many notable events, we remember the intervention of the Deutsche Sportaussschuß, the sports committee that saved the team after relegation in 1950, arguing that the DDR-Oberliga should obligatorily include teams from Berlin but, as a compromise, merged the team with workers' sports clubs. This marked a catastrophic period for the club's identity, which began to dissolve slowly in the middle of the century.

The team changed its name again, this time to BSG Motor Oberschöneweide. Yet, strangely enough, this is just the beginning. In 1963, the team merged with two smaller entities, Sport Club Rotation Berlin and Sportclub Einheit Berlin, forming TSC Berlin. It may sound like an amusing tale, but at that time, Union Berlin's story was merely a result of general instability and political decisions that resembled whims more than anything else. For example, according to the "higher-ups" in East Germany, TSC Berlin was supposed to be a "civilian-based society." The 1960s, however, were a period of semi-stability for the club: they were relegated in the 1968/1969 season, finished fifth in the DDR-Oberliga in the 1970/1971 season, and even established a women's team. Of course, they changed their name one last time to Union Berlin (the original name is 1. Fussballclub Union Berlin), definitively separating from the multi-sport TSC.

The Union Berlin supporters

The team was a symbol of rebellion, of the people fighting against the Dynamo Dresden, effectively the team of the East German regime. At that time, they were the two most important teams competing in the football scene of East Berlin. But apart from a few small triumphs, such as the 1-0 victory over Dynamo in the first match of the 1976/1977 season and reaching the FDGB Pokal final nine years later, the team experienced highs and lows that continued even after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. The 1990s were another period when Union tried in every way to compete with Western professional football but ended up primarily with disappointments. Among the failed attempts in the NOF-V Liga, a competition that aimed to qualify teams for the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, and the massive economic problems, Union remained trapped in its impasse until 1998, dark years when the only victory was avoiding bankruptcy. The savior of Union was Georgi Vasilev, a coach nicknamed Der General, who won the Regionalliga Nord in the 2000/2001 season, earning promotion to the 2. Bundesliga and reaching the final of the German Cup, which qualified them for the UEFA Cup at the time. This marked the beginning of the contemporary Union Berlin, with its remarkable achievements, just as we know it today. All of this is enough to describe how incredible the story of this team is. Today, it not only plays in the top German league but has even debuted in all three UEFA competitions in the last three years. And guess how this year's Champions League campaign started? In a quite dramatic fashion, against Union Berlin. The 94th-minute defeat against Braga in the second matchday of the CL group stage marked the team's second loss in its debut in the top European tournament, adding to four losses in the last four Bundesliga matches against Leipzig, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, and Heidenheim. These last two months of the 2022/2023 season are continuing in typical Union Berlin style, dampening the enthusiasm from the victories in the first two matchdays against Mainz and Darmstadt. We can only wait and see what the future holds for one of the teams with one of the most tumultuous histories ever.