For the Lovers
Union Berlin's greatest achievements of the 21st century (as of December 2019) are the promotion to the Bundesliga in 2019 and reaching the DFB-Pokal final in 2001 in their own city.
The 2019 relegation playoff: By winning the 2019 relegation playoff against 16th-placed VfB Stuttgart, Union Berlin reached the German top flight for the first time and unleashed sheer pandemonium in the Wuhlheide. Remarkably, the club reached the Bundesliga in May 2019 with three consecutive draws. First, Urs Fischer's team came back from 0-2 down in Bochum. The 2-2 took them into the relegation playoff against VfB Stuttgart. With a 2-2 in Stuttgart and a 0-0 in Berlin, "Die Eisernen" made their fans' dream come true — and went up.
The year 2001: 2001 was, up to that point, the greatest year for 1. FC Union Berlin. The club was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time and, still a third-division side, reached the DFB-Pokal final in their own city against FC Schalke 04. Despite the 0-2 defeat to the Royal Blues, Union as cup finalists were finally eligible for the European Cup.
UEFA Cup: In the UEFA Cup, Georgi Vassilev's team beat the Finnish club Haka Valkeakoski 3-0 in the second leg. The first leg in the Finnish small town ended 1-1. The second leg on September 27, 2001 had a special twist — it had to be played at the Jahn-Stadion of arch-rivals BFC Dynamo, as the Alte Försterei was not approved for international matches.
Intercup winners 1985: Further international successes are thin on the ground. Most notably, in 1985 Union won the Intercup in a group with Bayer Uerdingen, Standard Liège and Lausanne Sports.
Giant-killer at Wuhlheide: The Alte Försterei quickly proved to be a giant-killing ground on the domestic front. In the 2000/01 season, all of German football got to know the Köpenick football cult venue, which until then had been familiar practically only to connoisseurs of east German football or Berlin specialists. That changed during the DFB-Pokal matches of that memorable season. In the tight stadium, where the scoreboard was still operated by hand and the pitch after snowfall for the semi-final resembled a Brandenburg field more than a competitive football ground, the perennial underdogs strung one victory after another together. The absolute highlight of the cup run — five consecutive home wins — was the semi-final against Borussia Mönchengladbach. A 6-4 penalty shootout win sealed Union Berlin's place in the final on February 6, 2001!
Derby wins against Hertha: Union Berlin and their big West Berlin neighbours Hertha BSC did not face each other in the Bundesliga until November 2019. Union won 1-0 through a late goal. In the 2. Bundesliga between 2010 and 2013, there were only four east-west derbies, of which the Köpenickers and Hertha each won one. On February 5, 2011, the Unionists triumphed 2-1 at the Olympiastadion in front of 74,244 spectators. John Jairo Mosquera and Torsten "Tusche" Mattuschka became derby heroes with their goals.
The first Bundesliga win: When mighty BVB visited the Wuhlheide on August 31, 2019, the roles were clearly defined. Dortmund wanted to become champions; Union hadn't won a single Bundesliga match yet. But the game didn't develop as expected. Union took the lead through Marius Bülter in the 22nd minute, BVB equalised through Paco Alcácer in the 25th. At half-time it was 1-1, but the Berliners came out more aggressive and sharper. Bülter again in the 50th minute and Sebastian Andersson in the 75th struck against the Black and Yellows to deliver Union Berlin's first-ever Bundesliga win.
Union outsmarts Buschner: A 2-1 victory over FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1968 FDGB-Pokal final — rated as sensational by GDR standards — brought Union Berlin their only national title. Union coach Werner "Schwenne" Schwenzfeier outsmarted Jena and their coach, later GDR national team manager Georg Buschner, by pulling the 21-year-old rookie Reinhard "Mäcki" Lauck out of the hat. Lauck himself was completely surprised by his selection: "Schwenzfeier must have gone mad!" Not quite. It was a line-up that caught the favourites off guard — Union won 2-1 through goals from Meinhard Uentz and Ralf Quest. "Mäcki" Lauck won the football gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal with the GDR. More on this very special Union moment and the drama that followed the FDGB-Pokal triumph in the Special Moment section a few pages later.