OMG — Union Berlin
Union Berlin and money: since reunification, Union have repeatedly fought financial crises.
OMG
Union Berlin and money: since reunification, Union have repeatedly fought financial crises.
Union Berlin and money: since reunification, Union have
Union Berlin and money: since reunification, Union have repeatedly fought financial crises.
Union Berlin and money: since reunification, Union have repeatedly fought financial crises. Once a financial trick even cost them promotion, and later millions from Kinowelt had to be found to save the club. One thing, though, the Eisernen could always count on, even in the darkest crises, were their loyal supporters – right down to the blood.
The man with the suitcase full of money:
The man with the suitcase full of money: in January 1998, Union found a prominent supporter in media entrepreneur Dr Michael Kölmel of Kinowelt, who made it his business to help financially leaking traditional clubs.
The man with the suitcase full of money: in January 1998, Union found a prominent supporter in media entrepreneur Dr Michael Kölmel of Kinowelt, who made it his business to help financially leaking traditional clubs. Generous or merely shrewd? Opinions differ. In total he invested 65 million euros across various clubs; Union were his first patient. When he and club president Heiner Bertram announced Union’s rescue, Bertram had tears in his eyes. Union became debt free, assigned their television rights to Kölmel and started an image transformation. But did exactly what Nina Hagen’s anthem denied ever happen after all? “Who refuses to be bought by the West? Eisern Union!” Or perhaps not entirely?
Bleeding for Union: Kölmel’s blessing did not flow
Bleeding for Union: Kölmel’s blessing did not flow without interruption.
Bleeding for Union: Kölmel’s blessing did not flow without interruption. When the club crashed into the Oberliga in 2005, his suspended sentence for delaying insolvency was already a fact. Union had already once again been threatened with collapse in 2003/04. Through the blood donation campaign “Bleeding for Union” in May and June 2004, the supporters raised money and helped gather the urgently needed 1.46 million euros. Zingler, Kölmel and other sponsors put in the rest. The club stabilised and later, under Christian Schreier, won promotion back to the Regionalliga.
The forged bank guarantee: the biggest financial crime
The forged bank guarantee: the biggest financial crime story around the Köpenickers took place in 1993.
The forged bank guarantee: the biggest financial crime story around the Köpenickers took place in 1993. On the pitch, Union had finally qualified for the second Bundesliga, beating Bischofswerda 1–0 in the playoff. Afterwards it emerged that the bank guarantee required for licensing had been forged. On 2 July 1993 the DFB awarded the second-division place to hated West Berlin rivals Tennis Borussia. Later reports suggested that an employee of Union’s sponsor had tipped off TeBe boss and Schlager producer Jack White. White gratefully passed on the information. However it happened, the end result was clear: Union were denied entry, then denied a licence again a year later because of debt of 2.56 million marks. To avoid sinking even deeper into the red, they had to sell players such as Marko Rehmer and Sergej Barbarez. Frank Pagelsdorf left Berlin and later took Hansa Rostock up to the Bundesliga.
Deep in the Patsche: no player annoyed Union
Deep in the Patsche: no player annoyed Union more than Nico “Patsche” Patschinski.
Deep in the Patsche: no player annoyed Union more than Nico “Patsche” Patschinski. During his second time at the club from 2006 onward, and perhaps more generally in life, he seemed to maintain a highly individual relationship with money. “What I do with my cash is my business,” he once said. “Whether I wipe my arse with it, gamble it away or burn it. It’s only money.” Critics had viewed him as a gambling addict by 2007 at the latest. Participation in a charity poker tournament organised by hated rivals BFC Dynamo brought him a warning and a 5,000-euro fine. Anti-Union slogans and a wild night out with Dynamo were enough for the club to sack him for bringing Union into disrepute. When the contract was finally dissolved in July 2009, with about 130,000 euros in severance, president Dirk Zingler sighed with relief. “We are glad this chapter is over.”
The Prague Spring prevents the European debut: somehow
The Prague Spring prevents the European debut: somehow Union always used to have bad luck.
The Prague Spring prevents the European debut: somehow Union always used to have bad luck. The 1968 cup triumph should finally have brought the club its first European tie. Instead, the military crushing of the Prague Spring got in the way. The original draw against the Yugoslav side FK Bor was annulled. When West European clubs demanded a redraw, Dynamo Moscow was placed into Union’s path. Then the eastern clubs no longer wanted to participate at all. The GDR withdrew its clubs as well. Union’s first European Cup tickets, already printed, ended up being used for years as scrap paper. It was another giant disappointment.
OMG — Update 2020–2026
From the 2.
From the 2. Bundesliga straight into the Champions
From the 2.
From the 2. Bundesliga straight into the Champions League in only four years — German football had never seen anything like it. And then: zero points in the Champions League and almost relegation. The drop was immense.
The fan-built stadium remains one of the most
The fan-built stadium remains one of the most remarkable chapters in the club’s history.
The fan-built stadium remains one of the most remarkable chapters in the club’s history. In 2008/09, 2,300 volunteers built their own ground — more than 140,000 hours of work, unpaid.