Profile — Union Berlin

1. FC Union Berlin, officially 1. Fußballclub Union

1.

1. FC Union Berlin, officially 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., is a football club based in Berlin-Köpenick. Its founding story is complicated. In 1906, in a sandpit behind the school in what is now Plönzeile, ball boys and friends from the local club Excelsior founded the football club Olympia.

That club quickly dissolved, but football enthusiasts from the same environment soon formed a new side inspired by nearby Lichtenberger SC Frisch Auf. Excelsior split into Preußen and Vorwärts, but neither breakaway lasted for long.

In the end, members of all three clubs

In the end, members of all three clubs came together and on 17 June 1906 founded Olympia Oberschöneweide in the Großkopf tavern on Luisenstraße.

In the end, members of all three clubs came together and on 17 June 1906 founded Olympia Oberschöneweide in the Großkopf tavern on Luisenstraße. The team initially consisted almost entirely of pupils and joined BTuFC Helgoland 1897 as a youth side a month later. That did not work out, so half a year later they moved again, this time to BTuFC Union 1892, the German champions of 1905. They spent two years there as the fourth team.

In 1907/08 they won the title in the lowest division of the Verband Berliner Ballspielvereine, their first more substantial success. In February 1909 they broke away and wanted to stand on their own feet. In gratitude and solidarity they adopted both the name and the colours of Union.

From then on they were Union Oberschöneweide, later with SC as a prefix, and wore blue and white.

Three years later, in 1909/10, the Berliners entered

Three years later, in 1909/10, the Berliners entered the league structure as an independent club and did so with notable success.

Three years later, in 1909/10, the Berliners entered the league structure as an independent club and did so with notable success. After three promotions in five years, the club was playing in the top class of Berlin and Brandenburg from 1914 onward. In 1917, in the new Verbandsliga of the Brandenburg Ball Games Association, Union even finished as runners-up.

The club spent almost ten years on a

The club spent almost ten years on a sports field in Wattstraße before moving in 1920 to the Sadowa sports ground, today’s Stadion An der Alten Försterei in the Wuhlheide.

The club spent almost ten years on a sports field in Wattstraße before moving in 1920 to the Sadowa sports ground, today’s Stadion An der Alten Försterei in the Wuhlheide. For the official opening on 7 August 1920, reigning German champions 1. FC Nürnberg came to visit. In 1920 Union became Berlin champions for the first time and were allowed to take part in the finals of the German championship, reaching the quarter-finals before losing 3–2 to Vereinigte Breslauer Sportfreunde.

In 1923 the club became Berlin champions again and advanced all the way to the national final after beating Arminia Bielefeld and SpVgg Fürth. At Berlin’s Grunewaldstadion, Union lost that “home” final 3–0 to Hamburger SV in front of 64,000 spectators. After that, the early golden phase of Union-Ob., as the club was then known, came to an end.

The runner-up finish in Berlin in 1925 and

The runner-up finish in Berlin in 1925 and participation in the Berlin Cup final in 1926 were the only notable later successes.

The runner-up finish in Berlin in 1925 and participation in the Berlin Cup final in 1926 were the only notable later successes. From then on, clubs such as Hertha BSC and Tennis Borussia dominated Berlin football. After the Second World War, the club continued first as communal sports group SG Oberschöneweide, then from 1948 as SG Union Oberschöneweide.

The team even qualified for the 1949 German championship finals, but was not allowed to travel to Kiel for the match against HSV. Almost the entire first team then moved to West Berlin and left Union. In East Germany, the club changed its name to BSG Motor Oberschöneweide and was incorporated as a works sports club into the VEB Transformatorenwerk Karl Liebknecht.

Until 1962 the club played mostly in the third tier of East German football. It was only in 1965/66 that promotion to the DDR-Oberliga came.

That promotion was helped by politics. Herbert Warnke,

That promotion was helped by politics.

That promotion was helped by politics. Herbert Warnke, chairman of the Free German Trade Union Federation, demanded a civilian football club for Berlin’s workers. He got his wish. On 20 January 1966, 1. FC Union Berlin was newly founded.