Club Soccer in the City of Berlin

February 22nd, 2009

Although Germany has been traditionally a very successful footballing country, the same level of success has not been shared by teams hailing from the capital city of Berlin. In the forty-six seasons of the Bundesliga, the top level of football in Germany, there has always been at least one representative from Berlin. For forty-five of those seasons, the team was Hertha BSC Berlin, who, despite their long tenure in the top division of German football, have never won the championship. The one season that Hertha were not present, the DFB, Germany’s governing body of football, promoted Tasmania Berlin to the Bundesliga to replace them.

Tasmania finished the season with the worst record in Bundesliga history and were relegated back to the second division. In East Germany, similar pressures saw Berlin-based teams in the top division, but further political wrangling and influence from the police force saw Dynamo Berlin win ten straight championships from 1979 to 1988. However, the cheating was so obvious that, after the tenth championship, the Politburo saw fit to comment on the bribing of referees and forced player transfers that were taking place.

Dynamo, despite their dominance in the domestic league, faltered greatly in continental competition, especially when compared to the teams they were allegedly superior to in the East German league. The corruption cost the team a substantial portion of its fanbase, and the championships they did win are seen as so tainted that the DFB does not allow the team to wear stars on their shirt, an honor bestowed upon past national champions.

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