Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about the history of 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin, also known as Union Berlin. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
Union Berlin is located in the southeastern part of the German capital city of Berlin. Berlin is located in the northeastern part of Germany. The club currently play in the Bundesliga and its home ground is called the ‘Stadion An der Alten Försterei’, which translates as ‘stadium at the old forest warden’s lodge’. The stadium opened in 1920 and currently holds about 22,000 people, but the club plans to expand to about 37,000 people in the near future.
Origin
Union Berlin can trace its origin to 1906. During this year, there were 3 separate clubs that existed in the area of Oberschöneweide, which was a suburb of Berlin at the time. Members of the 3 clubs recognized that they couldn’t survive individually, so they met on June 17, 1906 at the ‘Großkopf’ restaurant on Luisenstrasse to form Sport Club Olympia Oberschöneweide.
The club would go through some mergers and name changes in its early years. On February 20, 1909, the club was officially renamed Sport Club Union 06 Oberschöneweide after one of these mergers. It was the first time Union was associated with the club.
After the 2nd World War, the Allies dissolved all existing clubs and forced them to take on different names. So SC Union 06 Oberschöneweide became Sportgemeinschaft Oberschöneweide in 1945. In 1948, clubs were allowed to restore their original names and the club added Union back to its name to become Sportgemeinschaft Union Oberschöneweide.
The club would go through even more mergers and name changes over the next 20 years or so before finally becoming its current name of 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin on January 20, 1966. The club’s colors also became red & white with this name change which are its current colors.
Nickname(s)
Union Berlin’s 2 nicknames are more or less the same. The club is nicknamed either die Eisernen or Eisern Union. These nicknames mean the Iron Ones or Iron Union.
Both nicknames feature the German word ‘Eisern’ which means iron in English.
This nickname came about because the club was previously nicknamed Schlosserjungs, which means metalworker boys in English. The Schlosserjungs was a reference to the club’s blue kits worn in its early years resembling the same uniforms worn by local metal workers in Oberschöneweide. The Eisern related nicknames evolved from this Schlosserjungs nickname over the years as the club was renamed and changed its colors.
Crest
The club’s main colors of red and white are featured on the crest as well as accent colors of yellow & black. The club’s full name is the main element of the crest.
Additionally, in the letter ‘C’, there is a soccer ball combined with the Berlin Bear. The soccer ball obviously refers to the sport that the club plays and the Berlin Bear is from the city of Berlin’s coat of arms. Bears have featured on the city seal since the 13th century.
The 1. FC Union Berlin crest’s shape is unique as it doesn’t fit the conventional circular crest design used by many German clubs.
Important Events
On June 9, 1968, Union Berlin played FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the final of the FDGB Pokal or East German Cup. Union conceded a goal within the first minute, but fought back with goals from Meinhard Uentz and Ralf Quest to win the match 2-1. It was the club’s first and so far only major trophy.
The next event I’d like to discuss is that the club qualified for the 2. Bundesliga in back to back years in 1993 & 1994, but were denied a playing license because of the club’s poor financial position. These were very disappointing times and it unfortunately wasn’t the club’s only financial issues, which we’ll discuss more in our next section.
The 3rd event I’d like to highlight is the fantastic 2000-2001 season. On April 29, 2001, Union beat Rot-Weiss Essen 1-0 at home. The win clinched the Regionalliga Nord division championship and automatic promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. It was the first time since German reunification that Union would be playing in the 2. Bundesliga. The great times weren’t over for the club that season though. On May 26, 2001, Union lost the DFB Pokal final to Schalke 2-0. Union were in the 3rd division at the time, so reaching the final was an incredible accomplishment. Though Union lost the final, the club qualified for the UEFA Cup (now known as the Europa League) because Schalke had already qualified for the Champions League that season. Union became the first and so far only 3rd tier club to qualify for the UEFA Cup/Europa League. The 2000-2001 season was a great one for the club.
And the final events I’d like to highlight are from the 2018-2019 2. Bundesliga season. Union finished the season in 3rd place in the league, which meant it’d have a promotion playoff against the 16th place finisher from the Bundesliga, VfB Stuttgart. On May 23, 2019, Union drew 2-2 away at Stuttgart. Four days later on May 27, the club held Stuttgart to a 0-0 draw at home. That meant Union would advance on the away goals rule and would become just the third lower-division side to win the playoff against a Bundesliga club since it was reintroduced in the late 2000s. It was an historic day for the club as it meant the club would play in the Bundesliga for the first time ever.
Supporters
There are so many incredible stories about FC Union Berlin supporters. For time purposes, I’m only going to mention a few here, but you should definitely look into the club and its supporters in more detail.
In 2004, the club was on the verge of bankruptcy. Fans decided to help raise money for the club by donating blood to local hospitals and giving the money received from the hospitals to the club. The campaign was called ‘Bluten für Union’ or ‘bleeding for Union,’ in English.
Then, in 2008, the club was still in a bad financial position and needed to renovate its stadium to secure a playing license for the 3rd division. More than 2,300 supporters donated over 140,000 voluntary working hours to completely renovate the stadium.
Additionally, while all Union Berlin supporters are passionate, probably the most passionate sit in the Waldseite or forest side of the stadium behind the one goal. In the Waldseite, if people are using their phone or other recording devices too much, they are asked to relocate to another part of the stadium. People in the Waldseite are expected to be focused on and passionately supporting Union Berlin for the entire match. It should be noted that this is kind of the case all over the stadium as Union supporters want people focused solely on the game and supporting die Eisernen.
Lastly, the supporters’ famous chant is Eisern Union. One side of the stadium will call out Eisern and the other side responds with Union. The chant will go back and forth between the two sides before everyone applauds at the end.
Noteworthy Players
Günter Hoge was nicknamed Jimmy Hoge and was a fantastic dribbler who was a crowd favorite. He actually played at one of 1. FC Union Berlin’s predecessor clubs starting in 1964 and was forced into an early retirement in 1970 after going binge drinking with his ex-coach. Before retiring, Jimmy became the first ever East German national team player to come from Union Berlin and he helped lead Union to their 1968 East German Cup win.
Lutz Hendel was nicknamed ‘Meter’ and joined Union Berlin as a youth player in 1968. He’d make his first team debut in the spring of 1976 and the midfielder would play many matches for Union Berlin across 2 different stints with the club. Hendel was twice voted Unioner of the year by fans and is the club’s all-time record appearance holder.
Wolfgang Matthies was a goalkeeper for many years at FC Union Berlin, debuting in 1974. He’d have 3 different stints with the club and was voted Unioner of the year by fans on 4 different occasions. In 2006, fans voted Matthies as the most valuable player in the club’s history and he is unquestionably a club legend.
And the final player I’d like to discuss is Karim Benyamina. Nicknamed “Big Ben”, Benyamina joined the club in 2005 in the summer immediately after it had been relegated to the 4th division. Benyamina would help lead the club out of the 4th division in his first season and would be a key player as the club reached the 2. Bundesliga in 2009. Big Ben left Union in 2011 as the club’s all-time record goalscorer and the club promised to not allow anyone else to wear his #22 jersey unless they break his goal scoring record.
Noteworthy Managers
I’d like to highlight 4 managers in this section.
First is Werner Schwenzfeier who was the club’s first manager in 1966 after becoming 1. FC Union Berlin. Schwenzfeier would manage just over 100 games for Union, lead the club back into the East German top division, and win the 1968 East German Cup. He left in 1969, but his legacy will forever be remembered because this trophy is still the only major trophy in the club’s history.
The second I’d like to talk about is Heinz Werner. Werner led the club for 181 games from 1976 to 1982, helping the club get back to the top division in East Germany. He was mysteriously replaced in 1982 and nearly joined the club as manager again in 1992, but it didn’t work out. Werner has remained connected to Union over the years and was named honorary member of the club in January 2011.
The third manager I’d like to discuss is Uwe Neuhaus. Neuhaus is the longest tenured manager in the club’s history, managing 266 games from 2007 to 2014. He led the club out of the 3rd division and solidified its place in the 2. Bundesliga for many seasons. Before leaving in 2014, Neuhaus would win more than 100 games with Union Berlin and is one of the greatest & longest serving managers in the club’s history.
And the final manager I’d like to briefly mention is current manager Urs Fischer. Taking over in the summer of 2018, Fischer immediately led the club to promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history. For that reason alone, he deserves mention here and it’s also been helpful that he has the club mid-table at time of recording in its first ever Bundesliga season. If Fischer can establish Union as a regular Bundesliga club, he is well on his way to legendary status at Union Berlin.
Rivals
Eisern Union have a handful of rivals with some being old and some being new. Let’s start with Union’s old rival.
The club’s main rival in its East German years was BFC Dynamo. In the 1970s, Dynamo Dresden were one of the best clubs in East Germany, so the Stasi forced the relocation of the club’s squad to a small club in Berlin called BFC Dynamo because it wanted a powerful club in the capital. BFC Dynamo immediately became a powerhouse because it was government backed and allowed to manipulate the league. Union supporters were always known for being anti-establishment and this became one of the fiercest rivalries in East Germany even though Union didn’t enjoy much success on the field against their rivals. With the reunification of Germany in 1990, this rivalry has basically gone away as the two sides rarely meet anymore.
Union’s current main rival is likely fellow Berlin based Hertha BSC. Union Berlin has a smaller fan base, lower economic resources, and is the underdog compared to Hertha’s size, strength, and relative success. The rivalry is also very interesting because the clubs were separated by the Berlin wall for many years, and therefore, haven’t actually played many times in competitive matches. In fact, there was a partnership between the clubs and their supporters when Germany was divided with fans supporting both teams. The two clubs met in a friendly in 1990 shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall, but 8 months before Germany was officially reunified. The rivalry typically isn’t as intense as many other rivalries in Germany, but the first ever top flight meeting of these 2 sides happened on November 2, 2019 and Union won 1-0. The match was a true derby game with passion overflowing from some Union supporters who invaded the pitch at full-time. If both sides remain in the Bundesliga, this rivalry should continue to grow.
And lastly, I’d like to mention Union’s rivalry with RB Leipzig. As already mentioned, Union supporters are known for being anti-establishment and really committed to the concept of community based clubs. For this reason, RB Leipzig’s ownership structure of being owned by the Red Bull energy drink company makes the club a target of Union’s passion. Union’s first ever Bundesliga home match was against RB Leipzig and the Union supporters were silent for the first 15 minutes as a protest against Leipzig. Though many Union supporters will likely say that RB Leipzig isn’t even a real club and therefore can’t be considered a rivalry, the passion from Union supporters against RB Leipzig is palpable and the different philosophies of these two clubs creates a dynamic that makes for an interesting rivalry.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of December 2019, which is when we are recording this video.
Union Berlin is currently playing in its first ever Bundesliga season. The club had at least 6 top flight seasons in the East German league as well.
The club’s 1 major trophy is the 1 FDGB (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) Pokal or East German Cup in 1968.
Union’s record first team appearance holder is Lutz “Meter” Hendel with 422 first team appearances.
The club’s record goal scorer is Karim Benyamina with 87 first team goals in all competitions.
Eisern Union’s record transfer purchase is a tie between Anthony Ujah & Marvin Friedrich who each were purchased for ~€2M. Ujah was bought on July 1, 2019 from 1.FSV Mainz 05. And Friedrich was bought on July 5, 2019 from FC Augsburg.
And the club’s record transfer sale was Bobby Wood to Hamburger SV on July 1, 2016 for ~€4M.
And 2 last interesting facts about the club:
(1) In 2003, 89 fans snuck into the club’s stadium just before Christmas to sing Christmas carols. The German league takes a break in the winter time, so fans wanted to get together to wish each other a Merry Christmas near the actual holiday. For 2 years, the event was a small, underground gathering before the club officially recognized it. Now, more than 20,000 people attend the Union Weihnachtssingen event near Christmas.
(2) For the 2014 World Cup, fans were allowed to bring their sofas onto the pitch at the club’s stadium and watch matches on the stadium’s big screen. 750 sofas were brought to the stadium for the event.
So there you have it… a bit of history on 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below the video.
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