The history of East German football is complex, and that of its clubs particularly so. After World War II, the occupying allies disbanded most German organisations, including football clubs. While some were re-formed, others were not, and many that were emerged having been renamed, merged with their neighbours, or even split. The instability continued throughout the DDR era, with many clubs being moved to new towns, and with very frequent name-changes, Soviet-sounding names like Dynamo and Lokomotive replacing more traditional names. After re-unification, many clubs reverted to their pre-East German names, but some stuck with them, and others have changed back again. This page lists all prominent East German clubs, along with their original name, their present day name, and a list of name changes and mergers that they underwent.
| DDR name | Pre-DDR name | Current name | Other names | DDR Titles | DDR Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSG Wismut Aue | Pneumatik Aue | FC Erzgebirge Aue | BSG Pneumatik Aue (1946–49) BSG Zentra Wismut Aue (1949–51) SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt (1954–63) FC Wismut Aue (1990–93) |
3 | 1 |
| BSG Rotation Babelsberg | SG Babelsberg | Fortuna Babelsberg | SG Babelsberg (1946–49) BSG Märkische Volksstimme Potsdam-Babelsberg (1949–50) BSG DEFA Babelsberg (1969–90) |
- | - |
| Berliner FC Dynamo° | None (formed 1951) | Berliner FC Dynamo | SG Volkspolizei Berlin (1951–53) SG Dynamo Berlin (1953–54) SC Dynamo Berlin (1954–66) FC Berlin (1990–99) |
10 | 3 |
| 1. FC Union Berlin° | SC Oberschöneweide | 1. FC Union Berlin | SC Olympia 06 Oberschöneweide (1906–1920) SG Oberschöneweide (1945–49) SG Union Oberschöneweide (1949–51) BSG Motor Oberschöneweide (1951–55) SC Motor Berlin (1955–57) TSC Oberschöneweide (1957–63) TSC Berlin (1963–66) |
- | 1 |
| BSG Chemie Böhlen | None (founded 1969) | SV Chemie Böhlen | BSG Brennstoff Böhlen (1949–52) BSG Benzinwerk Böhlen (1949–52) BSG Aktivist Böhlen (1952–68) SV Chemie Böhlen (1990) |
- | - |
| FC Vorwärts Berlin° FC Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder° |
None (founded 1951) | Frankfurter FC Viktoria | Vorwärts Leipzig (1951–53) ZSK Vorwärts Berlin (1953–56) ZASK Vorwärts Berlin (1956) ASK Vorwärts Berlin (1956–66) FC Victoria Frankfurt/Oder (1991–92) |
6 | 2 |
| BSG Stahl Brandenburg | None (founded 1950) | FC Stahl Brandenburg | BSV Stahl Brandenburg (1990–93) BSV Brandenburg (1993–98) |
- | - |
| BSG Energie Cottbus | None (founded 1963) | FC Energie Cottbus | BSG Aktivist Brieske-Ost (1950–54) SC Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg (1954–63) SC Cottbus (1963–66) |
- | - |
| BSG Motor Dessau | SV Dessau 05 | SV Dessau 05 | FC Adler (1905) Dessauer FC (1905–1919) SV BAMAG Dessau (?-1919) VfR Dessau (1919–21) SpVgg Dessau (?-1921) Blau-Weiss Dessau (1945–47) Sport-Union Dessau (1947–48) SG Dessau-Nord (1948–49) BSG Waggonbau Dessau (1949) BSG Waggonfabrik Dessau (1949–50) SG Waggonbau 05 Dessau (1990–95) |
- | 1 |
| SG Dynamo Dresden°° | None (founded 1953) | SG Dynamo Dresden | SG Volkspolizei Dresden (1950–52) 1. FC Dynamo Dresden (1990–2007) |
8 | 7 |
| SG Dresden-Friedrichstadt | Dresdner SC | Dresdner SC | None (disbanded 1950-91) | - | - |
| BSG Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt | None (founded 1950) | Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl | BSG Stahl Fuerstenberg Ost (1950–53) BSG Stahl Stalinstadt (1953–59) |
- | - |
| FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt° | SG Erfurt West | Rot-Weiss Erfurt | SG Erfurt West (1946–48) SG Fortuna Erfurt (1948–49) KWU Erfurt (1949–50) Turbine Erfurt (1950–54) SC Turbine Erfurt (1954–65) |
2 | - |
| BSG Wismut Gera | SG Gera-Pforden | 1.SV Gera | 1.VfR Gera (?-1922) Allgemeinen Turngemeinde Gera (?-1922) SpVgg Gera 04 Concordia Gera-Reuß (?-1936) SG Gera-Pforden (1945–49) RFT Gera (?-1950) BSG Mechanik Gera (1950–51) BSG Motor Gera (1951–52) |
- | - |
| Hallescher FC Chemie° | SG Freiimfelde Halle | Hallescher FC | SG Freiimfelde Halle (1945–49) ZSG Union Halle (1949–50) BSG Turbine Halle (1950–54) SC Chemie Halle-Leune (1954–58) SC Chemie Halle (1958–66) |
2 | 2 |
| FC Carl Zeiss Jena° | 1.SV Jena | FC Carl Zeiss Jena | FC der Firma Carl Zeiss (1903–11) FC Carl Zeiss Jena (1911–17, 1966-) Ernst-Abbe Jena (1946–48) Stadion Jena (1948–49) BSG Carl Zeiss Jena (1949–51) Mechanik Jena (1951) BSG Motor Jena (1951–54) SC Motor Jena (1954–66) |
3 | 4 |
| FC Karl-Marx-Stadt° | None (founded 1945) | Chemnitzer FC | SG Chemnitz Nord (1945–48) BSG Fewa Chemnitz (1948–51) BSG Chemie Chemnitz (1951–53) SC Chemie Karl-Marx-Stadt (1953–56) SC Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt (1956–63) SC Karl-Marx-Stadt (1963–66) |
1 | - |
| BSG Chemie Leipzig | TuRa Leipzig | FC Sachsen Leipzig | Britannia Leipzig (1899–1919) Hertha Leipzig (1905–19) Leipziger SV (1919–1938) SG Leipzig-Leutzsch (1945–49) Industrie Leipzig (1949–50) Dissolved (1954–63) Grün-Weiß Leipzig (1990) Chemie Böhlen (?-1990) |
2 | 1 |
| 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig° | VfB Leipzig | 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig | SG Probstheida (1946–54) SC Rotation Leipzig (1946–63) SC Leipzig (1963–65) VfB Leipzig (1896–1946, 1991–2004) |
- | 4 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg° | None (founded 1945) | 1.FC Magdeburg | SG Sudenburg (1945) SG Lemsdorf (1945) SAG Krupp Grusson (1945–50) Eintracht Sudenburg (1945–51) Stahl Magdeburg (1951–52) Motor Mitte Magdeburg (1952–57) Aufbau Magdeburg (1957–65) SC Magdeburg (1965) |
3 | 8 |
| BSG Einheit Pankow | SG Pankow-Nord | VfB-Einheit zu Pankow | VfB Pankow (1893–1945) SG Pankow Nord (1945–51) VfB Pankow (1949–50) PSV Einheit Pankow (1990–91) |
- | - |
| BSG Motor WEMA Plauen | VFC Plauen | VFC Plauen | SG Plauen-West (1946–49) Sachsenverlag Plauen (1949–51) Rotation Plauen (1951–55) Wismit Plauen (1955–63) |
- | - |
| BSG Stahl Riesa | Riesaer SV | TSV Stahl Riesa | SC Riesa (1903–05) FC Wettin (?-1917) SG Riesa (1945–48) Riesaer SV (1905–45) Stahlwerk Riesa (1945–48) FC Stahl Riesa (1990–91) Riesaer SV Blau-Weiß (1991–98) FC Stahl Riesa (1998–2003) |
- | - |
| FC Hansa Rostock° | SG Lauter | F.C. Hansa Rostock | SG Lauter (1946–49) BSG Freihet Wismut Lauter (1950–51) BSG Empor Lauter (1951–54) Empor Rostock (1954–65) |
1 | 1 |
| BSG Lokomotive Stendal | Viktoria Stendal | 1. FC Lok Stendal | SG Stendal-Nord (1945–48) Blau-Weiss Stendal (1948–49) SG Eintracht Stendal (1949) SG Blau-Weiß Stendal (1949) BSG "Hans Wendler" Stendal (1949–50) FSV Lok Altmark Stendal (1990–2002) |
- | - |
| BSG Sachsenring Zwickau | SG Planitz | FSV Zwickau | SC Planitz (-1945) SG Planitz (1945–49) ZSG Horch Zwickau (1949–50) BSG Motor Zwickau (1950–68) |
1 | 3 |
° Football club (FC), which were foundet 1965-66 as centers of high-level football in the GDR.
°° SG Dynamo Dresden was a sport-community with FC-status.
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