“The fans even donated blood. You get paid for donating blood in Germany. The money they got for it kept the club alive.”
The words of German football journalist Jacob Sweetman reflect the sacrifices Union Berlin’s fans have made during their club’s journey towards a piece of history.
In May, they became the first club from east Berlin to reach the Bundesliga. On Saturday, they will meet their neighbours Hertha BSC, from the west of the city.
Never before has there been a Bundesliga fixture between east and west Berlin. Indeed, there was a time, when the city was divided by the Berlin Wall, that such a fixture would have been impossible.
After World War Two, Germany divided into two countries. East Germany came under the communist control of the Soviet Union, while West Germany allied with the UK, France, and the United States.
Berlin was also split in two; in 1961, its wall was built to separate the city and prevent people from fleeing the Soviet-controlled eastern half. It did not come down until 1989.
On the sporting front, east Berlin’s teams competed in the East German league system until the reunification of the country in 1990 – with Union Berlin the first to make it to the top flight since.
“Without the fans, this club is nothing,” Sweetman told Football Focus.
Union play at the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei in the eastern neighbourhood of Kopenick. The ground, which is terracing on three sides, holds 22,000.
The club risked losing their licence in 2008 when those terraces were crumbling, but 2,500 fans volunteered to rebuild the stadium and put in 140,000 hours of work between them.
“They bought themselves back from the brink and they rebuilt their own stadium,” Sweetman added. “You can feel that when you go there. It belongs to them, not to anyone else.”
He said that, at a friendly against Hertha BSC, fans who worked on the stadium wore red builder’s hats and “there was not a dry eye in the house”.
“There have been periods in history where the club has been on the brink of bankruptcy,” said Sweetman, noting how fans gave the money they received for blood donations to keep the club alive.
Christian Arbeit, head of communications at Union Berlin, said the campaign “Bleed for Union” was created by the fans.
“This was a very strong symbol of what people are ready to give,” said Arbeit.
The fans’ love for the club is so strong that according to journalist Rylan James, a group once broke into the stadium to wish each other Merry Christmas – and it has been repeated every year since as a tradition.
“They were so fed up about losing the last game before Christmas and went home and sulked,” James said. “Then they realised that they hadn’t wished each other merry Christmas. So they broke into the stadium with some gluhwein and biscuits, wished each other a merry Christmas and
sang carols on the halfway line.”
