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Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kassel: Agon-Sportverlag. . They were founded on 12 April 1953 as a club affiliated with the East German police and became one of the most popular and successful clubs in East German football, winning eight league titles. After the reunification of Germany, Dynamo played four seasons in the top division Bundesliga from 1991 to 1995, but have since drifted between the second and fourth tiers. The club were relegated from the
2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
to the
3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for th ...
at the end of the 2019–20 season, but earned immediate promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga by winning the
2020–21 3. Liga The 2020–21 3. Liga was the 13th season of the 3. Liga. It began on 18 September 2020 and concluded on 22 May 2021. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 24 July 2020 and conclude on 15 May 2021, though this was delayed due to postpon ...
. Although the club's badge is predominantly red, they use gold and black as their home colours, derived from the official city flag and coat of arms of the city of Dresden.


History


Early years (1950–1954)

The city of Dresden played a significant part in German football before and during World War II. Local football team Dresdner SC won the
national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
in 1943 and 1944. The occupying Allied authorities dissolved organizations across Germany, including sports clubs like Dresdner SC, after the war as part of the process of denazification. Dresdner SC was reestablished in 1946 as SG Friedrichstadt. However, the eastern part of Germany, including Dresden, was under Soviet control, and the sports club was considered too
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
by authorities. SG Friedrichstadt met ZSG Horst Zwickau at the Heinz-Steyer-Stadion in Dresden on 16 April 1950. The match would practically decide which of the two teams that would win the East German championship in the 1949–50 season. The match was attended by 60,000 spectators at the Heinz-Steyer-Stadion. Also the SED First Secretary
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
and his entourage were present. ZSG Horch Zwickau had been founded only one year earlier and embodied the form of organization that the SED and the state leadership wanted to promote for the sports movement they propagated. ZSG Horch Zwickau won the match 1–5 and became East German champions. The match was characterized by a very physical play from ZSG Horch Zwickau and several controversial referee decisions in favor of ZSG Horch Zwickau. The players of SG Friedrichstadt left the pitch without greeting their opponents and thousands of angry Dresden spectators invaded the pitch. East German sports authorities took these events as a pretext to dissolve SG Friedrichstadt and delegate the players to BSG VVB Tabak Dresden. The city needed a new, ideologically safe representative in the
DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied easter ...
. BSG VVB Tabak Dresden was planned to take over the place of SG Friedrichstadt in the DDR-Oberliga. However, most players from the former team of SG Friedrichstadt, including player-coach Helmut Schön, did not agree with the move and left Dresden to join Hertha BSC or other clubs under the German football Association (DFB). To save the place in the DDR-Oberliga for Dresden, the place was instead given to SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden. SV Deutsche Volkzpolizei Dresden was founded as SG Volkspolizei Dresden in October 1948. The sports community was incorporated into the new sports association SV Deutsche Volkspolizei in 1950 and renamed SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden. SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden played in the Stadtliga Dresden at the time of the dissolution of SG Fredrichsstadt. SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden was thus able to enter DDR-Oberliga without having to progress through divisions. In order to put together a strong team for SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden to the 1950-51 DDR-Oberliga, the 40 best players of the various Volkspolizei teams in East Germany were brought together for a training session in Forst in July 1950. Coaches Fritz Sack and Paul Döring picked out 17 players from 11 different cities who were delegated to Dresden to form the team. SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Potsdam lost its five top-performers to Dresden, including
Herbert Schoen Herbert Schoen (18 May 1929 – 8 April 2014) was a German international footballer. Playing career The defender played internationally with the East German national team in the 1950s. On club level he appeared in 179 Oberliga matches. Coachi ...
, Johannes Matzen and
Günter Schröter Günter Schröter (May 3, 1927 – February 10, 2016), often nicknamed Moppel, was a German football player and coach who appeared in 39 matches for East Germany. Career Early years He began playing football at young age. He played his first ...
, and was severely weakened. SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden quickly established itself as a force in East German football. The team won its first title in the 1951–52 FDGB-Pokal. The new sports association SV Dynamo was founded on 27 March 1953. SV Dynamo was formed from SV Deutsche Volkspolizei and the sports communities of the Secretariat of State Security, commonly known as the Stasi. The president of SV Dynamo was Erich Mielke, at the time deputy head of the Stasi. SV Deutsche Volkspolizei was incorporated into SV Dynamo and reformed as Dynamo Dresden on 12 April 1953. The official founding date of Dynamo Dresden has since been 12 April 1953. Shortly after this, the club claimed its first league title. However, success proved to be the club's undoing. The team of Dynamo Dresden was relocated to Berlin in November 1954 to play for the new
sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
SC Dynamo Berlin in the DDR-Oberliga. The remainder of Dynamo Dresden was left to regroup in the second-tier
DDR-Liga The DDR-Liga (English: GDR League or ''East German League'') was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany), bei ...
, taking over the place in the DDR-Liga, as well as points and goals, from dissolved SC DHFK Leipzig. Political factors and pressure from Erich Mielke were probably the main reasons behind the relocation of Dynamo Dresden to Berlin. The relocation was meant to provide the capital with a competitive team that could rival Hertha BSC,
Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin Sp.Vg. Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin, generally referred to as Blau-Weiß 90, was a German association football club based in the Mariendorf district of Berlin. The club was formed on 27 July 1927 out of the merger of ''Berliner FC Vorwärts 1890'' ...
and
Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and t ...
, which were still popular in East Berlin and drew football fans to West Berlin.


Re-emergence (1954–1969)

Dynamo Dresden were left with a team composed of youth and reserve players, and had dropped to the fourth tier by 1957, playing in the local
Bezirksliga The Bezirksliga ( en, County League) is commonly a medium set of amateur divisions set at steps 7, 8 or 9 in the German football league system. Structure Depending on the structural organisation within each of the 21 state football associations ...
. Dynamo Dresden began to climb the divisions, though, and by 1962 they were back in the
DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied easter ...
, and although this first season ended in relegation, they bounced back immediately. They recovered equally well from another relegation in
1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...
, and remained in the Oberliga from
1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
until its dissolution in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Ph ...
. This relegation came after a fourth-place finish in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
, which enabled Dynamo's first foray into European football – they entered the 1967–68 Fairs Cup, where they were eliminated by Scottish side
Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
in the first round. East German football was reorganized during the 1965–66 season. Ten football departments were separated from their sports clubs to create ten dedicated
football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all ...
(german: Fußballclub) (FC). The best talents in the country were meant to be concentrated in the new dedicated football cubs, with the object to bring stability to the game at the top level and to develop players for the national team. It had long been planned to merge Dynamo Dresden with the football department of sports club SC Einheit Dresden, in order concentrate the best footballer in the regional district in one club. This had been done in Leipzig. However, a tug of war developed between Erich Mielke and the SED First secretary in
Bezirk Dresden The Bezirk Dresden was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany that lasted from 1952 to 1990. Dresden would be reabsorbed back into Saxony after the reunification of Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Dresden. History The dist ...
Werner Krolikowski Werner Krolikowski (born 12 March 1928) is an East German political official who became a senior politician. He was a member of the Central Committee of the ruling SED (party) politburo and a deputy chairman of the national Council of Ministers. ...
. Erich Mielke did not want to give up Dynamo Dresden, while Krolikowski advocated for the establishment of a civil football club. The stalemate continued for one and a half year. The football department of SC Einheit Dresden was reorganized as FSV Lokomotive Dresden on 12 January 1966. Dynamo Dresden was then declared a regional district center of excellence (german: Leistungszentrum) in Bezirk Dresden by the district board of the
DTSB The Deutscher Turn- und Sportbund (DTSB; ''German Gymnastics and Sports Federation'') was a mass organization of the German Democratic Republic from 1957 until shortly after German reunification. Membership in the organization included nearly f ...
on 5 August 1968. The club could now draw on the best players in the whole regional district. Dynamo Dresden would enjoy the same funding and the same privileges as a designated football club, although it retained its designation as a "Sports Community" (german: Sportgemeinschaft) (SG). Without this support, the club's future success would have been hard to achieve.


Glory years (1969–1978)

During the 1970s, Dynamo established themselves as one of the top teams in East Germany, under the management of Walter Fritzsch. They won five league titles (
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Jan ...
,
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
,
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
,
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Re ...
and
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 � ...
), and two cups, (
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Jan ...
and
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Re ...
). They battled with
1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German association football club based in the city of Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 and spent all but one season in East Germany top flight, the DDR-Oberliga, winning three championships and seven cup titles. It ...
for domination of the league, and became the most popular the side in the country, regularly drawing crowds of 25,000, around three times what other clubs were attracting. They also began to establish themselves as a presence in European football – they played in European competition every year during the 1970s, and eliminated some big names – beating FC Porto, Juventus and Benfica on their way to four quarter-final finishes. During this time Dynamo came up against West German opposition for the first time, losing against
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...
7–6 on aggregate in the last 16 of the
1973–74 European Cup The 1973–74 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won for the first time by Bayern Munich, beginning their own three-year period of domination, in a replayed final against Atlético Madrid, the only such occasion in the tournam ...
. Dynamo Dresden lost the first leg 4–3 away in Munich and managed a 3–3 draw home at the Dynamo-Stadion. The Stasi had tapped the salon at the Interhotel Newa in Dresden were the Bayern Munich team held their final meeting before the second leg. And a message with information about the line-up of Bayern Munich was quickly sent by motorcycle to the coach of Dynamo Dresden Walter Fritzsch in preparation for the match. On three occasions they were eliminated by English side Liverpool, twice in the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, w ...
and once in the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, and each time Liverpool went on to win the competition. On three other occasions in the 1970s, Dynamo were eliminated by the team that eventually won the tournament — Leeds United in the 1970-71 Fairs Cup, Ajax in the 1971-72 European Cup, and Bayern Munich in the 1973-74 European Cup. In 1973, Hans-Jürgen Kreische was the first Dynamo Dresden player to be named
East German Footballer of the Year The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in Germany since 1960. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title Women's Footballer of the Year (German ...
, and was followed by
Hans-Jürgen Dörner Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German football player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the on ...
in 1977. Kreische was the league's leading goalscorer on four occasions, and was named in East Germany's squad for the
1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that ...
, along with teammate Siegmar Wätzlich.


Capital dominance (1978–1991)

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...
stood out among other clubs within SV Dynamo. The club was located at the frontline of the Cold war and was a representative of the capital of East Germany. This meant that the club had to be well equipped. BFC Dynamo was considered the favorite club of the president of SV Dynamo and the head of the Stasi Erich Mielke. Under the patronage of Erich Mielke and the Stasi, BFC Dynamo would get access to the best training facilities, equipment, coaching staff and talents. East German football had generally been set up in favour of the designated
football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all ...
(FC), who had access to talents within designated areas. Dynamo Dresden was a center of excellence in Bezirk Dresden, which meant that the club had privileged access to talents in the whole regional district. However, BFC Dynamo would be able to draw on talents from all parts of East Germany, except Bezirk Dresden. The club benefited from a nation-wide scouting network, supported by numerous training centers (TZ) of SV Dynamo. BFC Dynamo would have the best material conditions in the league and the best team by far. BFC Dynamo won ten consecutive titles, from
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
to
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicentenn ...
. Of all clubs, Dynamo Dresden were the most affected by their success, finishing runners-up on six occasions. However, Dynamo Dresden also had its patrons. According to
Hans-Jürgen Dörner Hans-Jürgen "Dixie" Dörner (25 January 1951 – 19 January 2022) was a German football player and coach. He distinguished himself during his career by being named East Germany's player of the year three times (1977, 1984 and 1985) – the on ...
, the club was helped to remain a top club by three local politicians. One of them was
Hans Modrow Hans Modrow (; born 27 January 1928) is a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. Taking office in the middle of the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the country for much of the winter ...
, the long-time SED First Secretary in
Bezirk Dresden The Bezirk Dresden was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany that lasted from 1952 to 1990. Dresden would be reabsorbed back into Saxony after the reunification of Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Dresden. History The dist ...
. Another one was Manfred Scheler ( de), the head of the District Council in Bezirk Dresden. Scheler was a devoted fan, who was active in using his connections to provide players with shortage goods and services, such as a car, an apartment or a plumber. A third was Lieutenant general Willi Nyffenegger ( de), the long-time head of the regional district authority of the
Volkspolizei The ''Deutsche Volkspolizei'' (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the ''Volkspolizei'' or VoPo, was the national police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a ...
in Bezirk Dresden. The club also benefited from support by Stasi Major general Horst Böhm ( de), the head of the regional district administration of the Stasi in Bezirk Dresden. Böhm took involvement in the appointment and dismissal of trainers and the contracts of players. He was also a sponsoring member of the club. According to Hans-Jürgen Dörner, Horst Böhm put local patriotism first in the rivalry with BFC Dynamo. The rivalry between fans of the two Dynamo clubs also spread to units within the Stasi Guards Regiment "Felix E. Dzerzhinsky". Another keen supporter was the long time SED Second Secretary in Bezirk Dresden Lothar Stammnitz. Walter Fritzsch had retired in 1978, and was succeeded by Gerhard Prautzsch, who was in turn followed by former players
Klaus Sammer Klaus Sammer (born 5 December 1942) is a German former professional football player and coach. He spent the early part of his career with Stahl Gröditz and Einheit Dresden, before joining Dynamo Dresden, the club where he would spend the major ...
(1983–86),
Eduard Geyer Eduard "Ede" Geyer (born 7 October 1944) is a German former professional football player and manager. He was the last manager of the East German national team. Playing career Geyer was born in Bielsko (Bielitz), during the German occupation ...
(1986–90) and Reinhard Häfner (1990–91). The star players of the 1970 were replaced by a new generation, including
Torsten Gütschow Torsten Gütschow (born 28 July 1962) is a German football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is most associated with Dynamo Dresden, with whom he had two successful spells, playing top level football in East Germany and afte ...
,
Ulf Kirsten Ulf Kirsten (born 4 December 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''Der Schwatte'' (dialect for ''Der Schwarze'', 'The Black One'), he is the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps play ...
, Matthias Sammer, and
Andreas Trautmann Andreas Trautmann (born 21 May 1959) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Trautmann spent much of his career with Dynamo Dresden, for whom he played 270 games in the DDR-Oberliga (the third most for the clu ...
, although the club lost three key players in 1981: Gerd Weber, who along with teammates Peter Kotte and Matthias Müller had been offered a lucrative contract with 1. FC Köln, intended to flee to the West while in Udine for
national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
match against Italy in April 1981. The
Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maintaining state authori ...
somehow got wind of this plan, and in January 1981 the three players were arrested at
Schönefeld Airport Schönefeld (meaning ''beautiful field'') is a suburban municipality in the Dahme-Spreewald district, Brandenburg, Germany. It borders the southeastern districts of Berlin. The municipal area encompasses the old Berlin Schönefeld Airport (SXF) ...
, from where the national team was about depart for
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and banned for life from the
DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied easter ...
. Weber was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Kotte and Müller, who had decided to stay in Dresden, were nonetheless punished for their knowledge of Weber's plans. Dynamo Dresden managed to win the
FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football aft ...
three times (
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., U ...
and
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
,
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
). During the 1980s, the club continued to be a regular participant in European football, generally earning respectable results. In the 1985–86 Cup Winners' Cup, however, they were on the receiving end of a shocking defeat against
Bayer Uerdingen KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga. History T ...
of West Germany: having won the first leg 2–0, they were 3–1 up at half-time in the second leg, when goalkeeper Bernd Jakubowski was injured by Uerdingen's Wolfgang Funkel. Debutant Jens Ramme was introduced, and proceeded to let in six goals, as the team lost 7–3. In addition to this, striker Frank Lippmann took the opportunity of the match in Krefeld to escape to the west. Dynamo recorded their best ever European performance in the
1988–89 UEFA Cup The 1988–89 UEFA Cup was won by Napoli over Stuttgart. It was the fourth season that English clubs were banned from European competitions. The English league clubs who otherwise would have qualified were Manchester United and Luton Town. Rom ...
, beating
AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...
on the way to a semi-final defeat against VfB Stuttgart. Their last European campaign was the
1990–91 European Cup The 1990–91 European Cup was the 36th season of the European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ...
, which ended in defeat to eventual winners
Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Be ...
. Dynamo's fans rioted at the second leg, which resulted in the club being banned from Europe for the following season. The head of the Volkspolizei in Bezirk Dresden was also the head of the branch of SV Dynamo in Bezirk Dresden. The official sponsor (german: Trägerbetrieb) of Dynamo Dresden was the Volkspolizei. Players of Dynamo Dresden were formal employees of the Volkspolizei. Many players then made their military service with the Stasi Guards Regiment "Felix E. Dzerzhinsky" and became formal employees of the Stasi. 18 of the 72 players who had played at least once for Dynamo Dresden between 1972 and 1989 had been listed as unofficial collaborators (IM) of the Stasi. West German chancellor
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longe ...
privately attended the match between Dynamo Dresden and
FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Formed in 1903 and initially associated with the Carl Zeiss AG factory, they were one of the strongest clubs in East Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, winning the DDR-Ober ...
in the 1987-88 DDR-Oberliga on 28 May 1988, during a private trip to East Germany with his wife Hannelore and son Peter. Dynamo Dresden ended the ten-year long dominance of BFC Dynamo and captured the league title in the 1988-89 season. The title was celebrated after a 5–0 win against
1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschönewei ...
in front of 27,000 spectators at the Dynamo-Stadion in the last match day on 3 June 1989. Dynamo Dresden won the league title also in the 1989-90 season, adding a cup win, to complete a
double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...
. The
Berlin wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the governme ...
opened on 9 November 1989. The Stasi then lost its influence over football mid-season. BFC Dynamo stood at fourth place in the league after the first half of the season, and only finished the 1989–90 season in fourth place. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, many of the top players in East Germany took the opportunity to head west. BFC Dynamo was the first team to lose a top player. The team had lost its top striker
Andreas Thom Andreas Thom (born 7 September 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward for BFC Dynamo, Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic and Hertha BSC. He played 51 times for East Germany throughout the 1980s and played ten times fo ...
already during the winter break, and would lose more top players during the summer. Dynamo Dresden lost two star players during the summer of 1990:
Ulf Kirsten Ulf Kirsten (born 4 December 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''Der Schwatte'' (dialect for ''Der Schwarze'', 'The Black One'), he is the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps play ...
and Matthias Sammer joining
Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes ...
and VfB Stuttgart respectively. With German reunification looming, many clubs in the East changed their name to shed their Soviet image, and Dynamo Dresden changed from ''SG'' to the more traditional ''1. FC''. The DDR-Oberliga also changed name for its final season: the league, now called the
NOFV-Oberliga The NOFV- Oberliga is a division at step 5 of the German football league system. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became the successor of the DDR-Oberliga, and functions today as a 5th division in the former territory of East Germany and the ...
, was used to determine which places the East German clubs would take in the unified German league. Dynamo Dresden finished second, behind
Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the for ...
, thus qualifying for the Bundesliga.


Bundesliga (1991–1995)

Having been among the top clubs in the East, Dynamo found life in the Bundesliga much harder, struggling both financially and on the pitch. They spent four years at this level, during which they were in a near-constant battle against relegation. Their highest placing was 13th in 1993–94, but the following year they succumbed to the drop, finishing in last place, having gone through three managers (
Sigfried Held Sigfried "Siggi" Held (born 7 August 1942) is a German former football player and coach. He played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Born in Freudenthal, Sudetenland (now Czech Republic), Held's first football club was Kickers Offenbach. In ...
,
Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...
and
Ralf Minge Ralf Minge (born 8 October 1960) is a German footballer former coach and player who works as sporting director of Dynamo Dresden. He was an international for East Germany, and spent his entire professional career with Dynamo Dresden. Playing c ...
) during the season. To add to this, the club had accumulated debts of more than 10 million DM, and were denied a license to play in the
2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
, and had to drop down to the third tier Regionalliga Nordost. Rolf-Jürgen Otto, the club's president was jailed for having embezzled around 3 Million DM from the club. While many of the stars of the 1980s had moved west, some remained for Dynamo's Bundesliga tenure, including
Torsten Gütschow Torsten Gütschow (born 28 July 1962) is a German football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is most associated with Dynamo Dresden, with whom he had two successful spells, playing top level football in East Germany and afte ...
and
Hans-Uwe Pilz Hans-Uwe Pilz (born 10 November 1958) is a German former footballer. He began his career with BSG Sachsenring Zwickau before joining Dynamo Dresden during the winter break of the 1981–82 season. He remained at Dynamo until German reunific ...
, while the club was able to attract players from other Eastern clubs, including
Olaf Marschall Olaf Marschall (born 19 March 1966) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Marschall's career started in the GDR at BSG Chemie Torgau and was soon transferred to 1. FC Lok Leipzig. There, he rose to s ...
,
René Müller René Müller (born 11 February 1959) is a German football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Career Müller was first-choice goalkeeper of the East Germany national team for much of the 1980s, and was twice East German Foot ...
and Heiko Scholz. The fall of the wall brought the influx of Dynamo's first foreign players, and the club saw internationals from Australia (
Mark Schwarzer Mark Schwarzer (; born 6 October 1972) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented Australia at international level from 1993 to 2013, and was selected for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup ...
), Poland (
Piotr Nowak Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok. Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz ...
),
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
(
Stanislav Cherchesov Stanislav Salamovich Cherchesov (russian: Станислав Саламович Черчесов, ; os, Черчесты Саламы фырт Станислав, Ĉerĉesty Salamy fyrt Stanislav; born 2 September 1963) is a Russian football ma ...
) and Sweden ( Johnny Ekström), among others.


Ups and downs (1995–2006)

Dynamo sought to regroup in the Regionalliga, and again looked to former players to manage the team, being led by Hans-Jürgen Kreische (1995–96), Udo Schmuck (1996) and
Hartmut Schade Hartmut Schade (born 13 November 1954 in Radeberg, East Germany) is a German former football player and won the gold medal with the East German Olympic team at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He played for Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo ...
(1996–1998), but failed to seriously challenge for promotion. In
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
they finished second in the table, but with 60 points: 32 behind champions
Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and t ...
. 1999–2000 saw a restructuring of the Regionalliga: the four leagues were to be reduced to two, and Dynamo would have to finish in the top 7 to avoid relegation. Having finished 11th in the previous season they turned to Colin Bell, an English coach who had had some success with youth football in Germany, but he left in March 2000 after poor results and a player revolt.
Cor Pot Cornelis "Cor" Pot (born 8 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former professional footballer. Playing career Pot started his career with the academy of Sparta in Rotterdam, and subsequently moved to the Ajax academy. Coaching caree ...
, a Dutchman, was brought in to replace him, and he turned the team around, but it was too late – they finished in eighth place, and were relegated to the fourth-tier Oberliga Nordost-Süd. By this point Dynamo were not even the top team in Dresden: Dresdner SC had returned after reunification, and finished as runners-up in the Regionalliga Nordost in 2000. Optimism was high, though, after the way the last season had ended, and the slogan "''Wir kommen wieder''" (we're coming back), was adopted. However, the Oberliga was now highly competitive with
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