Karsten Wettberg (born 10 November 1941) is a German football manager. He is one of the most successful football managers in German amateur football.Das hält mich jünger
Sueddeutsche Zeitung – Interview with Karsten Wettberg, published: 9 April 2008, accessed: 28 June 2009 On professional level, he coached

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...

and

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of the German football pyramid. Their current home gr ...

in the 2. Bundesliga.

Biography

Wettberg was born on 10 November 1941 in Friesack, near

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Wettberg joined the German postal service, who he worked for until his retirement in July 2002. He entered local politics in April that year, being elected to his local district council in

Kelheim Kelheim () is a town and municipality in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the Kelheim (district), district Kelheim and is situated at the confluence of the rivers Altmühl and Danube. Kelheim has a population of around 16,750 (2020). His ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Bavarian Landtag The Landtag of Bavaria, officially known in English as the Bavarian State Parliament, is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Bavaria. The parliament meets in the Maximilianeum in Munich. Elections to the Landtag are held ever ...

elections for the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

.Karsten Wettberg website – Biografie
accessed: 28 June 2009 Wettberg spent his playing career exclusively with

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n amateur clubs, eventually becoming player coach of SV Saal. He entered the top league of Bavarian football for the first time in 1980, when he took over as manager of

MTV Ingolstadt The Männer-Turn-Verein von 1881 Ingolstadt or ''Men's Gymnastics Club of 1881 Ingolstadt'' is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It was founded on 18 July 1881. Until 2004, the club operated a football department but after a merger ...

, the club just having been relegated from the 2. Bundesliga Süd. With MTV, he won the Bayernliga in its first season there but in that season, 1980–81, no promotion from the third to the second tier was available as the 2. Bundesliga was reduced from two to one division. He stayed with the club until 1983. He coached local rival

ESV Ingolstadt The ESV Ingolstadt is a general sports club in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, formed on 15 February 1919. Until 2004, the club operated a football department but after a merger with local rival MTV Ingolstadt to form FC Ingolstadt 04 the footballers left ...

after this, a club that had just dropped from the second to the fourth division in two seasons. He won the tier-four

Landesliga Bayern-Süd The Landesliga Bayern-Süd () was the sixth tier of the German football league system in southern Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga (Third League) in 2008, it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Reg ...

with ESV in 1984 and earned promotion to the Bayernliga. ESV, a club in decline, finished eighth in the league in 1985, but came only 16th in 1986, disappearing from the Bayernliga for good.''Die Bayernliga 1945–1997'' publisher: DSFS, published: 1998, page: 121, accessed: 28 June 2009 Wettberg coached

SpVgg Landshut The SpVgg Landshut is a German association football club from the city of Landshut, Bavaria. Both the clubs men and women's football teams have in the past played in the highest state league, the Bayernliga. History The club was formed in 1919 ...

in 1986–87, the club having won the Bayernliga title in 1985–86 but not having been prepared to take the risk of turning professional and declined the right to take part in the 2nd Bundesliga promotion round. He coached

after this, who he won two more Bayernliga titles with, in 1988 and 1989. In his second attempt with the club, he also earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. He continued as coach of the club in the second division but departed in January 1990, the club suffering relegation at the end of the season. He became manager of

in February 1990, when the club was playing in the tier-three

Bayernliga The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of fourteen Ob ...

. At this point, 1860 had attempted to return to professional football since their forced relegation in 1982. He finished second with the club in 1990 and won the Bayernliga the year after. Under his guidance, from February 1990 to the end of the Bayernliga season in June 1991, the club did not lose a game, remaining unbeaten for 54 games. For his achievement with the Munich club, the then-major of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Georg Kronawitter Georg Kronawitter (21 April 1928 – 28 April 2016) was a German politician of the SPD. He was mayor of Munich from 1972 to 1978 and from 1984 to 1993. Early life and education Kronawitter was born in Oberthann, a part of Schweitenkirchen, ...

, crowned Wettberg the ''König von Giesing'', the ''King of

Giesing Giesing (formerly Kyesinga) was a Bavarian town founded in 790 (older than Munich). The town was incorporated by the city of Munich in October 1854. Since then, it is a borough of the metropolis. Giesing is located south-east of Munich and has a ...

''. In the 2. Bundesliga, Wettberg was not as successful with the club, being sacked after a loss to

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