SpVgg ASCO Königsberg was a German association football club from the city of

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

(now

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

). The club was formed in 1919 out of the merger of ''Sportclub Ostpreußen 1902 Königsberg'' and ''Akademischer Sportclub Königsberg''.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag It played at the Hammerteich-Sportplatz in

Ratshof Ratshof and the Pregel River from the south. View of the Pregel from the west. Ratshof is in the lower left, Contienen in the lower right, and the 1920s-era docks are the upper right Ratshof or Rathshof was a suburban quarter of western König ...

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History

Sportclub Ostpreußen 1902 Königsberg

Predecessor ''Ostpreußen'' was formed 1 August 1902, by former '' Königsberg FC'' player Alfred Hirsch and seven of his teammates. The club selected colors and a crest based on symbols of the province: a black eagle on a white background. They were based in the district of

Maraunenhof Maraunenhof was a suburban Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of northern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of the Leningradsky Administrative District, Kaliningrad, Leningradsky District of Kaliningrad, Russia. History The estat ...

and played their earliest matches against their former parent side, but always came out as losers in those contests. By 1904, several members of the new club had in turn moved on to form '' Sportzirkel Samland''. On 3 September 1904, ''SCO'' was a founding member of the city-based Verbandes Königsberger Ballspiel-Vereine and Hirsch served as the new league's first secretary. The following year the club formed an ice hockey department. Future partner ''Akademischer Sportclub Königsberg'' was established in April and the two clubs quickly struck up a friendly relationship, agreeing to share training facilities. ''SCO'' shared similarly friendly relations with other clubs, including '' SV 05 Elbing'', organized by former ''Ostpreußen'' member Paul Unruh, while ''SC Prussia Insterburg'' was regarded as a sister club. ''SCO'' marked its first ever win over longtime rival ''FC'', now playing as ''VfB Königsberg'', in 1913 (3–1). During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the club's sporting activities were suspended and its sports field requisitioned by the military as a training area. ''SCO'' had considerable debt at the end of the war and the club's existence was in question. It was decided to merge with ''ASC'' at a meeting held 20 June 1919.

Akademischer Sportclub Königsberg

''ASC'' was established on 15 April 1905 by students of Albertina University and grew quickly with departments for athletics, gymnastics, swimming, rowing, and several other sports. By 1906, the club was sharing sports facilities with ''SCO'' and later developed a similar relationship with ''

SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg SV Prussia-Samland Königsberg was a German association football club from the city of Königsberg, East Prussia (today Kaliningrad, Russia). The club was founded in early 1904 as ''Fußball-Club Prussia Königsberg'' and in 1908 merged with ' ...

''. In the following years, ''ASC'' was very active in organizing sporting events in the city.

Spielvereinigung Akademischer Sportclub Ostpreußen Königsberg

Following the merger, the combined side remained active in several sports. The footballers of ''ASCO'' played three seasons (1936–38) in the Bezirk Königsberg, a division of the

Gauliga Ostpreußen The Gauliga Ostpreußen was the highest football league in the Prussian province of East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen) and the Free City of Danzig from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrati ...

, one of Germany's top-flight regional leagues. ''SpVgg'' earned successively poorer results in each campaign and was finally relegated in 1938 with the reorganization of the Gauliga the next season. The club's sporting activities were again suspended due to war when Königsberg was subject to bombing beginning in August 1944. ''ASCO'' disappeared in 1945 following the end of World War II when the city was annexed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and renamed

. However, the tradition of the club was carried on in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

with ''Traditionsgemeinschaft der Leichtathleten aus den deutschen Ostgebieten'', an organization established by refugees from the country's former German territories in Central and Eastern Europe.

References

Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
historical German domestic league tables

(en:Football in East Prussia and Danzig) {{DEFAULTSORT:Konigsberg, ASCO Football clubs in Germany Defunct football clubs in former German territories Sport in Königsberg Association football clubs established in 1919 Association football clubs disestablished in 1945