1. FC Frankfurt

History

1. FC Frankfurt originally began as the football department of sports club SV VP Vorwärts Leipzig. The sports club was founded on 2 August 1951 and its first team was admitted to the 1951–52 DDR-Oberliga.

One of the characteristics of East German football after World War II, under the Soviet occupation and the socialist East German regime, was the willingness of the authorities to manipulate teams and clubs in various ways for political or other reasons.

The first team of SV Vorwärts der KVP Leipzig was relocated to East Berlin in 1953 and continued as SV Vorwärts der KVP Berlin The football team that began the 1952–53 DDR-Oberliga in Leipzig thus finished the season based in East Berlin. The sports club would undergo several name changes in the following years, before it was finally known as ASK Vorwärts Berlin.

In 1971, the club was moved again, this time from the capital to Frankfurt an der Oder on the German-Polish border, to replace the local secret police-sponsored side SG Dynamo, which was then disbanded.

The decision to relocate the club to Frankfurt an der Oder was made by the Ministry for Defence. The main reason for the relocation of FC Vorwärts Berlin out of East Berlin was the Four Power Agreement between the Allied Powers, which envisaged a demilitarized Berlin. FC Vorwärts Berlin was a unit of the National People's Army. The relocation also aimed to strengthen football in the regional district Bezirk Frankfurt. However, the exact reasons for decision has not been fully clarified. The relocation may also have been the result of horse trading.

German author Rüdiger Wenzke writes that the relocation was "probably" the result of political intrigues by the Ministry for State Security and the SED. German author Hans Joachim Teichler writes that all speculations end up with the head of the Ministry for State Security and the president of SV Dynamo Erich Mielke. Teichler suggest that Mielke "must have somehow" convinced the Minister for National Defence Heinz Hoffmann that two clubs of the armed organs in Berlin were too many. Mielke regarded FC Vortwärts Berlin as a competitor to BFC Dynamo in the capital. His fellow Politburo member and SED First Secretary in Bezirk Frankfurt, Erich Mückenberger, on the other end, anticipated a boost for the Bezirk Frankfurt. Mückenberger had been persistent in his efforts to persuade Defense Minister Hoffmann.

However, the relocation of FC Vorwärts Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder, followed on the relocation of sports club ASK Vorwärts Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder. Army sports had become concentrated in Bezirk Frankfurt. ASK Vorwärts Berlin, from which FC Vorwärts Berlin was spun off in 1966, and which had its headquarters in Bezirk Frankfurt, had been delegated to Frankfurt an der Oder in 1969, and was now called ASK Vorwärts Frankfurt. The Presidium of the German Gymnastics and Sports Federation (DTSB) had adopted the 1969 Competitive Sports Resolution on 22 April 1969. The resolution stated, among other things that: "ASK Vorwärts Berlin, with its headquarters in Frankfurt (Oder), shall gradually be moved to the district capital under the name ASK Vorwärts Frankfurt (Oder). The sports club SC Frankfurt (Oder) shall be dissolved." The decision to relocate FC Vorwärts Berlin to Frankfurt an der Oder had been carefully prepared. A delegation from East Berlin had traveled to Frankfurt an der Oder to inspect the location as early as February 1971.

Vorwärts enjoyed another decent run in the 1980s, going to the UEFA Cup four times (where they were twice knocked out by West German clubs, (Werder Bremen and VfB Stuttgart). In 1983 they finished second nationally.

After German reunification in 1990, the club dropped its affiliation with the army and became FC Victoria Frankfurt/Oder. After financial problems and re-organization in 1993 the side emerged as Frankfurter FC Viktoria (FFC Viktoria 91). In the early 1990s, they played a couple of seasons in tier III before slipping to division IV and V level play. The side then played in the Brandenburg-Liga (VI) before, on 1 July 2012, merging with MSV Eintracht Frankfurt to become 1. FC Frankfurt. The new club took over Viktoria in the Brandenburg-Liga and was aiming for promotion to the higher leagues. Their first success was winning the league in 2015, earning promotion to the NOFV-Oberliga for the first time in 12 years.

Nomenclature

FC Vorwärts Berlin and its forerunners in Berlin were not related to the historical football club Berliner FC Vorwärts 1890. The name "Vorwärts" was in common use in East Germany for teams associated with security organs, notably the East German army.

The "E.V." in the present club name stands for the names of the two predecessors "Eintracht" and "Viktoria" respectively.

Forms and names

Honours

Domestic

• East German Champions
  • Winners: 1958, 1960, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1968–69
  • Runners-up: 1957, 1959, 1969–70, 1982–83
• FDGB-Pokal
  • Winners: 1952–54, 1969–70
  • Runners-up: 1956, 1975–76, 1980–81
• DDR-Liga (II)
  • Winners: 1953–54, 1978–79, 1989–90

International

• European Cup
  • Quarter-finals: 1969–70
• European Cup Winners' Cup
  • Quarter-finals: 1970–71

Regional

• Brandenburg-Liga (VI)
  • Winners: 1997, 2003, 2015, 2022
  • Runners-up: 1996, 2021

European competitions

References

Explanatory notes

References

1. (27 November 2024). "Fußball-Trainer Sascha Kloß: Cheftrainer des 1. FC Frankfurt drückt die Schulbank". MOZ.de.
2. [https://beyondthelastman.com/2016/08/12/the-darth-vaders-of-east-german-soccer-bfc-dynamo/ The Darth Vaders of East German Soccer: BFC Dynamo], Beyond The Last Man, 12 August 2016
3. [https://beyondthelastman.com/2015/04/15/back-in-the-gdr-forward-with-vorwarts-berlin-part-one/ Forward With Vorwärts Berlin, East Germany's Team Of The 60s – Part One], Beyond The Last Man, 15 April 2015
4. Müller, Ronny. (18 December 2015). "Club der Bessergestellten". Sportbuzzer GmbH.
5. Hübner, Karl. (2 August 2011). "Kuhhandel an der Cantianstraße". Berliner Verlag GmbH.
6. Schwaß, Robert. (14 August 2021). "Frankfurter DDR-Kicker feiern ihren Verein und alte Erfolge". [[Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg]].
7. Wenzke, Rüdiger. (2013). "Ulbrichts Soldaten: Die Nationale Volksarmee 1956 bis 1971". Ch. Links Verlag GmbH.
8. Teichler, Hans Joachim. (4 May 2006). "Fußball in der DDR". [[Federal Agency for Civic Education]].
9. (2012). "Sport under Communism – Behind the East German 'Miracle'". Palgrave Macmillan (Macmillan Publishers Limited).
10. Bär, Sören. (23 July 2025). "Feste feiern". Linke Presse Verlags- Förderungs- und Beteiligungsgenossenschaft junge Welt e.G.
11. Ritter, Andreas. (January 2002). "Wandlungen in der Steuerung des DDR-Hochleistungssports in der 1960 und 1970 Jahren". [[University of Potsdam]].
12. Ritter, Andreas. (January 2002). "Wandlungen in der Steuerung des DDR-Hochleistungssports in der 1960 und 1970 Jahren". [[University of Potsdam]].
13. [https://beyondthelastman.com/2015/04/21/back-in-the-gdr-forward-with-vorwarts-berlin-part-two/ Forward With Vorwärts Berlin, East Germany's Team Of The 60s – Part Two], Beyond The Last Man, 21 April 2015
14. Eberhard, Hans. (26 May 2012). "Fusion zum 1. FC Frankfurt perfekt". Märkische Oderzeitung.