Dynamo Dresden

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 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 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 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.^[] 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 Volkspolizei Dresden played in the lower-tier 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 keep the place in the DDR-Oberliga, the team of SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden would be reinforced with players from all over the country.

SV Deutsche Volkzpolizei Dresden was originally founded as SG Volkspolizei Dresden in 1948. The head of the Volkspolizei Kurt Fischer ordered the founding of a central sports association for all sports communities of the Volkspolizei around East Germany on 20 June 1950. The new sports association was named SV Deutsche Volkspolizei. SG Volkspolizei Dresden was thus incorporated into the new sports association and renamed SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden. The order from Fischer also contained the passage that the best football players in the sports communities of the Volkspollizei should be concentrated in the now first-tier SV Deutsche Volkspolizei Dresden.

The 40 best players of the various Volkspolizei teams in East Germany were then brought together for a training session in Forst in July 1950. Coaches Fritz Sack [de] and Paul Döring [de] 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, Johannes Matzen and Günter Schröter, 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 SC Dynamo Berlin in the DDR-Oberliga. The remainder of Dynamo Dresden was left to regroup in the second-tier DDR-Liga, 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 and Tennis Borussia Berlin, 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. Dynamo Dresden began to climb the divisions, though, and by 1962 they were back in the DDR-Oberliga, and although this first season ended in relegation, they bounced back^[] immediately. They recovered equally well from another relegation in 1968, and remained in the Oberliga from 1969 until its dissolution in 1991. This relegation came after a fourth-place finish in 1967, which enabled Dynamo's first foray^[] into European football – they entered the 1967–68 Fairs Cup, where they were eliminated by Scottish side Rangers 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 (German: Fußballclub) (FC). The best talents in the country were meant to be concentrated in the new dedicated football clubs,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 warm developed between Erich Mielke and the SED First secretary in Bezirk Dresden Werner Krolikowski. 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 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, 1973, 1976, 1977 and 1978), and two cups, (1971 and 1977). They battled with 1. FC Magdeburg 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 7–6 on aggregate in the last 16 of the 1973–74 European Cup. 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 and once in the European Cup, 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, and was followed by Hans-Jürgen Dörner 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, along with teammate Siegmar Wätzlich.

Capital dominance (1978–1991)

BFC Dynamo 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 (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 to 1988. 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, the club was helped to remain a top club by three local politicians. One of them was Hans Modrow, the long-time SED First Secretary in Bezirk Dresden. 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 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 (1983–86), Eduard Geyer (1986–90) and Reinhard Häfner (1990–91). The star^[] players of the 1970 were replaced by a new generation, including Torsten Gütschow, Ulf Kirsten, Matthias Sammer, and Andreas Trautmann, 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 a national team match against Italy in April 1981. The Stasi somehow got wind of^[] this plan, and, in January 1981, the three players were arrested at Schönefeld Airport, from where the national team was about depart for Argentina, and banned for life from the DDR-Oberliga. 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 won the FDGB-Pokal three times (1982 and 1984, 1985).

During the 1980s, the club continued its regular participation 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 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, beating AS Roma on the way to a semi-final defeat against VfB Stuttgart. Their last European campaign was the 1990–91 European Cup, which ended in defeat to eventual winners Red Star Belgrade. 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 underwent 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 privately attended the match between Dynamo Dresden and FC Carl Zeiss Jena 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 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. The Berlin wall 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 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 and Matthias Sammer joining Bayer Leverkusen 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, was used to determine which places the East German clubs would take in the unified German league. Dynamo Dresden finished second, behind Hansa Rostock, 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, Horst Hrubesch and Ralf Minge) 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, 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 and Hans-Uwe Pilz, while the club was able to attract players from other Eastern clubs, including Olaf Marschall, René Müller 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), Poland (Piotr Nowak), Russia (Stanislav Cherchesov) 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 (1996–1998), but did not seriously challenge for promotion. In 1998, they finished second in the table, but with 60 points: 32 behind champions Tennis Borussia Berlin. 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, 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 VfB Leipzig, 1. FC Magdeburg and FSV Zwickau also having been relegated, and Dynamo couldn't^[] match the consistency of their main promotion rivals Magdeburg and Leipzig. A 2–1 defeat against Magdeburg in February ended their promotion chances, and Pot resigned. With nothing to play for, Dynamo slumped^[] to fifth place. For the following season, Christoph Franke was brought in as manager, and led the club to promotion – they won the league with only two defeats, and beat Hertha BSC's reserve team in a playoff to earn their place in the Regionalliga Nord. Dynamo's youth system was particularly successful^[] during this period, with players including Lars Jungnickel, Silvio Schröter, Maik Wagefeld and Daniel Ziebig going on to play at a higher level.

Dynamo finished a respectable^[] 7th in their first season back in the third tier, and followed that with another promotion, finishing second behind Rot-Weiß Essen. Life in the 2. Bundesliga began brightly, with a 3–1 win against MSV Duisburg, but by the halfway point of their first season they were facing relegation, with only 18 points. They recovered strongly in the second half of the season though, and finished in 8th place, thanks in part to signings such as Ansgar Brinkmann, Joshua Kennedy and Klemen Lavric. The 2005–06 season began in a similar way, as Dynamo climbed to third place with a 2–1 win over 1860 Munich in the Allianz Arena, but this was followed by thirteen matches without a win, resulting in the dismissal of Christoph Franke. Austrian manager Peter Pacult was brought in, with results improving temporarily, but Dynamo still failed to avoid relegation, finishing 15th.

Consolidation (2006–present)

Dynamo were back in the Regionalliga with the immediate aim of promotion, yet, despite a successful start, Peter Pacult left the club after six matches for a chance to manage his former club, Rapid Vienna. He was replaced by Norbert Meier, but Dynamo could not keep up their promotion bid, and finished seventh, due in part to poor away form. Another re-organisation of the league structure was looming,^[] and Dynamo knew they'd have to finish in the top-10 to qualify for the new national 3. Liga. A number of former star^[] players returned, including Lars Jungnickel, Marek Penksa and Maik Wagefeld, but results were not consistent, and Meier was sacked, replaced by former coach Eduard Geyer. Dynamo secured qualification on the last day, finishing eighth, but Geyer was dismissed due to disagreements with the board. In 2007, the club reverted to the name SG Dynamo Dresden.

The club turned to Ruud Kaiser, a Dutchman with a good reputation^[] at youth level, as Geyer's replacement. They played in the first ever match of the third Liga, beating Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1–0 with a goal from Halil Savran, but results were not consistent, and they could only finish in mid-table. The 2009–10 season began badly,^[] and, with Dynamo in relegation trouble,^[] Kaiser was sacked and replaced by Matthias Maucksch, a former player who had had some success with the reserve team. Maucksch managed to drag^[] the team away from relegation, and finished the season in 12th place. Maucksch led the team to contention for a playoff place during the 2010–11 season, but was sacked in April after a run of five games without a win, and was replaced by Ralf Loose. Loose ended the season unbeaten and secured third place, and a playoff against VfL Osnabrück which Dynamo won 4–2 on aggregate to earn promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

Dynamo Dresden performed well^[] in their first season back in the league. Consistently holding a position in the middle of the standings, the team was never in danger of being relegated. After securing a highly memorable^[] 4–3 victory after being down three goals against Bayer Leverkusen in the first round of the 2011–12 DFB-Pokal season, Dynamo was excluded from the 2012/2013 DFB-Pokal due to fan excesses and abuse of fireworks^[] during the second round match against Borussia Dortmund (0–2) in a first trial.^[] The sentence was later turned into one Game behind closed doors and one away game without own fan support. Virtual tickets were offered to reduce the financial loss, leading to what was purported^[] to be the first sold-out ghost game in history. The 2012–13 season started poorly for Dynamo and Ralf Loose was sacked in December 2012 after a 3–0 defeat to VfL Bochum with the team in 15th place.^[] He was replaced by Peter Pacult, returning to the club after more than six years. Dynamo's form improved after Pacult's arrival, but the team still finished the league as 16th. Due to this, Dynamo had to enter relegation play-offs again after just two seasons, incidentally meeting VfL Osnabrück once more, with their roles now reversed. Dynamo emerged victorious^[] with 2–1 on aggregate and remained in the second tier for the 2013–14 season. Pacult was sacked in August 2013 after a poor start and replaced with Olaf Janßen. Jansen was unable to save the club from the drop to the 3. Liga after they lost 3–2 at home to relegation rivals Arminia Bielefeld to drop^[] into 17th place, a result which ultimately cost Jansen his job. Dynamo had drawn half of their matches, winning just five all season.

Under their new coach Stefan Böger, the club completely overhauled the squad with the intent of returning to the 2. Bundesliga as soon as possible. In August 2014, the team knocked Bundesliga giants^[] FC Schalke 04 out of the first round of the DFB-Pokal, beating them with 2–1.^[] The team advanced to the third round after beating VfL Bochum 2–1, but were ultimately knocked out by Borussia Dortmund. Böger was sacked in February 2015, with assistant coach Peter Németh taking over for the remainder for the season. The team finished 6th in the 2014–15 season. Under new manager Uwe Neuhaus, Dynamo went on to have a hugely successful season,^[] and officially returned to second-level competition after a 2–2 draw at an away match against FC Magdeburg on 16 April 2016.