In this article we answer the question of what happened to the teams that competed in the last season of the East German league.
The last season was the 1990–91 season – whilst researching this it was quite easy to see that the re-unification was not good for the East German sides – the ability for the West German teams to buy or attract the best players and the sheer differences in the economies of the 2 Germanies led to many struggling in future years. Actually very sad to read about considering some of the teams were household names, competing in the latter stages of European tournaments.
Table
This was the final table and also shows the Bundesliga division each team would be placed in or have to qualify for.
| Pos | Team | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | F.C. Hansa Rostock(C) | Qualification to Bundesliga |
| 2 | 1. FC Dynamo Dresden | Qualification to Bundesliga |
| 3 | FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt | Qualification to 2. Bundesliga |
| 4 | Hallescher FC Chemie | |
| 5 | Chemnitzer FC | Qualification to 2. Bundesliga |
| 6 | FC Carl Zeiss Jena | |
| 7 | 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig | Qualification to 2. Bundesliga playoffs |
| 8 | BSV Stahl Brandenburg | |
| 9 | Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl | Qualification to 2. Bundesliga playoffs |
| 10 | 1. FC Magdeburg | Qualification to 2. Bundesliga playoffs |
| 11 | FC Berlin | |
| 12 | FC Sachsen Leipzig | |
| 13 | FC Energie Cottbus | Qualification to NOFV-Oberliga |
| 14 | FC Viktoria 91 Frankfurt |
Detail
F.C. Hansa Rostock(C) : After being in the Bundesliga for ten years, from 1995 to 2005, Rostock suffered a decline.
In 2012, the club was relegated to the 3. Liga for the second time and only managed to regain its place in the second tier in 2021.
1. FC Dynamo Dresden : One of the most popular and successful clubs in East German football, winning eight league titles. After reunification, 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 to the 3. Liga at the end of the 2019–20 season, but earned promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga by winning the 2020–21 3. Liga
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt : Through the 1990s and into the new millennium, Rot-Weiß remained a tier three side. They had a close call in 2001 when they avoided relegation only because SSV Ulm 1846 was denied a licence due to financial difficulties.In 2004, the club was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga, but finished last and was relegated back to Regionalliga Nord (III).
In 2008, Erfurt finished in seventh place in Regionalliga Nord (III) and therefore qualified for the new nationwide 3. Liga. They played at this level until they were relegated to the Regionalliga Nordost (IV) in 2018.
On 4 February 2020, the club ceased operations due to financial difficulties. The club formed a new team and organisation, playing in the Oberliga in the 2020/21 season.
Hallescher FC Chemie : The club currently plays in the 3. Liga
Chemnitzer FC : The club competes in Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football. Beginning with the 1991–92 season, Chemnitz spent five years in the second tier of German football until being relegated to the then third-tier Regionalliga in 1996. Since then, the importance of the club has faded.
The following four years were evenly split between the Regionalliga and the 2. Bundesliga before eventually being relegated back to the Regionalliga (III) in 2001 and subsequently to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) in 2006. The last couple of years, however, saw the club slowly rising through the German league system once again with promotions to the now fourth-tier Regionalliga in 2008 and the 3. Liga in 2011. In 2018, the club was relegated to the fourth league
FC Carl Zeiss Jena : Jena entered the 2. Bundesliga. Their second-place finish in 1992 deteriorated into a 17th-place finish in 1994 and relegation to Regionalliga Nordost (III). They won immediate promotion, and played for three more years at tier-II level. Since 1999 the team has primarily played tier III and IV football, but a second place-finish in the Regionalliga Nord secured Jena promotion to the 2. Bundesliga for the 2006–07 season. They finished last returning to the third tier. However, this would not be one of the Regionalligen; the German Football Association (DFB) launched the new 3. Liga for 2008–09.
Carl Zeiss Jena were relegated from the 3. Liga in 2012 and finished second in the tier four Regionalliga Nordost in 2013, and third in 2014. In the 2016–17 season they won the Regionalliga Nordost and were promoted to 3. Liga. After three seasons in the 3. Liga, the club was relegated to the Regionalliga Nordost in June 2020
1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig : 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig was refounded in 2003 and has reclimbed through divisions since then. The team competes in the fourth tier Regionalliga Nordost as of 2021
BSV Stahl Brandenburg : After a name change to BSV Stahl Brandenburg they spent the 1991–92 season in the 2. Bundesliga Nord. In 1993, ‘Stahl’ was dropped from the team name. The club played in the tier three NOFV-Oberliga Nord from 1992 to 1994, won the league and earned promotion to the new Regionalliga Nordost. After a year at this level it dropped back to the Oberliga and down to the Verbandsliga Brandenburg in 1996.
The club declared bankruptcy in 1998 and re-formed as FC Stahl Brandenburg. In 2002, in a move to save the club, a merger with rival Brandenburger SC Süd 05 to form FC Brandenburg was put into the works. Fan protests from both sides and money problems – caused the merger to unravel. FC Stahl Brandenburg play in the Brandenburg-Liga (VI) as a lower table side
Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl : The club dissolved in 2016 and merged into FC Eisenhüttenstadt. FC Eisenhüttenstadt plays in the sixth tier Brandenburg-Liga as of the 2021–22 season.
1. FC Magdeburg : the only East German club to have won a European title, winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1974. Flitted between the 3rd an 4th tiers.
Finished 1st at the end of the 2017–18 season Magdeburg achieved promotion to 2. Bundesliga. Their spell in the 2. Bundesliga was short lived and on 12 May 2019 they were relegated back to the 3. Liga
FC Berlin : Sometimes called Dynamo Berlin. The club is the record champion of East Germany with ten consecutive league championships.
BFC Dynamo competes in the fourth tier Regionalliga Nordost. Since re-unification they spent all of their time in the 3rd, 4th and even 5th tiers of German football and have been eclipsed by their Berlin rivals – Union and Hertha
FC Sachsen Leipzig : At the end of May 1990, the club was renamed FC Grün-Weiß Leipzig and merged with SV Chemie Böhlen to create FC Sachsen Leipzig on 1 August 1990, and took up play in the third tier Oberliga Nordost. The club took part in qualification for the 2. Bundesliga at the end of 1990–91, but failed in their attempt to advance.
Sachsen won the Oberliga title in 1992–93 season, but was denied the opportunity to again take part in the promotion round because of financial difficulties. After another season in the Oberliga, the club continued in the newly created third tier Regionalliga Nordost, where it remained through 2001 before again collapsing into bankruptcy.
The club officially dissolved in 2011. Although several successor sides were established, only one survived, the BSG Chemie Leipzig. The name Sachsen Leipzig was revived in 2014 by amateur football club LFV Sachsen Leipzig.
FC Energie Cottbus : Energie played six seasons in the third tier of the German football league system before floating between the 2. Bundesliga and Bundesliga for 17 years between 1997 and 2014.
From 2014 to 2016, the club played in the third tier, 3. Liga, and were then relegated to the Regionalliga Nordost. In 2018, they were promoted back into the 3. Liga, only to be relegated again the next season.
FC Viktoria 91 Frankfurt : After financial problems and re-organization in 1993 the side emerged as 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. Their first success was winning the league in 2015, earning promotion to the NOFV-Oberliga for the first time in 12 years.
