The East Germany national football team, recognized as Germany DR by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
, was from 1952 to 1990 the
football team of
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
, playing as one of three post-war German teams, along with
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, a ...
and
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
.
After
German reunification in 1990, the Deutscher Fußball Verband der DDR (DFV, ), and with it the East German team, joined the ''
Deutscher Fußball Bund
The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system ...
'' (DFB) and the West Germany national football team that had just won the World Cup.
History
In 1949, before
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
(GDR) was founded and while regular private clubs were still banned under Soviet occupation, efforts were made to play football anyway.
Helmut Schön coached selections of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...
and the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
before moving to the West. On 6 February 1951, the GDR applied for FIFA membership, which was protested against by the
German Football Association
The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge o ...
, which was already a full member. FIFA accepted the GDR association (later called DFV) on 6 October 1951 as a provisional member, and on 24 July 1952 as a full member.
The first international game, not competitive but rather a display of good will, took place on 21 September 1952 against Poland in Warsaw, losing 3–0 in front of a crowd of 35,000. The first home game was on 14 June 1953 against Bulgaria, a 0–0 draw in front of a crowd of 55,000 at
Heinz-Steyer-Stadion in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
. Only three days later, the
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany would have prevented the permitted assembly of that many Germans. On 8 May 1954 games resumed, with a 1–0 loss against Romania. The East Germans had not even considered to enter the World Cup which was won by the West Germans two months later. This caused much euphoria not only in the West, and the GDR tried to counter this by abandoning their policy of presenting a group of politically-reliable socialist role models of their "new German state"; instead, players were selected purely according to ability. The GDR entered the qualification for the WC 1958 and were hosts to Wales on 19 May 1957 at the
Zentralstadion in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
. 500,000 tickets were requested, officially 100,000 were admitted, but 120,000 in the crowded house witnessed a 1–0 victory.
East Germany was not as successful as its Western counterpart in World Cups or European Championships. It had only qualified for one major tournament in its history, the
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
World Cup. However, they were always serious contenders in qualifying throughout their history.
That tournament was staged in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
, and both German teams were drawn in the same group in the first round. With successful games against Chile and Australia, both German teams had qualified early for the second round, with the inter-German game determining first and second in group. Despite this lack of pressure to succeed, the match on 22 June 1974 in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
was politically and emotionally charged. East Germany beat West Germany 1–0, thanks to a goal by
Jürgen Sparwasser. This was rather a Pyrrhic victory, as the DFV wound up in the possibly stronger second round Group A. The GDR lost to Brazil and the Netherlands, but secured 3rd place in a final game draw with Argentina. On the other hand, the DFB team changed its line-up after the loss, and went on to win all games in the other second round group B, against Yugoslavia, Sweden, Poland, and the World title against the Netherlands.
East Germany nearly secured qualification for the
1990 World Cup, needing only a draw versus
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in their final group match on 15 November 1989 to achieve a place in Italy. However,
Toni Polster scored three times as Austria won 3–0 and advanced to the finals instead.
The GDR took part in the draw for the qualification for the European Championship 1992 and was drawn in Group 5 together with the FRG, Belgium, Wales and Luxembourg. On October 3 in 1990 Germany was re-unified and with them their football teams. The scheduled matches of the East German team were cancelled, except two matches. The match against Belgium was converted into a friendly match on September 12, 1990, at Brussels. It was the last match played by East Germany national team and ended with a 2–0 victory for them. The match between East and West Germany remained and was scheduled to be played on November 14, 1990, to celebrate the unification of Germany. Due to riots by East German spectators it was cancelled.
Millions of East Germans had moved to the West before the
Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, and some escaped in a successful ''
Republikflucht'' attempts also afterwards. All East Germans were automatically entitled to receive a West German passport, but players who had caps for the DFV, like
Norbert Nachtweih and
Jürgen Pahl
Jürgen Pahl (born 17 March 1956 in Teuchern, East Germany) is a German former football goalkeeper. He fled together with Norbert Nachtweih from a match of the East Germany under-21 team to West Germany and was subsequently banned for a year. ...
who fled in October 1976 at a U21-match in Turkey, were ineligible for international competition for the DFB due to FIFA rules.
Lutz Eigendorf had escaped to the West in 1979 and died in 1983 in a mysterious car crash in which East German
Stasi agents were involved.
Shortly after reunification, players who had played for the East German team were allowed by FIFA to be eligible for the now un-rivalled
German team of the DFB. A total of
eight players have been capped for both East Germany and unified Germany, among them
Matthias Sammer and
Ulf Kirsten.
Olympic football
East Germany did however achieve significantly greater success in
Olympic football
Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wor ...
than the amateur teams fielded by the Western
NOC of Germany due to using its elite players from the top domestic league. In
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...
,
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, and
1964 both states had sent a
United Team of Germany. For
1964, the East German side had beaten their Western counterparts in order to be selected. They went on to win Bronze for Germany. As GDR, they won Bronze in
1972 in Munich, Gold in
1976, and silver medal in
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – In ...
in Moscow.
East vs. West
Over the years of their separate existence, the GDR and FRG played each other only a handful of times. The only notable meeting with professionals from the West was at the
1974 World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that ...
, which East Germany won 1–0. Three other games were played in
Olympic Football
Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wor ...
where only players with amateur status could represent West Germany, like the young
Uli Hoeneß who delayed his pro career in 1972. In the inter-German qualification prior to the
1964 Olympic Games, the two played a two-legged preliminary round tie, the GDR advancing to represent Germany as they won their home leg 3–0, while the FRG won the return 2–1. In the
1972 Olympic Games, the GDR and FRG, having qualified from their First Round groups, met in the Second Round, with the GDR winning 3–2.
The draw for
1992 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying
The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 1992 was a series of parallel association football competitions to be held over 1990 and 1991 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 1992, to be held in Sweden. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held ...
took place on 2 February 1990, with East Germany drawn in Group 5 along with Belgium, Wales, Luxembourg – and West Germany. By 23 August that year, the East German parliament confirmed reunification for 3 October. The planning for the opening fixture away to
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
on 12 September was too far along to be cancelled, and so it was played as a friendly.
It was also planned to play East Germany's home fixture against West Germany, scheduled for 21 November 1990 in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, as a friendly to celebrate the unification of the DFB and DFV, but the game was cancelled due to rioting in East German stadia.
Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
Champions Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place
UEFA European Championship record
Summer Olympic Games
Player records
Players with caps for both East Germany and unified Germany
The rules of FIFA prevented players who had caps for the DFV team from playing for the DFB team before the unification of DFB and DFV in 1990.
The numbers are from the website of the
DFB.
Coaches
*1952–1953
Willi Oelgardt
Willi Oelgardt (31 October 1912 – 12 December 1973) was a German Association football, footballer and manager who played as a Defender (association football), defender.
Playing career
Oelgardt began his playing career in 1933, playing for SV V ...
*1954
Hans Siegert
*1955–1957
János Gyarmati
*1958–1959
Fritz Gödicke
*1959–1961
Heinz Krügel
Heinz Krügel (24 April 1921 – 27 October 2008) was a German football player and manager.
Playing career
At age 6, Krügel began his playing career in the youth teams of then SC Planitz. During World War II, he served in the 5th SS Panzer D ...
*1961–1967
Károly Sós
*1967–1969
Harald Seeger
*1970–1981
Georg Buschner
Georg Buschner (26 December 1925 – 12 February 2007) was an East German football player and manager.
Buschner played in the East German top-flight for Motor Gera and Motor Jena. He earned six caps for the East Germany national football t ...
*1982–1983
Rudolf Krause
*1983–1988
Bernd Stange
*1988–1989
Manfred Zapf
Manfred Zapf (born 24 August 1946 in Stapelburg) is a German former footballer, later a coach. A defender, Zapf spent his entire senior career with 1. FC Magdeburg, and captained the club to its greatest successes – three DDR champion ...
*1989–1990
Eduard Geyer
See also
*
East Germany national under-21 football team
The East Germany national football team was the national football team of the German Democratic Republic. Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, East Germany's Under-21 team was formed. The team played until 1990, until E ...
Notes
References
External links
DFB statistics of the national team(contains information on East Germany caps and goalscorers)
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Germany National Football Team
Former national association football teams in Europe
1952 establishments in East Germany
National sports teams established in 1952