In the

GDR 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 its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

women's football clubs existed since the late 1960s. While local leagues existed since 1970 a national championship was first held in 1979 and a cup was incepted only in 1987.

History

In 1968 the Bulgarian student Vladimir Zvetkov founded the first women's team as a division of ''BSG Empor Dresden-Mitte'' (today

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport List of football clubs in Germany, club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a Founding Clubs of the DFB, founding member of the Germa ...

). While several local functionaries were opposed to the idea of women playing football Zvetkov eventually was allowed to pursue his idea. The first women's football game in the GDR was held on 4 August 1969. Dresden defeated Empor Possendorf 2–0 in front of 1,600 spectators. As women's football was not Olympic, thus not holding a promise of reputation, the local authorities did not patronize the sport, but treated it as a recreational activity. Despite this lack of governmental interest the pioneers from Dresden were able to incept a league of eight teams in 1970. By the end of 1971 the number of women's football teams had grown to 150. Supra-regional competitions were refused for several years until in 1979 a national championship was held for the first time. A cup was incepted in 1987 and a national league was founded in 1990, the last year of the GDR. The national football team was organized in 1989, its only game was a 0–3 defeat at the hands of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

on 9 May 1990 in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. After the 1990–91 season the clubs from the former GDR were integrated into 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 of t ...

. The top two finishers from the only Oberliga season, USV Jena and

Wismut Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, ...

, were assigned spots in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, but both faced immediate relegation. In 1994 former GDR club

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

was promoted to the Bundesliga and has since won every major honour in women's club football, including the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Champions

;Key

Cup

The Democratic Women's League Cup(German: ''Pokal des Demokratischen Frauenbundes'') has been held from 1987 to 1991. As the name suggests the cup was donated not by the football association as its male counterpart, but by the

Democratic Women's League of Germany The Democratic Women's League of Germany (german: italic=no, Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands, or ''DFD'') was the mass women's organisation in East Germany. It was established in March 1947 and had the following official aims: *Removal ...

. Few information is available about the competition, in particular of the first two seasons only the winners are known. In the short existence of the cup only Rotation Schlema was able to win the title twice.

External links

Frauenfußball in the GDR at FFArchiv
(in German) {{UEFA women's leagues Women's football in Germany Football in East Germany