The East Germany men's national basketball team was recognised by

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

as the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

basketball team from 1952 to 1990. East Germany's biggest success during international events came at the

EuroBasket 1963 The 1963 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1963, was the thirteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Sixteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. It was where they earned their highest ranked finish of sixth place.

History

After the Second World War, two German national basketball teams were in existence. The

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

national team joined FIBA as members in 1952. They wouldn't enter their first international tournament until the

EuroBasket 1959 The 1959 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1959, was the eleventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. The tournament, which was hosted by Turkey, began on 21 May 1959 and concluded w ...

, where they finished 14th. At the EuroBasket 1961 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, East Germany finished 12th out of the 19 teams, four spots ahead of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Overall, the national basketball team of East Germany had its biggest success at the

. After four victories and three losses in the preliminary round, East Germany went as the third seed (behind the tournament winner

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and silver medalist

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) in Group B. Since only the first two places advanced to the semi-finals, East Germany played against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in the classification round. After beating Belgium 81–35, East Germany lost to Bulgaria 62–77. According to many experts, East Germany was one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. At the

EuroBasket 1965 The 1965 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1965, was the fourteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues Results First round Group A – Moscow Group B – Tbilisi ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, the East German team could not repeat its impressive performance two years earlier. However, it outperformed its West German competitors by four spots and finished 10th out of the 16 teams. East Germany competed in its last EuroBasket in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, hosted in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. They eventually finished out the event in 14th place. After failing at EuroBasket a year prior, East Germany entered qualification for the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

. It was then they defeated West Germany for the second time, though they missed out on qualifying. Despite the lack of popularity of basketball in East Germany, it took the West German national team until 1973 to earn its first victory over the East Germans, who displayed disciplined playing styles. However, even after East Germany exhibited some solid performances at European basketball competitions, the national team never qualified for the World Cup or Summer Olympics.

Its demise

In 1969, the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

decided to shift its focus towards sports that were most likely to win medals, and earn points at international competitions. Since basketball is a team sport, where in contrast to individual sports, the whole team can only win a single Olympic medal; it lost considerable government support. Eventually, the SED and

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

leader

Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East Germany, East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Sta ...

banned East German basketball players from traveling to non-socialist countries, and immensely limited the sponsorship and promotion of talents. This ultimately led to the end of East Germany's international basketball existence, which ceded completely after 1973, although the federation would continue to be recognised by FIBA as a full member, until reunification in 1990.

Competitive record

EuroBasket

References

External links

Archived records
of German Democratic Republic team participations {{DEFAULTSORT:East Germany National Basketball Team National basketball team Basketball teams in East Germany Former national basketball teams

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...