Berlin is an attractive city for the eyes, starting from its streets and landmarks that emanate the scent of war, passing through its unmatched green squares, and finally reaching its position as a commercial, economic, and global center and home to many important brands. Perhaps for these reasons, it is one of the most attractive cities in Europe for tourists from around the world with 6.3 million visitors annually. You can browse some pictures of the city with a simple search on Google to see to what extent it is truly a fascinating city.

This may seem like a traditional and boring introduction, but it was necessary to get to the point. We simply wanted to answer the question, "What is Berlin famous for?" And as you may have noticed, football is not on the list of answers. The city has more than 50 football clubs competing at different levels in the football pyramid, but none of them are among the top ten most successful clubs in Germany's history.

In Italy, there is Roma and Lazio, and in Spain, there is Real Madrid and Atletico. In France, Paris Saint-Germain sits at the top of the pyramid, and in England, clubs from London alone hold more than 100 titles throughout English football history. Capital clubs have always been constant competitors for local titles in major European leagues and have a permanent seat in European competitions, unlike Germany, where capital clubs are absent. To understand this, we may need to go back 92 years to see one of the capital's clubs crowned champions of the top league, specifically in 1931 when Hertha Berlin won the title.

Perhaps when mentioning the name of the city, Hertha and Union Berlin immediately come to mind, but in reality, their matches have never carried such intense rivalry, and their stands have never been filled with deafening noise, just a regular match between two teams from the same city. This is a small part of what the war has earned, as Union was in the east, and Hertha was in the west, the area where the people of the east were forbidden to cross.

In fact, there is another derby in Berlin that has those mentioned characteristics such as noise and fierce fan battles; the East Derby, which originated behind the historical wall and carried another name of one of Berlin's elites. However, no one will mention it because it is now just a member of the list of amateur clubs that are in the lower divisions. Berliner FC Dynamo (BFC Dynamo), which ironically holds more titles than Hertha and Union!

The Story's Antagonist

The preceding lines may make you sympathize with BFC Dynamo, and we apologize for that. You may have felt that it was one of the great clubs that time had forgotten, or that it had collapsed economically like other great football powers, but we are truly sorry to cut short that romantic moment because BFC Dynamo is the furthest thing from being sympathized with by anyone!

As you may know, after World War II, Germany was divided between 1949 and 1990 into two separate states; West Germany under the banner of the West, represented by Britain, America, and France, and East Germany, which was under Soviet rule. Berlin was also divided; East Berlin was under Soviet control, and West Berlin was under the remaining allies.

At the beginning of 1950 - a year after the declaration of the German Democratic Republic "East Germany" - one of the most important pillars of Soviet administration, the Secret Police, was established, which was then known as the "Stasi," one of the most famous intelligence agencies in modern history. A secret police and intelligence agency? And a club you shouldn't sympathize with? It seems like you're starting to catch the thread.

As you guessed, BFC Dynamo, which was founded three years after the establishment of the Stasi, was affiliated with the secret police, and it wasn't behind closed doors, but it was announced and not hidden from anyone, so much so that the club was initially established for members of the secret and regular police of the state, before opening its doors to athletes from various sports.

The state is under our control, so state clubs are also under our control. That was the slogan of Eric Mielke, the biggest supporter of Dynamo Berlin and its honorary president, who was also the head of the Stasi at the time, so in 1954, a group of Dynamo Dresden players and some other local clubs were forced to move to Dynamo Berlin in one-way transfer deals.

BFC Dynamo had power, influence, and, therefore, money, so what happened in 1954 was just the beginning of decades of football corruption. Dynamo Berlin won 10 consecutive titles in the East German Republic League between 1979-1988. In your opinion, how did they manage to achieve this? Besides having a team composed of elite players, being simply Eric Milkha's club or the state's club, they also used all illegal methods to win those titles; doping, biased refereeing, and more. They say those who are in charge of punishment abuse their power, and in the case of BFC Dynamo, the one responsible for punishment was the guilty party themselves.

What's amazing about Union Berlin is that it might be the definition of the "people's club", but more on that in the next part.