I'm always intrigued when looking at certain bits of our European history.  Noticed both Dynamo Berlin and Dynamo Dresden who we played in 1980's haven't been in Europe since 1990.  Obviously a year earlier the Berlin Wall was knocked down so not sure if this is a coincidence.  Given former is playing regional stuff and latter in Bundesliga 2 will either ever be able to return to European football if climbing German ladder or are they just stuck where currently playing??  How have they fallen from grace so quickly??  A lad 'Godsworthy Donyoh' who was at my friend's Right To Dream Academy in Ghana around 2013 is now at Dynamo Dresden so glad to see one of his graduates succeeding.         

A quick peek into the corruption of the Former East german league setup when it comes to Dynamo Berlin might answer a few questions - supposed significant links to the Stasi

 

Dreseden had ties to the East German Police

 

 

 

 

In the communist era, Soviet and  Eastern European clubs were nominally amateur....of course they were nothing of the sort in reality, and players received (for their respective countries) decent salaries and never had any problems accessing the best food and other commodities that the ordinary people would either have to queue for or do completely without. They weren't just football clubs either...they often had athletics, basketball, gymnastics another other sports teams under the umbrella of the name

 

Many of the clubs again were nominally allied to certain industries or services, although the players again in reality never worked in these places. "Dynamo" was always the police team, "C.S.K.A" denoted the army team of that particular country. "Lokomotiv" unsurprisingly was the state railway side.

 

Once German reunification took place...these clubs still existed but the relative lack of wealth in the former East Germany meant that players from the East would head to clubs based in the former west  where they could earn massive salaries compared to what they were used to. Consequently they were nowhere near strong enough to go into the Bundesliga and entered into the German regional leagues. I think I'm right in saying Dynamo Berlin changed their name to FC Berlin fairly quickly after reunification in order to distance itself from its shady former past.

Dynamo Berlin were Hoeniker's team.

Rumours were rife that referees, players and officials of other East German teams were bought. The best players ended up at Dynamo, because of the Stasi influence.

 

I recently returned to Berlin for a few days and retraced my steps to the old Dynamo Berlin ground, where Aberdeen were knocked out on Penalties.

The ground itself has not changed apart from the multi coloured seating that is now in place.

 

In the communist era, Soviet and  Eastern European clubs were nominally amateur....of course they were nothing of the sort in reality, and players received (for their respective countries) decent salaries and never had any problems accessing the best food and other commodities that the ordinary people would either have to queue for or do completely without. They weren't just football clubs either...they often had athletics, basketball, gymnastics another other sports teams under the umbrella of the name

 

Many of the clubs again were nominally allied to certain industries or services, although the players again in reality never worked in these places. "Dynamo" was always the police team, "C.S.K.A" denoted the army team of that particular country. "Lokomotiv" unsurprisingly was the state railway side.

 

Once German reunification took place...these clubs still existed but the relative lack of wealth in the former East Germany meant that players from the East would head to clubs based in the former west  where they could earn massive salaries compared to what they were used to. Consequently they were nowhere near strong enough to go into the Bundesliga and entered into the German regional leagues. I think I'm right in saying Dynamo Berlin changed their name to FC Berlin fairly quickly after reunification in order to distance itself from its shady former past.

 

Interesting stuff, appreciate the info!!