Punks and Hooligans in the DDR.
After punk emerged in Britain in the late 70s it wasn’t long before it spread it’s influence to the continent as well. Even in the Eastern Bloc countries punk scenes began to spring up under the watch of oppresive Soviet sattelite govenments and murderous secret police. In East Berlin it was easier than for other East German youth because they could tune into radio broadcasts from West Berlin playing Sex Pistols, Ramones and Clash records. If society in Britian was grey and rigid at that time meaning punk had a fertile breeding ground then East Berlin must have been the perfect place to write a good punk song. Early punk bands played in churches where the authorities had no power and sometimes in art galleries and universities. Students were often involved in illegal civil rights movements so provided a safe haven for the punks.
In East Berlin at the time there were two football teams competing in East Germany’s top league, the DDR Oberliga. The more successful were Berliner Fußballclub Dynamo (BFC Dynamo) who were sponsored by the country’s hated secret police, the Stasi (Staatssicherheit). The other were 1 FC Union Berlin, sponsored by the nations trade unions. While their arch rivals won 10 titles in a row in highly dubious circumstances, Union yo-yoed between the Oberliga and the DDR-Liga (second tier) with very little success, largely due to the East German’s government policy of favouring ‘elite’ clubs at the expense of ‘civilian’ clubs like Union.
The emerging punk rockers picked their side and allied themselves with Union over the ‘elite’ of Dynamo. Like a lot of football clubs at this time the Union hooligan element also contained a large number of neo-Nazis. The Stasi regularly kept tabs on these fringe groups along with heavy metal fans and other such subcultures. This video was spotted on the excellent Vintage Football Club earlier this week and shows the hooligan followers of Union as they cause havoc on an away day. Some bizarre chants of ‘Liverpoool’ and a Union Flag unfurlled on the train no doubt giving away the British influences of punk rock and football violence.
