Berlin: Finally a football city?

Berlin has a reputation for being a football black hole compared to other major European cities. Could this be the season all that changes? Union Berlin have been promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time ever, while Hertha Berlin have lofty ambitions to compete at the top of German football. And when you delve deeper, the city has a lively and diverse lower-league scene. Kick off! reporter Dave Braneck finds out if Berlin is finally on the verge of becoming a true football city.
Report by Dave Braneck
Camera: Joe Wright
Editing: Caroline Haberland
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[@DK_FALCON]

Ban the word "Soccer" from the earth.

[@huubhuijbens8816]

Yes!!

[@davidaraujo927]

I was thinking the exact same thing!

[@rumourhats]

Soccer means Association Football.The official name of the sport. There are many kinds of "football"; Gaelic, Aussie Rules, Canadian, American, Rugby, etc.

[@tixben]

It's so funny that so many English people don't know it's originally an English word from England.

[@tomooka314]

@@rumourhats exactly! 'soccer' is the original name of european football

[@dibaskg]

To my eye, Berlin is already a football city, in the sense that any given weekend you can catch half a dozen matches if you want to. I did exactly that in November 2016, watching anything from… Hansa 07 vs Kreuzberg (girls) at a no-name fussballplatz, to Hertha vs Mainz at the Olympic Stadium. On another note, I find it really-really-really frustrating hearing the word “soccer” in a football-related story on G E R M A N DW. Give me a freaking break!

[@KingNoLuv]

In English both soccer and football are accepted England used to use soccer but then football became mainstream USA kept soccer and didn’t make the switch although even in the MLS many clubs are opting for FC instead of SC things are definitely changing

[@razormc954]

@@KingNoLuv American here, we still call it soccer.. Football here refers to "American football"

[@yourservice6868]

You think, using the word "Fußball" would make more sense in an English video of Deutsche Welle?

[@KingNoLuv]

@@razormc954 I know I live in the us too I’m just saying when it comes to the mls specifically a lot of clubs opting to use football instead of soccer

[@grafmitajvar2908]

Great documentary! Could you also take a look at Leipzig? It's a town with two clubs which were very big in the past (Lok Leipzig & Chemie Leipzig) but now are playing in 4th/5th division for many years. The rivaly between both of them is still very extreme, also because Chemie is mostly left-wing and Lok mostly right-wing. For many years they don't saw high quality football in Leipzig until RB Leipzig marched from 5th division into the Champions League (with a lot of money from Red Bull). RB Leipzig is successfully now but is also one of the most hated clubs in Leipzig and in whole Germany because it's not having any tradition (founded in 2009) and they just bought their success.

[@dwkickoff]

Great point, Leipzig also has a very interesting football scene as well. We had previously done a piece on Red Bull's teams in New York and Leipzig which may be of interest to you.

[@jencildmello9567]

It doesnt matter they were founded in 2009.But they followed the promotion rules and will write history in future.

[@cawab2995]

In Leipzig nur Lok und Chemie💚💙💛

[@marioskapetanakis]

@MrPauljerry I say don't fuck rb beacouse if they were established in 2009 they already have history in Germany. Leipzig didn't seen quality football for a long time. So I saey good riddance to lok and chemie

[@Abdulaziz-ir3oo]

It’s football not “soccer” ugh

[@bigboyolive7054]

k

[@43lenzo]

It can be, please look up the origin of soccer

[@abbo1049]

@@43lenzo I know the Origin of our game and how some call it soccer, but it's just a nickname the sport is called FOOTBALL it's so annoying when people from Aussie and especially the Yanks call it soccer😠😠😠

[@FrankieBlueEyes]

Sky Sports has a program "Soccer Saturday," and teams like Arsenal & Celtic run "soccer" schools throughout Europe. So the term is used in Europe also. With that said, I still find it comical how hot and bothered people get about something so inconsequential.

[@al3xphantom377]

We will always love the sport no matter what its called

[@alexanderassindia5542]

Germany is different. The football capital of Germany is probably the Ruhr Valley, a region of different cities, where the city borders don't exist. You probably wouldn't notice, if you switch to another city by car or train, it's close. In around 50 kilometres you have Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, VFL Bochum, MSV Duisburg, Rot-Weiss Essen, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and a lot of other clubs which are well known around Germany. But i hope Berlin will change, it's a good start with Hertha and now Union in the Bundesliga (hope they don't get relegated). The main problem in Berlin are the immigrants from other german regions, who bring their own club from that region to Berlin (for example there is a big Stuttgart Community in Berlin). Will be interesting to watch, how Berlin develops.

[@forzasheva7515]

Well, Berlin has a lot of good Clubs too. Tennis Borussia, Victoria Berlin, (Reinickendorfer Füchse), Union, Hertha, Dynamo, Lichtenberg 47. I think that those Clubs would have been atleast BL2 teams if Germany were never ever splitted.

[@DerWurzelMann74]

Yeah, also Hertha (and the other Berlin clubs) have a big potential of fans from the turkish community. I have many friends who's parents are from turkey and they are crazy about football. Unfortunately they are supporting mostly turkish clubs. In my opinion, the club should focus on winning them over, since they are so many potential guests for the stadium!

[@ThePunisher014]

Let me say it straight out-loud, Berlin is not like other cities, its a weird place full of weird history and weird people, weird doesn't mean bad though, it just means standards of other cities don't apply there. and this is coming from a Berliner. (not the donut lol)

[@Lippi488]

10:57 is das Nico von OneFootball Deutschland?

[@carljohnson4473]

Lippi488 ja 😂😂😂😂

[@OnefootballDeutschland]

Erwischt

[@sebit8957]

@@OnefootballDeutschland zusammen mit Jakob lundt von LNB?!

[@AbuHaydar94]

Der ist doch Eintracht Fan 🤔🤔

[@AWFotoVideo]

Gerade die Szene gesehen und erst mal den Kommentar gesucht von einem, der ihn auch gefunden hat XD

[@Casual-ng8gb]

Germanys capital city in terms of football is the Ruhr area (little bit bigger than London I guess) There are playing 10 teams in the top 4 leauges of Germany. For example Dortmund and Schalke are one of them

[@dwkickoff]

Plus: „Wir werden Essen nie vergessen. Wir sind die Fans von Rot-Weiss Essen. Ob lebendig oder Tot wir lieben Rot Weiss Rot.“

[@d.9856]

@@dwkickoff Also Schalke and Essen are the clubs who are hating each others the most in Germany (historically). You can't imagine it nowadays, because of the division difference over the years, but back in the days there were hundreds of people fighting. This was pure hate. Dortmund is a big rival too, but compared to essen the fans are harmless

[@gerdforster883]

You placed Makkabi in the wrong part of the city on your map. They play in the west, right next to TeBe.

[@dwkickoff]

Good catch, thanks for pointing that out! Apologies for the mistake.

[@troub1337]

berlin is not only a football city berlin is a sport city we´ve got in nearly every popular sport in europe top tier teams which always play in the highest league ice hockey we got the record title holder EHC Eisbären in volleyball we got SCC Berlin which won 11 titles since the german unity in basket ball we got Alba Berlin which won the 3rd most titles in the BBL in water polo we got "Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 Berlin" with 37! league titles Berlin is a top tier sport city.

[@ratisok]

VK Jug Dubrovnik 💙❤💙❤💙

[@danmorfitt]

Great documentary. Hull City supporter, for my sins, now in the US and I'm a BSC fan. Watched Hertha in the .2 v Cottbus on a freezing Tuesday night and the atmosphere was amazing. Beers down Jesse Owens Way with both sets of fans in my very poor Deutsch was still brilliant. I will return to the Ostkurve soon. Fantastic documentary on one of the greatest cities around.

[@domtoiletto]

Ha Ho He! :)

[@Miles000]

Karate Andi als Intro hahahaha

[@MinetteLM]

Soccer?? No one says soccer in Germany-except American tourists. This makes DW seem particularly off.

[@vinayak080]

Minette Mangahas lol,u r amazing and yes it's true in Germany it's called futball :)

[@gurung1812]

@@vinayak080 fussball

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

They say fußball

[@edgarlemus358]

Fútbol ⚽️

[@Mister__Jey]

London hat täglich 5 Fußballteams? Krass war mir gar nicht so klar. Aber man darf nicht vergessen dass es auch sehr lange Zeit zwei Teams in München gab

[@misterxya8465]

5(Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Westham, Crystal Palace) in der ersten Liga ich glaube min. 15 im professionellen Ligen

[@john.d193]

Well Tasmania only was in the league because Hertha supposedly had manipulation issues and got forced down and Tasmania took their place even though they were from a much lower league and back then a win only counted two points so it wasn’t like Tasmania were terrible they just shouldn’t have been a first division team

[@igorlyamin9459]

Dave awesome video, thanks!!!

[@davidellis2182]

This was a great little documentary, thank you!

[@rbnh9827]

Great touch of putting David Bowie - Heroes

[@gtmthegreat]

Was the atmosphere and vibe around BFC Dynamo that bad and hostile?

[@Alex89MD]

Bullshit ... there was just not enough time and budget left for the documentary. The right-wing fans are just a lame excuse!

[@camorraII1]

probably not! they actually are known to have quite a few left leaning supporters too. They way they were depicted was unfair!

[@scottwhitley3392]

Glasgow is one the maddest football cites I’ve been to

[@dwkickoff]

What do you think sets it apart from other cities with big derbies?

[@scottwhitley3392]

DW Kick off! In other cities when the weekends over people will forget about football and go back to their normal lives, in Glasgow it defines everything about a person, their friends, their beliefs, their political views. You could have a 2 minute conversation with someone and figure out what team they support. Even though the football in Scotland pales in comparison to the premier league the people in Glasgow are still fiercely loyal to Scottish football and for a country of five million and a city the size of Manchester to have two teams getting 50k plus fans is quite something I think rangers were still getting similar attendances in the 4th tier.Also unlike other cities in say Ireland or other smaller countries you won’t find many people supporting the big European teams. Another thing I found is as much the old firm hate each other when someone from another countries puts them and Scottish I football down they will still back each other up. I’m from Carlisle and studied in Glasgow for four years it was a great experience in a great city.

[@dwkickoff]

Really does sound unique, and like a great experience. Compared to Glasgow, Berlin (and many cities) still have a long way to go. Thanks for sharing!

[@sansoucci5394]

@@dwkickoff The Root of what sets it apart is Race and Religion. Rangers are a Scottish Protestant team with roots in Glasgow and support from all over Scotland and Britain. and also support from the immigrant ( homecoming) Ulster Scots Protestants who came over from the Protestant areas of the (Ulster) Northern Ireland. celtic were the product of Irish catholic immigration in to Scotland (especially the West of Scotland). Rangers are basically Scottish British and Protestant. celtic are Irish and catholic.

[@nemoschmitz2374]

The way he pronounced Manchester made me think 'he must be American' And then:.. 'soccer teams'.. Yup, American

[@fadhlanarmon3670]

Sven Schmitz oh wow an american accent man is american you’re so smart

[@dexterjettster6170]

I just recently discovered this channel and it's just beautiful. Thank you for the videos

[@snssssns409]

Hertha will be a good European Team in a few years! They have really good players!

[@fabric3427]

My ass

[@kaan6107]

😂😂

[@najachero1384]

Die haben schon einige talentierte Jungs aber trotz neuen Investor wird es schwer Spieler wie Arne Meier und Dilrosun zu halten wenn die sich weiter positiv entwickeln.

[@snssssns409]

@@najachero1384 Ich glaub schon, dass man sie halten kann. Wenigstens ein zwei Jahre noch. Hier haben sie Perspektive.

[@socialsciencetamsi6632]

"Soccer" WTF!

[@bewaretrivela5687]

Great video👍

[@sirstinkalot9121]

Very good documentary! Im fan of Borussia Mönchengladbach, but raised and still living in Berlin I can say, this is pretty accurate! Lets go Union!!!!

[@felixwehinger4794]

Great job, Dave ⚽️💨

[@dwkickoff]

Thanks, mate. Spread the word!

[@giftbox2369]

Rome is the capital of Europe, (with the exception of Cardiff) with the least number of championships won. Naples is the largest city in Europe without the football derby.

[@giftbox2369]

@@unclecarrot8000 Yes, you are right, at the moment St. Petersburg has removed the primacy in Naples, until a few years ago in St. Petersburg, in addition to Zenit, there was the Dynamo of St. Petersburg which for many years I play in the First Division, and minor teams of the città were the Lokomotive and the Saturn and the Saturn-Lokomotive, when these two merged. However, Naples remains with the distinction of being the European city to have never had a derby in the first division.

[@KuebelAnemone]

Short answer? No Long answer? No

[@Crowned-Qwesi]

Lol... Come on!! 🤣 Give them a chance.

[@frankie7529]

Long answer: Nooooo

[@0AFonseca]

1:20 Comet is Coming "Summon the Fire", love the band, love the music 😍

[@Icke2070]

"hertha and union don't have such a big rivalry" -> Berlin literally burned imagine BFC and union playing against each other

[@leandrosdk]

Als es die U23 noch gab, und der BFC da gegen die U23 gespielt hat war es schon Heavy.

[@Ceerial]

BFC Viktoria 1889 has two German championships - always wondered if they shouldn't had been the real Hertha. Way cooler name, kit and crest anyway.

[@dwkickoff]

Berlin will officially be a football city when Viktoria make it to the Bundesliga as well!

[@sejerland]

great documentary 🔥🔥

[@TheOrtizProject]

I’d go to a bfc match to see what reactions I’d get.

[@Kalle612]

it's just a cliche..

[@davidmorales886]

The video loses its credibility when the host says “soccer”

[@glswenson]

Idiotic. The information is still correct regardless of terminology.

[@lehelkovacs1776]

yeah, calling it fúúútból or calcio sounds way better :D

[@lperry05]

Forgot about Sheffield...

[@AFCA-vn9bl]

😂

[@senzubean31]

Tasmania Berlin being named after the state of Australia is just weird.

[@olmadepov]

Feel like going there and play football again..so many regional clubs

[@furimmermeinvfl1177]

1. FC Union Berlin👊

[@robertwill23]

It's stupid to suggest that city has to have super-rich biggest clubs that are successful in UCL or 1st division or nasty rivalries in order to be considered football city. Who makes that claim? Those for whom football is only Barcelona, Man City and Real?

[@FullMetalChains]

Don't know about the first two, but rivalry definitely helps

[@Terri4hell]

If you stop calling it "Soccer" you might get rid of the dislikes. - Just saying.

[@blanche1935]

57 dislikes wow! I am sure they are crying right now. Come on man, they have like 1 k likes, 57 is not a big deal. You guys have to be really sad to judge a documentary just because they use a different term than the one you use. I am not even American or Australian and I also personally prefer the football term, but I think the documentary was well researched and had a really interesting story. I am not going to dislike it for something as childish as that...

[@Terri4hell]

@@blanche1935 haha chill mate i did like this video, thought it was amazingly well done! My comment was just banter - supposed to be funny.

[@Rabidanti]

Dislike because of the amount of times the host said 'Soccer'.

[@jackcphelps]

0:32 nice

[@dahabaufnacken960]

Misconception here: Berlin has not become more wealthy, just more gentrified. so the poor people are slowly being moved out of the way for rich students and so on.

[@95Lodgey]

Great video. I find German football fascinating.

[@_kalash47]

Berlin is a footbal city! Respect from Romania Hertha and Union Berlin!

[@ehmjay3457]

10:57 ist that Nico @brudivoeller of onefootball germany? :D

[@SyzuderCon]

Yeah😂

[@alihabibi2985]

Ali Daei 🙌🏼

[@abbo1049]

Great video 👍 except you were annoying calling the beautiful game Soccer 😠 IT'S FOOTBALL

[@daniellowry660]

Why so sensitive

[@LievenSerge]

Learn the history and stop crying.

[@calzonie5763]

The Glasgow derby is loosing its glow

[@mtksbctk]

DW: Berlin is not a football city Paris: ...

[@edwinwan02]

Paris St Germain

[@HerreDePerre]

Edwin Wan its the most soulless club in Europe

[@francisr8563]

Edwin Wan Red Star Paris

[@oliverfield877]

Still more a football city than any place in America

[@danny-ss5jh]

What about Prague?

[@ericseventeen17]

Is this a series? That pretty interesting, cool vid👍

[@unoduetrem540]

With all do respect, the presenter is very awkward on camera. Almost as if he is being held captive and is making this video to tell his family how well he's being treated. Hire me DW!!!

[@LievenSerge]

0:45 My club 💪🏽 💙💓

[@dasbose4962]

I am a Berliner and I do not know what the fuck soccer is. Its called football ffs...

[@dwkickoff]

Soccer is a shortened form of 'association football', and is what Americans and Australians use to refer to the sport others call football. Hope that helps!

[@janekverstehtgooglesagbnic1504]

Lol Karate Andi am Start

[@yourservice6868]

I guess it takes a while, until Herthas efforts to gain fans will pay of. A lot of people in Berlin are relatively new to the city and the football fans among them have already found their club. But their children will probably choose a club to which their peer group has some connection.

[@unoduetrem540]

Marko Pantelic 0:32

[@Shammm23]

They Need A Rich Investor to draw big players and then their stadium will fill

[@rhenry212]

Stop interchaging football and soccer. Its FOOTBALL YOU MUT.

[@surfhappens202]

Aaaaa shit, Here we go again

[@fighterck6241]

It's your fault for inventing the word...

[@gurung1812]

It's super annoying

[@AFCA-vn9bl]

FighterCK what are you talking about

[@LievenSerge]

Learn the history and stop crying.

[@derrotepaul3485]

Family feeling = Union !

[@natureVshuman2024]

this is good news for bundesliga

[@jonasv1998]

Big yes Been there to games defo a football City

[@CityBeetroot]

0:10 Not mentioning Glasgow and Rotterdam? Calling football soccer? What a shit opening of what could have been an interesting report. I’m out.

[@PaolOerfurt]

In Olympiastadion goes 70.000 , Union 20.000, Germany 4 time world cup winner what should go much more yet?

[@reps4jesus858]

Nö football Club Fan in germany cares realy about the national Team. Its just for Kids, World cup or european cup fans.

[@dhugiznation3481]

Berlin tag episode,is more famous than Berlin football team

[@markocroatia7630]

I hope so...

[@nickmullerITFC78]

ITS FOOTBALL AND ALWAYS WILL BE

[@m.j.n.808]

It's just a word man

[@frankie7529]

Berlin is a sports city with top teams in basketball, ice hockey, volleyball and handball. That is much more interesting than being a soccer city.

[@trep2219]

Dynamo is best

[@sadrequiem]

Hertha BSC really needs a branding refresh, specially the logo.

[@roccobln10]

Nah it's one of the oldest club in Bundesliga, you can't change it.

[@darthtepes575]

Not cities, but regions Bayern - leverkusen and munchen Borussia - dortmund and monchengladbach

[@hounddogde]

Leverkusen isn't in Bayern

[@DubstepCherry]

Holy shit can you guys calm down with the "soccer/football" shit? Americans lived their whole life calling it soccer. We all know what they mean so just chill out its not that big of a deal.

[@brettbagels]

People need to relax on the term used for this great game. Just enjoy it

[@reps4jesus858]

Berlins football History without Dynamo BFC is nothing worth.

[@tiefgefuhlfach5645]

This video aged well Union Is currently first place in the German national league Winning not because of money or star players but because of great team play and the best mentality

[@bennocelt]

whats soccer?

[@dwkickoff]

Another word for football. From „Association football“.

[@bennocelt]

@@dwkickoff football is football!

[@dwkickoff]

„What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.“

[@bennocelt]

@@dwkickoff whatever, good video anyway man

[@dwkickoff]

Thanks, bennocelt

[@TheAzoq]

Turned off after he saying 'soccer'

[@keolbsc101]

For ever 🔵⚪️💙 Hertha

[@elmitross]

0:32 ПАНТЕЛА

[@leewenyeong9892]

Bruh the thumbnail HAHAHA

[@mcbista1892]

10:58 einfach Nico, ehre. @Onefootball

[@B890Productions]

Anyone know the intro track that comes in around 0.27?

[@pushkarparmar5131]

This aged well.

[@neychev]

13:45 Did he just said there is racism in Berlin

[@bluestMavi]

Does somebody know what song it is in the background at 12:23?

[@fredderf_9721]

Sky and Sand - Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner

[@Kater_Cool]

11:01 da ist Nico

[@simonz7972]

What’s the name of the song at the end??

[@krizkeyyy7236]

Kalkbrenner - Sky and Sand

[@simonz7972]

@@krizkeyyy7236 thaaanks!!!

[@blorblor5438]

Tennis Borussia, Mama ich muss ma...

[@sremonkarmakar2715]

we have east bengal and mohunbagan in kolkata,india.

[@BruceWayne-ls7nr]

No one gives a fuck about a Third World country without proper toilets

[@coopaloopmex]

UNION!!! UUUUUUUUNION!!!!

[@JJJJ-fi9dg]

London is the maddest football city believe me. Which other city has about 6 derbies in that one city. In London u have clubs like west ham and Millwall renowned for hardcore “hooligan” style fans close to their community. Then you have clubs like Fulham who are as English as you can get with their ground serving tea and scones. You also have clubs like palace who resemble the ultras of Europe with their drums and flags. All this in just one city

[@goldenretriever6261]

He used soccer and football in the same sentence.

[@GeneralSherman64]

Glasgow???

[@danielstephenson1233]

For Moscow you missed 'Dinamo'. A fairly shocking oversight. Don't ever get arrested here: they are the police's favourite football team.

[@MrTrollo2]

Hamburg has two close-to-bundesliga teams since decades, why should having union and hertha make berlin a great football city? ^^

[@JohnSmith-kd6ip]

Maybe Hertha would be more attractive to people if they changed their name. Hertha is an old woman's name. Imagine "Agatha Madrid", "Harriet London", "Winifred Rome", "Mildred New York".....those teams couldn't possibly be "cool" teams.

[@hielkevanbroekhoven7776]

What about Amsterdam cmon

[@itallstartswithgilgamesh7061]

Paris.....

[@Kater_Cool]

Can you Drive to Cologne?