Good to Know — Hertha BSC

Hertha BSC is a club of extremes. Attendance

Hertha BSC is a club of extremes.

records, magical European nights and big games in the venerable Olympiastadion alternate with sporting embarrassments, construction farces and financial trouble. That much is well known.

What few people know is that scandals, disqualifications and financial irregularities are virtually part of the club’s DNA and are not some ‘new’ Hertha phenomenon, but go back more than 100 years.

In the 1918/19 season the club paid illegal

In the 1918/19 season the club paid illegal signing bonuses to some players and was disqualified after the first half of the campaign.

signing bonuses to some players and was disqualified after the first half of the campaign. The players from Gesundbrunnen were allowed back into league play the following season.

In the championship season of 1930/31, reserve player

In the championship season of 1930/31, reserve player Otto Fritze revealed in the local 8 Uhr-Blatt that the club was, once again, paying illegal bonuses and premiums, and that tickets for so-called exhibition matches against high-profile opponents had allegedly been printed several times with the same numbering in order to cheat the visiting club out of its share of gate receipts.

Otto Fritze revealed in the local 8 Uhr-Blatt that the club was, once again, paying illegal bonuses and premiums, and that tickets for so-called exhibition matches against high-profile opponents had allegedly been printed several times with the same numbering in order to cheat the visiting club out of its share of gate receipts. The chief cashier resigned over the practice. The Berlin association then charged three allegedly especially well-paid players – Hanne Sobek, Willi Völker and Willi Kirsei – but nothing could be proved.

Sobek himself had already appeared before the association court shortly after his 1925 move from Alemannia 90 to Hertha, when Hertha tried to circumvent the mandatory one-year ban and fielded the national player in a friendly under the alias Erich Poppe. Unsurprisingly, that was found out. While the player escaped with a warning, Hertha had to pay a fine equivalent to the gate receipts from the match.

After the Second World War, Hertha had to

After the Second World War, Hertha had to sit out four years because of its proximity to the Nazi rulers.

sit out four years because of its proximity to the Nazi rulers. The borough office of Wedding noted: ‘The Hertha club was banned in 1945 after the end of the war as a National Socialist football club.’ The ban was not lifted until August 1, 1949, which is why Hertha BSC missed the first four seasons of the Berlin city league.

In the turbulent early years of the Bundesliga,

In the turbulent early years of the Bundesliga, divided Berlin – an ‘island’ in the middle of the Soviet zone – was a special case from the outset.

divided Berlin – an ‘island’ in the middle of the Soviet zone – was a special case from the outset. And in 1965 Hertha set a sad record off the pitch. The Berlin club became the first team to have its Bundesliga license, for the league founded in 1963, refused by the German Football Association.

Not even a bizarre television appearance by then Hertha boss Wolfgang Holst in February 1965 changed that. In a program on Sender Freies Berlin titled Madness and Reality, he openly stated that 13 of 15 Bundesliga rivals were paying their players lavish signing bonuses. The motto was: ‘The others do it too.’ It did not save his club.

In truth, Hertha arguably should never have received a Bundesliga license in 1963 in the first place. To lure stars from West Germany to the divided city, the club paid more money than the DFB allowed. This ‘serious violation of the regulations’ led to Hertha BSC becoming the first club to lose its Bundesliga license after the 1964/65 season. According to DFB calculations, the Berliners were missing documentation for 192,000 marks – almost 100,000 euros in today’s money, a lot for the time.

That only made the whole ‘Bundesliga in Berlin’

That only made the whole ‘Bundesliga in Berlin’ issue even more embarrassing.

issue even more embarrassing. Since the DFB and the Axel Springer publishing group, based in the Cold War frontline city, were determined to keep a Berlin club in the top flight, another Berlin side had to move up. Berlin city champions Tennis Borussia Berlin and Spandauer SV politely declined, so Tasmania 1900 Berlin, third in the Berlin city league, was thrown into the deep end – and ended up going down in history as perhaps the worst Bundesliga club of all time with 8:60 points.

Only in 1968 did Hertha return to the top flight after the license withdrawal.

The most successful period in Hertha BSC’s history

The most successful period in Hertha BSC’s history came in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

came in the late 1920s and early 1930s. That is well known. Less well known is that the club set two special records in that era.

Hertha BSC became the second German club, after

Hertha BSC became the second German club, after 1.

1. FC Nürnberg, to successfully defend its national title. It managed the feat in 1930/31. And in 1931 the Berliners set a record with their sixth consecutive final appearance, a mark Schalke 04 would later match from 1937 to 1942 but never surpass before the abolition of the championship finals in 1963. After losing four straight finals from 1926 to 1929, the club had been branded the ‘unlucky team of the German Reich’ – until the spell was finally broken in 1930.

What even fewer people know: the capital club’s

What even fewer people know: the capital club’s title in 1931 was a genuine scandal.

title in 1931 was a genuine scandal. Hertha were clearly second-best against 1860 Munich and quite rightly trailed 2:1 until shortly before the end. Then two very obvious offside goals – both times with the referee ignoring his linesman’s flag – gave Hertha BSC a 3:2 win.

For Hertha fans, the win was merely justice

For Hertha fans, the win was merely justice being done.

being done. Two years earlier, after all, Hertha BSC had lost its fourth straight final for the fourth time in a row, this time to Fürth – in Nuremberg. Another scandal match.

Supporters of neighboring 1. FC Nürnberg believed their side’s semifinal defeat to Hertha had been caused by major refereeing errors. It was Nürnberg’s first defeat in a championship finals campaign and the first time they had failed to reach the final after qualifying. They gave the visitors from the capital a deeply hostile welcome.

There was plenty of violence and mayhem during the match too. The game came close to being abandoned several times, but it was completed after all. Fürth won 3:2 thanks to a late goal by Rupprecht in the 85th minute.