FC Concordia Wilhelmsruh
Encyclopedia
FC Concordia Wilhelmsruh is a German association football club
based in Berlin. The club was founded on 29 June 1895 as Concordia Berlin and was one of the founding members
of the German Football Association
(Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) in Leipzig
in 1900. It is named after Concordia
, the Roman goddess of unity.
where they played a single season before becoming part of the Berliner Meistershaft, a competing first tier circuit. They returned to Oberliga play in 1911. The team twice appeared in Berliner-Pokal (Berlin Cup) play, being put out by Weißensee 1900 in a 1910 semifinal match, and in 1929, being thrashed 11–0 by Hertha Berlin in a quarterfinal contest.
Concordia fell to amateur level play at the end of the 1911–12 campaign. They merged with an unnamed local side in 1924 to become Ballspiel-Club Concordia vom Jahre 1895. The team remained a lower tier side until after World War II in 1945. In the aftermath of the war Allied occupation authorities banned all existing organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs. Concordia was re-established as SG Wilhelmsruh and resumed play in the Amateurliga Berlin (II) in the 1947–48 season. The next year the club was re-named FC Concordia Wilhelmsruh and played two more seasons in the Amateurliga as a mid-table side.
The burgeoning Cold War
that would divide the country into East and West Germany
led to the formation of separate football leagues in the Soviet-occupied areas. Being based in what would become East Berlin
, Concordia was ousted from the Amateurliga Berlin to play in the DDR-Liga
(II) as SG Concordia Wilhelmsruh. They were immediately relegated to the Landesliga Berlin (III) after only a single season and a last place finish. The club then played third tier football until the mid-1950s when it slipped deeper into the amateur ranks, making only occasional and fleeting appearances in the Bezirksliga Berlin through the 1970s and 1980s.
The club collapsed in the early 1990s and was re-established in May 1992. Today the team fields a total of eighteen teams and emphasizes its youth sides. The men's team (I) plays in the Bezirksliga Berlin (VII).
Football in Germany
Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...
based in Berlin. The club was founded on 29 June 1895 as Concordia Berlin and was one of the founding members
Founding Clubs of the DFB
The DFB was formed January 28, 1900 in Leipzig. The commonly accepted number of founding clubs represented at the inaugural meeting is 86, but this number is uncertain. The vote held to establish the association was 62:22 in favour . Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may...
of the German Football Association
German Football Association
The German Football Association is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB organises the German football leagues, including the national league, the Bundesliga, and the men's and women's national teams. The DFB is based in Frankfurt and is...
(Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
in 1900. It is named after Concordia
Concordia (mythology)
In Roman religion, Concord was the goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. Her Greek version is Harmonia, and the Harmonians and some Discordians equate her with Aneris. Her opposite is Discordia ....
, the Roman goddess of unity.
History
In its early years the club moved between first and second division level play on the local city circuit and captured its first honors with a second division title in 1901. That advanced the club to the Oberliga BerlinOberliga Berlin
The Amateur-Oberliga Berlin was the second tier of the German football league system in the city of West-Berlin in Germany from 1947 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, operating under the name of Amateurliga Berlin. After 1963, it was the third tier until 1991, when the league was...
where they played a single season before becoming part of the Berliner Meistershaft, a competing first tier circuit. They returned to Oberliga play in 1911. The team twice appeared in Berliner-Pokal (Berlin Cup) play, being put out by Weißensee 1900 in a 1910 semifinal match, and in 1929, being thrashed 11–0 by Hertha Berlin in a quarterfinal contest.
Concordia fell to amateur level play at the end of the 1911–12 campaign. They merged with an unnamed local side in 1924 to become Ballspiel-Club Concordia vom Jahre 1895. The team remained a lower tier side until after World War II in 1945. In the aftermath of the war Allied occupation authorities banned all existing organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs. Concordia was re-established as SG Wilhelmsruh and resumed play in the Amateurliga Berlin (II) in the 1947–48 season. The next year the club was re-named FC Concordia Wilhelmsruh and played two more seasons in the Amateurliga as a mid-table side.
The burgeoning Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
that would divide the country into East and West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
led to the formation of separate football leagues in the Soviet-occupied areas. Being based in what would become East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, Concordia was ousted from the Amateurliga Berlin to play in the DDR-Liga
DDR-Liga
The DDR-Liga was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR , being roughly equivalent to the Bundesliga in West Germany.-1950-1955:The league was established with two divisions of ten teams each in 1950...
(II) as SG Concordia Wilhelmsruh. They were immediately relegated to the Landesliga Berlin (III) after only a single season and a last place finish. The club then played third tier football until the mid-1950s when it slipped deeper into the amateur ranks, making only occasional and fleeting appearances in the Bezirksliga Berlin through the 1970s and 1980s.
The club collapsed in the early 1990s and was re-established in May 1992. Today the team fields a total of eighteen teams and emphasizes its youth sides. The men's team (I) plays in the Bezirksliga Berlin (VII).