List of football clubs in East Germany
The history of East German football is complex, and that of its clubs particularly so. After World War II, the occupying Allies disbanded most German organisations, including sports clubs.
While some clubs were re-formed, others were not, and many that emerged had been renamed, merged with their neighbours, or even split. The instability continued throughout the East German era, with clubs being moved to new towns, and with very frequent name-changes, Soviet-sounding names like Dynamo and Lokomotive replacing more traditional names.
After re-unification, many clubs reverted to their pre-East German names, but some stuck with them, and others have changed back again. This page lists all prominent East German clubs, along with their original name, their present-day name, and a list of name changes and mergers that they underwent.
| GDR name | Pre-GDR name | Current name | Other names | GDR Titles | GDR Cups |
| BSG Wismut Aue | Pneumatik Aue | FC Erzgebirge Aue | BSG Pneumatik Aue BSG Zentra Wismut Aue SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt FC Wismut Aue | 3 | 1 |
| BSG Rotation Babelsberg | SG Babelsberg | Fortuna Babelsberg | SG Babelsberg BSG Märkische Volksstimme Potsdam-Babelsberg BSG DEFA Babelsberg | - | - |
| Berliner FC Dynamo° | None | Berliner FC Dynamo | SC Dynamo Berlin FC Berlin | 10 | 3 |
| 1. FC Union Berlin° | SC Oberschöneweide | 1. FC Union Berlin | SC Olympia 06 Oberschöneweide SG Oberschöneweide SG Union Oberschöneweide BSG Motor Oberschöneweide SC Motor Berlin TSC Oberschöneweide TSC Berlin | - | 1 |
| BSG Chemie Böhlen | None | SV Chemie Böhlen | BSG Brennstoff Böhlen BSG Benzinwerk Böhlen BSG Aktivist Böhlen SV Chemie Böhlen | - | - |
| FC Vorwärts Berlin° FC Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder° | None | 1. FC Frankfurt | Vorwärts Leipzig ZSK Vorwärts Berlin ZASK Vorwärts Berlin ASK Vorwärts Berlin FC Victoria Frankfurt/Oder Frankfurter FC Viktoria | 6 | 2 |
| BSG Stahl Brandenburg | None | FC Stahl Brandenburg | BSV Stahl Brandenburg BSV Brandenburg | - | - |
| BSG Energie Cottbus | None | FC Energie Cottbus | BSG Aktivist Brieske-Ost SC Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg SC Cottbus | - | - |
| BSG Motor Dessau | SV Dessau 05 | SV Dessau 05 | FC Adler Dessauer FC SV BAMAG Dessau VfR Dessau SpVgg Dessau Blau-Weiss Dessau Sport-Union Dessau SG Dessau-Nord BSG Waggonbau Dessau BSG Waggonfabrik Dessau SG Waggonbau 05 Dessau | - | 1 |
| SG Dynamo Dresden°° | None | SG Dynamo Dresden | SG Volkspolizei Dresden 1. FC Dynamo Dresden | 8 | 7 |
| SG Dresden-Friedrichstadt | Dresdner SC | Dresdner SC | None | - | - |
| BSG Stahl Eisenhüttenstädt | None | FC Eisenhüttenstädt | BSG Stahl Fürstenberg Ost BSG Stahl Stalinstadt Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl | - | - |
| FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt° | SG Erfurt West | Rot-Weiss Erfurt | SG Erfurt West SG Fortuna Erfurt KWU Erfurt Turbine Erfurt SC Turbine Erfurt | 2 | - |
| BSG Wismut Gera | SG Gera-Pforden | BSG Wismut Gera | 1. VfR Gera Allgemeinen Turngemeinde Gera SpVgg Gera 04 Concordia Gera-Reuß SG Gera-Pforden RFT Gera BSG Mechanik Gera BSG Motor Gera FSV Wismut Gera 1. SV Gera FV Gera Süd | - | - |
| Hallescher FC Chemie° | SG Freiimfelde Halle | Hallescher FC | SG Freiimfelde Halle ZSG Union Halle BSG Turbine Halle SC Chemie Halle-Leune SC Chemie Halle | 2 | 2 |
| FC Carl Zeiss Jena° | 1. SV Jena | FC Carl Zeiss Jena | FC der Firma Carl Zeiss FC Carl Zeiss Jena Ernst-Abbe Jena Stadion Jena BSG Carl Zeiss Jena Mechanik Jena BSG Motor Jena SC Motor Jena | 3 | 4 |
| FC Karl-Marx-Stadt° | None | Chemnitzer FC | SG Chemnitz Nord BSG Fewa Chemnitz BSG Chemie Chemnitz SC Chemie Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Karl-Marx-Stadt | 1 | - |
| BSG Chemie Leipzig | TuRa Leipzig | FC Sachsen Leipzig | Britannia Leipzig Hertha Leipzig Leipziger SV SG Leipzig-Leutzsch Industrie Leipzig Dissolved Grün-Weiß Leipzig Chemie Böhlen | 2 | 1 |
| 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig° | VfB Leipzig | 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig | SG Probstheida SC Rotation Leipzig SC Leipzig VfB Leipzig | - | 4 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg° | None | 1. FC Magdeburg | SG Sudenburg SG Lemsdorf SAG Krupp Grusson Eintracht Sudenburg Stahl Magdeburg Motor Mitte Magdeburg Aufbau Magdeburg SC Magdeburg | 3 | 8 |
| BSG Einheit Pankow | SG Pankow-Nord | VfB Einheit zu Pankow | VfB Pankow SG Pankow Nord PSV Einheit Pankow | - | - |
| BSG Motor WEMA Plauen | VFC Plauen | VFC Plauen | SG Plauen-West Sachsenverlag Plauen Rotation Plauen Wismut Plauen | - | - |
| BSG Stahl Riesa | Riesaer SV | BSG Stahl Riesa | SC Riesa FC Wettin SG Riesa Riesaer SV Stahlwerk Riesa FC Stahl Riesa Riesaer SV Blau-Weiß FC Stahl Riesa TSV Stahl Riesa | - | - |
| FC Hansa Rostock° | SG Lauter | F.C. Hansa Rostock | SG Lauter BSG Freihet Wismut Lauter BSG Empor Lauter Empor Rostock | 1 | 1 |
| BSG Lokomotive Stendal | Viktoria Stendal | 1. FC Lok Stendal | SG Stendal-Nord Blau-Weiss Stendal SG Eintracht Stendal SG Blau-Weiß Stendal BSG "Hans Wendler" Stendal FSV Lok Altmark Stendal | - | - |
| BSG Sachsenring Zwickau | SG Planitz | FSV Zwickau | SC Planitz SG Planitz ZSG Horch Zwickau BSG Motor Zwickau | 1 | 3 |
° Football clubs, which were founded 1965-66 as centers of high-level football in the GDR.
°° SG Dynamo Dresden was a sports community with FC status.