1. FC Union Berlin
The initial spark for soccer in Köpenick came in the spring of 1906 with the founding of SV Olympia in the Oberschöneweide district. After several transformations and renamings, the club became 1. FC Union Berlin e.V. on January 20, 1966. With around 67,000 members and around 375,000 spectators per season at its home stadium An der Alten Försterei, 1. FC Union Berlin is one of the largest and best-known soccer clubs in Germany. With its professional men’s team, Union is one of 36 licensees of the DFL (German Football League) and has been part of the Bundesliga, the highest division in German professional soccer, since 2019. In the 2023/24 season, the club took part in the UEFA Champions League, the most important club competition in European soccer, for the first time in its history. In the summer of 2023, the women’s team, which had previously been an amateur team, was converted into a professional team. In a flawless season, the team won the championship in the Regionalliga Nordost, promotion to the Bundesliga 2 and victory in the Berlin Cup competition. Since the summer of 2024, both professional teams have played their home games at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, which has been the club’s venue since 1920 and currently seats 22,012 spectators and will be expanded to a capacity of 40,000 in the coming years.