page_title: Hertha BSC
section_title: Postwar play
hierarchical_section_title: Hertha BSC / History / Postwar play
caption_attribution_description: English: Chart of end-season table positions of Hertha BSC in the football league system of Germany. Data source: RSSSF, wikipedia, f-archiv.de, fussball.de Deutsch: Historische Tabellenplatzierungen von Hertha BSC im Fußball-Ligasystem in Deutschland Русский: Результаты «Герты» (Берлин) в чемпионате Германии. Указаны места в таблице по итогам каждого сезона.
context_page_description: Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e.V., commonly known as Hertha BSC, and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the Charlottenburg locality of Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, Hertha BSC was founded in 1892, and was a founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900.
  The team won the German championship in 1930 and 1931. Since 1963, Hertha's stadium has been the Olympiastadion. The club is known as Die Alte Dame in German, which translates to "The Old Lady". In 2002, the sports activities of the professional, amateur, and under-19 teams were separated into Hertha BSC GmbH & Co. KGaA.
context_section_description: After World War II, occupying Allied authorities banned most organizations in Germany, including sports and football clubs. Hertha was re-formed late in 1945 as SG Gesundbrunnen and resumed play in the Oberliga Berlin – Gruppe C. The 36 teams of the first season of the post-war Oberliga Berlin were reduced to just a dozen the next year, and the club found itself out of first division football and playing in the Amateurliga Berlin. By the end of 1949, it had re-claimed their identity as Hertha BSC and earned a return to the top-flight.
  Tensions between the western Allies and the Soviets occupying various sectors of the city, and the developing Cold War, led to chaotic conditions for football in the capital. Hertha was banned from playing against East German teams in the 1949–50 season after taking on several players and a coach who had fled the Dresden club SG Friedrichstadt for West Berlin. A number of sides from the eastern half of the city were forced from the Oberliga Berlin to the newly established DDR-Liga beginning with the 1950–51 season.
  Through the 1950s, an intense rivalry developed with Tennis Borussia Berlin. A proposal for a merger between the two clubs in 1958 was resoundingly rejected, with only three of the 266 members voting in favour.
  Being a major Berlin side, Hertha had fans in the entirety of Berlin, but following the division of the city, supporters in East Berlin found it both difficult and dangerous to follow the team. In interviews with long-time supporter Helmut Klopfleisch, he described his difficulties as a supporter in East Berlin. Klopfleisch came from the district of Pankow and attending his first home match as a young boy in 1954 he became an instant supporter. He continued to attend home matches at the stadium, but with the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, this became impossible. Despite this, he did not give up. By this time, Hertha played at the Stadion am Gesundbrunnen, nicknamed Die Plumpe. The stadium was located close enough to the Berlin wall for the sounds from the stadium to be heard over the wall. Thus, Klopfleisch and other supporters gathered behind the wall to listen to the home matches. When the crowd at the stadium cheered, Klopfleisch and the others cheered as well. Klopfleisch later came under suspicion by Stasi, the East German secret police. He was arrested and interrogated at numerous occasions. He also had his passport confiscated and eventually lost his job as an electrician.
caption: Historical chart of Hertha BSC league performance after WWII
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