Sport clubs were institutions to promote competitive sports in East Germany.

They were created beginning in 1954 as part of a programme to promote excellence in East German sports. Some sportclubs were part of the Sportvereinigung Dynamo (Police) and the Armeesportvereinigung Vorwärts (Army). The biggest sport club in East Germany was SC Dynamo Berlin

SC Dynamo Berlin

The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was a training center for the Sports Club Dynamo .-Sporting spectrum:...

. Every sports club focused on selected kinds of sport. The well-equipped sports clubs were only tasked with competitive sports, in contrast to the Betriebssportgemeinschaft

Betriebssportgemeinschaft (GDR)

A Betriebssportgemeinschaft was an organizational form of sports clubs in East Germany.After World War II, the Allied Control Commission had dissolved all existing sports structures, including the dissolution of all existing sports clubs on the basis of directive 23, dated 17 December 1945. This...

 clubs that organised non-competitive sports.

Talented athletes could not join a sport club of their own volition, but were delegated by the leadership of the respective sport clubs. The most important talent hotbed for the sports clubs were the Kinder- und Jugendsportschule institutions.

In 1965, association football was given a special status in East Germany's sports system, when football clubs

Football club (GDR)

Football club was a designation for the elite football teams in the GDR . They were formed in the mid-1960s as centers of high-level football....

 were formed from the footballing departments of the sport clubs. Afterwards, these clubs dominated play in the DDR-Oberliga

DDR-Oberliga

The DDR-Oberliga was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the elite level of football competition in the DDR , being roughly equivalent to the Oberliga or Bundesliga in West Germany.-Overview:Following World...

.

Most sportclubs had their seat in the capitals of the Bezirke

Administrative divisions of the German Democratic Republic

The Administrative divisions of the German Democratic Republic were constituted in two different forms during the country's 41-year-long history. The Republic first retained the traditional German division into federated states called Länder, but in 1952 replaced them with arbitrarily-drawn...

 - each capital had at least one. The exception were winter sports that were as of 1986 concentrated in the Mittelgebirge

Mittelgebirge

A Mittelgebirge is a relatively low mountain range, a typical geographical feature of Central Europe, especially Central and Southern Germany; it refers to something between hill country and a proper mountain range...

, particularly in Klingenthal

Klingenthal

Klingenthal is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district, in the Free State of Saxony, south-eastern Germany. It is situated directly on the border with the Czech Republic opposite the Czech town of Kraslice, 29 km southeast of Plauen, and 33 km northwest of Karlovy Vary.The Aschberg towers above the...

, Oberwiesenthal

Oberwiesenthal

Oberwiesenthal is a town and a ski resort in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony in Germany. It is situated in the Erzgebirge mountains, on the border with the Czech Republic, 19 km south of Annaberg-Buchholz, and 23 km northeast of Karlovy Vary. At , it is the highest town in Germany...

, Oberhof

Oberhof

Oberhof may refer to:*Oberhof, Austria*Oberhof, Germany, a village and resort in Thuringia.*Oberhof, Switzerland, a village in the canton of Aargau*Oberhof bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track, located in Oberhof, Germany...

, Zella-Mehlis

Zella-Mehlis

Zella-Mehlis is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, 5 km north of Suhl, and 20 km east of Meiningen. The town of Zella-Mehlis is the site of the original Walther arms weapons factory. It remained there until the...

 and Zinnwald.

List of East German sport clubs

"Civilian" sport clubs of the DTSB SC Berlin-Grünau (until 1969 section of TSC Berlin) TSC Berlin (successor to TSC Oberschöneweide, SC Einheit Berlin and SC Rotation Berlin) SC Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg SC Cottbus SC Einheit Dresden SC Turbine Erfurt SC Frankfurt SC Motor Jena SG Wismut Gera* SC Chemie Halle (successor to SC Wissenschaft Halle and SC Chemie Halle-Leuna) SC Karl-Marx-Stadt (successor to SC Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt and SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt) SC Leipzig (successor to SC Lokomotive Leipzig and SC Rotation Leipzig) SC DHfK Leipzig (until 1964 SC Wissenschaft DHfK Leipzig) SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a German multi-sports club located in the city of Magdeburg, which offers athletics, canoeing, gymnastics, rowing, swimming and team handball. Historically, the club has also had a water polo section as well as a football section that was separated that as 1. FC Magdeburg in 1965...  (until 1965 SC Aufbau Magdeburg) SC Neubrandenburg SC Traktor Oberwiesenthal SC Potsdam SC Stahl Riesa SC Empor Rostock BSG Motor Stralsund* SC Traktor Schwerin SC Fortschritt Weißenfels SC Motor Zella-Mehlis

Motor sport clubs, part of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Motorsport Verband MC Eisenach/AWE MC Sachsenring Zwickau MC Hohenstein-Ernstthal MC Pneumant Riesa MC Simson Suhl MC Motorradwerk Zschopau Sport clubs of Sportvereinigung Dynamo SC Dynamo Berlin SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was a training center for the Sports Club Dynamo .-Sporting spectrum:... SG Dynamo Dresden* SC Dynamo Hoppegarten (until 1963 section of SC Dynamo Berlin) SC Dynamo Klingenthal SG Dynamo Luckenwalde* SG Dynamo Potsdam* SG Dynamo Weißwasser Lausitzer Füchse The Lausitzer Füchse is a German ice hockey team, based in Weißwasser, Saxony.- History :The team was founded already in 1932 but is most significant for its remarkable domination as SG Dynamo Weißwasser in the GDR ice hockey league with over 25 championships... * SG Dynamo Zinnwald SG Dynamo Zinnwald SG Dynamo Zinnwald is a sector of SV Dynamo located in Altenberg, Germany. Sometimes referred to as SSV Altenberg, it was founded in October 1992.-Sports covered:... * Sport clubs of Armeesportvereinigung Vorwärts ASK Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder (until 1969 ASK Vorwärts Berlin) ASK Vorwärts Leipzig ASK Vorwärts Oberhof ASK Vorwärts Potsdam ASK Vorwärts Rostock Clubs of Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik GST-Club Leipzig GST-Club Suhl

Asterisks denote a Sportgemeinschaft (SG) working under sport club conditions