VfB Fortuna Chemnitz
Encyclopedia
VfB Fortuna Chemnitz is German association football club
from Chemnitz
, Saxony
. The club was formed in 2005 out of the fusion of VfB Chemnitz and SV Fortuna Furth Glösa.
Following World War II all organizations in Germany were dissolved, including sports and football clubs. Sometime in 1951 the association was re-constituted as SG Chemnitz Schloß. Clubs playing in what would become East Germany were subject to frequent name changes at the whim of state sports authorities. Schloß was soon playing as BSG Handel und Sozial-Versicherung Chemnitz. When the city was re-named in 1953 the club was christened BSG Motor Fritz Heckert Karl-Marx-Stadt honouring a worker's movement leader of the interwar period. Motor was promoted to the second division DDR-Liga
in 1978 and competed there as an undinstinguished mid-table side until relegation in 1986.
They returned to second tier play in 1989 just before German re-unification and spent the next two seasons in the transitional NOFV-Liga as the football leagues of the two Germanys were merged. In 1990 Karl-Marx-Stadt was once again Chemnitz and the club in turn became Chemnitzer Sportverein 51 Heckert before being reformed as VfB Chemnitz in 1996. The team played third and fourth tier football in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd
(III) until being relegated in 2003 and going through a financial crisis that contributed to its later merger with Fortuna. Today the combined side plays in the Landesliga Sachsen
(V).
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...
from Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
. The club was formed in 2005 out of the fusion of VfB Chemnitz and SV Fortuna Furth Glösa.
History
The older of these two sides is VfB which was established in 1901 as Reunion Chemnitz. In 1914 the club was re-named FC Hohenzollern before becoming VfB Chemnitz in 1919. They played as a mid-table side in the Kreisliga Chemnitz until 1923 and the Gauliga Mittelsachsen until 1933. A 1938 merger with SV Teutonia 1901 Chemnitz saw the club become SpVgg 01 Chemnitz.Following World War II all organizations in Germany were dissolved, including sports and football clubs. Sometime in 1951 the association was re-constituted as SG Chemnitz Schloß. Clubs playing in what would become East Germany were subject to frequent name changes at the whim of state sports authorities. Schloß was soon playing as BSG Handel und Sozial-Versicherung Chemnitz. When the city was re-named in 1953 the club was christened BSG Motor Fritz Heckert Karl-Marx-Stadt honouring a worker's movement leader of the interwar period. Motor was promoted to the second division 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...
in 1978 and competed there as an undinstinguished mid-table side until relegation in 1986.
They returned to second tier play in 1989 just before German re-unification and spent the next two seasons in the transitional NOFV-Liga as the football leagues of the two Germanys were merged. In 1990 Karl-Marx-Stadt was once again Chemnitz and the club in turn became Chemnitzer Sportverein 51 Heckert before being reformed as VfB Chemnitz in 1996. The team played third and fourth tier football in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd
NOFV-Oberliga Süd
The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of former East Germany. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the fourth tier of the league system. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony...
(III) until being relegated in 2003 and going through a financial crisis that contributed to its later merger with Fortuna. Today the combined side plays in the Landesliga Sachsen
Landesliga Sachsen
The Sachsenliga, formerly referred to as Landesliga Sachsen, is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Saxony,...
(V).