History
One of the characteristics of East German football after World War II, under the Russian occupation and socialist East German regime, was the willingness of the ruling authorities to manipulate teams in various ways for political or other reasons. In 1953, the club was picked up and moved to East Berlin to play as ZSK Vorwärts Berlin. In October 1956, they were renamed ZASK Vorwärts Berlin, and in February 1957, ASK Vorwärts Berlin.
With the 1954 season, the club began a run of success that included an FDGB-Pokal (East German Cup) that year, East German championships in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1965, as well as losing appearances in the 1956 FDGB-Pokal, and the 1957 and 1959 national finals. Their success continued after the club was again renamed, this time as FC Vorwärts Berlin, one of the new centralized football clubs formed to increase the level of performance throughout the country. Vorwärts won another two championships (1966, 1969) and in 1970 again took the FDGB-Pokal, but made a losing appearance in the national final. Throughout the entire period from 1951–71 the side played in the DDR Oberliga (I).
In 1971, the club was picked up and moved again, this time from the capital to Frankfurt (Oder) on the German-Polish border, to replace the local secret police-sponsored side SG Dynamo, which was then disbanded. Vorwärts then enjoyed another decent run in the 1980s, going to the UEFA Cup four times (where they were twice knocked out by West German clubs, (Werder Bremen and VfB Stuttgart). In 1983 they finished second nationally.
After German reunification in 1990, the club dropped its affiliation with the army and became FC Victoria Frankfurt/Oder. After financial problems and re-organization in 1993 the side emerged as Frankfurter FC Viktoria (FFC Viktoria 91). In the early 1990s, they played a couple of seasons in tier III before slipping to division IV and V level play. The side then played in the Brandenburg-Liga (VI) before, on 1 July 2012, merging with MSV Eintracht Frankfurt to become 1. FC Frankfurt.
Read more about this topic: Frankfurter FC Viktoria
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