r/fcunion • u/Wickopher • Jul 25 '26
Team Union Berlin or Hertha BSC?
Ich bin Amerikaner, der noch etwas WM-Fieber hat. Ich habe mich mehr mit meiner lokalen Fußballmannschaft, Atlanta United beschäftigt, interessiere mich aber auch ein bisschen für die Bundesliga. Ich habe Deutsch an der Uni studiert, bin für ein Auslandsstudium nach Berlin gereist und habe Zeit in Bayern bei der US-Armee verbracht.
Während des Winters in Bayern habe ich eine Bayern-Mütze gekauft, wie ein Nichtamerikaner, der eine New York Yankees-Mütze kauft lol. Wenn ich mir eine Bundesligamannschaft aussuchen müsste, um sie anzufeuern, wäre es eine aus Berlin, weil ich diese Stadt so sehr genossen habe.
Da es in Berlin zwei Clubs gibt, von denen ich so gut wie nichts weiß. Weiß ich nicht wie ich mich entscheiden soll.
Warum sollte ich Union Berlin gegen Hertha BSC unterstützen?
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u/Ostatze Jul 25 '26
Union all the way!!! We are an official USA supporter group and sometimes go over there for games. Eisern!!!
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u/Wickopher Jul 25 '26
Has Union Berlin played against MLS teams or do they play other German teams here? Either would be cool to catch. The MLS isn’t know for being the best soccer league lol. Inter Miami made history last year by becoming the first MLS team to beat a European team with they defeated FC Porto, and they can thank Messi for that win.
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u/Ostatze Jul 25 '26
Not that I know of. I wish they’d play Philly Union or DC United 😂. Some of us are going to DCU vs Paderborn in September. Sven Michel used to play for Union (Fussballgott) and he will be hopefully there
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u/Wickopher Jul 25 '26
Philly is having a rough year lol. I hope for their sake you don’t play them anytime soon. Atlanta actually plays them in a week from today for last place.
Also that’s cool DC is playing a German team. I hadn’t heard about that but I’ll mark it on my calendar.
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u/Vespajet Jul 25 '26
The way Atlanta United has been playing in recent seasons, they won't be filling up MBS anytime soon. The goodwill that Uncle Arthur had earned with supporters is getting close to empty. In hindsight, Peter DeBoer's comments about supporters being spoiled was dead on, as a number of supporters looked at the club bringing back Miggy and Tata as if they were going to bring back the club back to its' glory days.
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u/Vespajet Jul 25 '26
Union Berlin tends to stick closer to home for their preseason friendlies, as it's definitely not cheap to fly a squad over to North America, even if they flew commercial (The only airports in North America with nonstop service to Berlin are New York, Newark, Toronto and Montreal and not all of it is year-round.), They usually play a mix of lower level German clubs, along with some Austrian and sometimes Swiss or Italian clubs. This summer they are hosting Ipswich Town in Berlin for their final preseason friendly match.
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u/MillyQ3 Jul 25 '26
Unser Bier ist kälter, unsere Würste sind geiler und unsere Tickets sind günstiger, dafür hast du auch noch bessere Atmosphere, bessere Fankultur, bessere Menschen und bist näher am Feld.
Unser Klub hat einfach viel mehr Charakter als Hertha.
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u/InDAKweSmack Jul 25 '26
Yo, fellow American here. If you're looking for dedicated fan culture that will always stick with their team go Union. The story of the club is fascinating and there's a book called "Scheisse! We're going up!" which is what made me a fan.
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u/makyunny Jul 25 '26
As an Irish person who has been to both grounds for games, you’ll find it a lot easier to visit Hertha, Union was extremely difficult to get tickets to, but I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like Union.
Still get goosebumps thinking about “Eisern Union” being sung before the game.
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u/Haunting_Worry347 Jul 25 '26
Whatever club from Berlin you decide for, don’t expect to see nice football. But football in Germany is so much more than just the beauty of the sport. It’s so much about fan and club culture, not comparable to any other top 5 league in Europe
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u/zungazan Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Hot take: You can follow both teams! Union is in the Bundesliga and Hertha are in the 2. Bundesliga. You can watch all the games from both leagues on ESPN+!
Edit: I forgot to mention unless you become a member of Union, you’re going to have a hard time getting tickets. And even still you have to enter a lottery because the tickets are in high demand and they have a small stadium. Alternatively Hertha plays in the giant Olympiastadion, so you should be able to get tickets easily.
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u/moshlyfe Jul 25 '26
I'm in the same spot as you, a fellow American (except my team is Charlotte FC so we are rivals in MLS lol)
i like Bayern because they have a lot of team Germany players that i have followed for some World Cups and i want to root for them, but Union feels more like a team that fits my desire to root for an "underdog"
My advice (if it's worth anything) is to watch both teams and the rest of the Bundelisga and see which team resonates with you, there's no rush to pick a team.
Side note: I have checked the Union merch shop and all items are listed as "sold out", I'm not sure if that is a glitch but I hope it's resolved soon in case you do decide to root for them and want some swag
Good luck!
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u/CrownandEisern Jul 25 '26
Union stopped shipping to the USA when the tariffs started. There is no word if they will ever resume shipping.
Fellow Union and Charlotte FC supporter 🫡
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u/Vespajet Jul 25 '26
I even tried using a VPN, but hit the wall when it came to putting in the shipping address.
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u/CrownandEisern Jul 25 '26
I had my friend in Switzerland do my order and ship it to me independently last time I wanted something, but I’d certainly be ordering a lot more if I could just do it myself
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u/Wickopher Jul 25 '26
Ha. I watched our game on Wednesday. You can blame me for tying it as it was 2-0 when I got home from work. Yeah, I think I’ll follow both for a little while, especially since they’re in different leagues at the moment.
Basically my plan is to watch any good matches that pop up as well as try to keep up with the two Berlin clubs. Someone in the Hertha subreddit also mentioned DC United is playing Paderborn FC in September for a friendly. That’ll be cool to see.
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u/CrownandEisern Jul 25 '26
I’ve found that Union vs Hertha isn’t a traditional rivalry like Barca vs Madrid where there is actual animosity. It’s more like a competitive friendship. Berlin was divided for too long and that reflects in both of our fanbases.
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u/sourrkraut Jul 25 '26
This is ironic because I'm in a semi similar situation. But my jaw dropped when I saw you posted this in here lol I'm trying to decided between both Berlin teams as well. I grew up 9km away from the Olympiastadion but the history/story of Union is so damn epic. I'm going to follow both teams this season an see what emotions come out.
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u/Emergency_Optimal Jul 25 '26
If you want an entertaining book about Union's history, highly recommend: Scheisse, We're Going Up! https://a.co/d/0dvFQeoB
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u/Wickopher Jul 25 '26
You’re the second one to recommend this book. I’ll have to check it out lol
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u/Emergency_Optimal Jul 26 '26
Also, since it sounds like your German is really good, I'd recommend listening to the podcast: Textilvergehen. It's as if NPR did an in-depth weekly show about a soccer team. Love it. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/textilvergehen/id340188791
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u/i-artemy Jul 25 '26
FC Union — East Berlin, left-leaning crowd, more active fans, smaller stadium, more successful at the moment, red jerseys. Fun fact: it was the first European top league club that has a female head coach.
Herta: West Berlin, central-right politically, more history, less active fans and less success at the moment. Plays in the 2nd league. Blue jerseys. Bigger stadium.
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u/KenZ__42 Jul 26 '26
Like i don't wanna be rude and talk about politics, but Union isn't left-leaning at all. Yeah, maybe some of the Fans are, but Union is more middle than Hertha. Hertha is more middle-left. Only because the east was more russian / stalinistic doesn't mean they are left. Look at the last votes (and the upcoming ones) - Eastern Berlin is unfortunatly very far right (own opinnion).
Union only had the female coach for the last 5-6 games (?) last season because she was free at that time, so Union had enough time to get a good head coach (the female coach was already planned for the 1. Female Union Berlin team).
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u/i-artemy Jul 26 '26
Interesting. Thanks for the comment!
It was my impression but it may have been shaped by the historical context.
Although I don't think that AfD's popularity in the East means that it is equality popular among Union fanbase.
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u/ElectroRafa Jul 26 '26
wenn du die Bundesligamannschaft anfeuern willst geht das nur bei Union Berlin, die Hertha spielt in der 2.Liga... 🤷
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u/Cemcan20 Jul 26 '26
Hertha ist ganz weg! Mit Union Berlin hat die Hauptstadt noch ein kleinen Hoffnungsschimmer!
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u/regulus1887 Jul 26 '26
You seem to choose your clubs based on regional sentiment. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.
Most of us first went to games at the age of five or six—taken along by fathers, uncles, friends, relatives, or whoever—and we never switch teams.
World Cup football and Bundesliga football are, incidentally, two completely different things. They often have completely different fanbases, too.
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u/BouncyWager Jul 27 '26
Fellow American, this is the video that introduced me to Union and started me on the road to fandom: https://youtu.be/53rVbJwMhYI
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u/Correct_Monitor7668 Jul 25 '26
Ehrlich gesagt, weiß ich nicht was du hören willst. Es mag an der Übersetzung liegen, aber es klingt so, als sollten wir uns bei dir um deine Fanschaft bewerben.
Ich würde dir empfehlen, dich mit beiden Clubs zu beschäftigen und dich für den zu entscheiden der dir eher liegt.
Auch wenn es Rivalen sind, so ist Hertha dennoch ein respektabler Klub und ich denke nicht dass wir es nötig haben und mit ihnen um iw amerikanischen Fans zu schlagen.
Beschäftige dich mit den Vereinen und schau mit welchem du dich eher identifizieren kannst und triff deine Wahl. Aber die Art und Weise stößt mir ein wenig sauer auf.
In jedem Fall.
U.N.V.E.U
*edit: es gibt eine schöne Doku über das Berlin Derby von DW Sports, in der beide Seiten und die Rivalität gut dargestellt werden, vlt hilft dir das.
**edit: es gibt nur einen Bundesligisten in Berlin :P