The Ministry for State Security, the German People’s Police and customs were not just state security organisations. In the GDR, they also took on the function of sponsoring sport. Together, all three founded the Dynamo sport association in 1953 according to the Soviet model. Dynamo aspired to become a national showpiece, and the MfS, the DVP and customs invested more in its success than other sponsors of competitive sport in the GDR. The three organisations had an enormous amount of money at their disposal. With East Berlin BFC Dynamo and SG Dynamo Dresden, they were able to maintain two successful football teams. From 1979 onwards, BFC Dynamo won ten championships in a row, while Dynamo Dresden won eight in total. Stasi Minister Erich Mielke was himself a football fan who used the power of the MfS to promote BFC Dynamo’s success. However, the ‘Stasi club’ was extremely unpopular with most football fans in the GDR. ‘Schiebermeister BFC’ (‘Champion Cheaters BFC’) echoed louder and louder from the stadium stands from one year to the next, Rumours of match-fixing in favour of the ‘Stasi team’ made the rounds.
Behind the scenes, BFC Dynamo celebrated with pomp and all kinds of prominent figures. The SED Politburo and Stasi chief Mielke basked in the glamour of the Dynamo teams’ footballing successes. Dynamo also cultivated so-called friendship rituals with Dynamo teams from Moscow and Kiev, which were among the top European football teams. These photos provide an intimate glimpse into the intertwining of football and power in the SED state.

In his favourite pose: Erich Mielke, Minister for State Security and Chairman of the Dynamo sport association, at the celebration of BFC Dynamo’s 4th GDR championship in 1982. (2)
The SED Central Committee’s political VIPs celebrating SG Dynamo Dresden’s championship title in 1978. Stasi Minister Erich Mielke (centre) is holding up the football trophy beaming with joy, while Central Committee Head of the Sport Department Rudolf Hellmann (right, seated) and SED District Head Hans Modrow (left, seated) applaud. (4)
Stasi chief Erich Mielke (left) toasting Dynamo captain Hans-Jürgen ‘Dixie’ Dörner (right) at the 1978 championship celebrations in Dresden. (5)
A festive event to mark BFC Dynamo’s 10th anniversary in 1976: The stars of the Soviet partner organisation Dinamo, goalkeeping legend Lev Yashin (4th from right, Dinamo Moscow) and Oleh Blokhin (right, Dinamo Kiev), appeared on the stage as surprise guests and well-wishers and were welcomed by sport presenter Heinz-Florian Oertel (left). (8)
Political bigwigs in the first row (above the white wall) of the VIP stands at a BFC Dynamo first division match at Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sport Park in 1980. In the centre with a white hat, Erich Mielke, Minister for State Security, to his right DTSB President Manfred Ewald, further to his right FDJ leader Egon Krenz (4th from right). Standing and waving on the left: BFC star Reinhard ‘Mäckie’ Lauck (2nd from left). (9)

SED-ZK department head Rudi Hellmann (left) handing over the 1978 championship trophy to Dynamo captain Hans-Jürgen Dörner, with Dynamo goalkeeper Bernd Jakubowski on the right. (10)
Stasi Minister Erich Mielke spoke at a reception for Dynamo Dresden after they won the GDR football championship in 1978. (12)
Erich Mielke congratulating the Dresden champion coach, Walter Fritzsch, on SG Dynamo Dresden’s 6th championship title in 1978. (13)
Maintaining friendship with the eponymous Soviet brother institution Dinamo, which was founded in 1923 by the head of the Bolshevik secret police Cheka, Feliks Dzierzynski, was one of the rituals of the Dynamo sports club. Minister Mielke is seen here with Dinamo Moscow’s legendary goalkeeper, Alexei Khomich. (15)
A sport official from Soviet brother organisation Dinamo presenting a pennant to BFC chairman Manfred Kirste in front of the team at the traditional BFC Dynamo event in 1981. (17)
Soviet football guests at BFC Dynamo’s 10th anniversary celebrations during a visit to the Brandenburg Gate in 1976. Seen here are Lev Yashin (2nd from left), Yevgeny Rudakov (3rd from left), Oleh Blokhin (2nd from right). (18)

The Ministry for State Security spared no expense to attract the stars of the GDR cultural scene to the BFC Dynamo celebrations. Television favourites Heinz Rennhack (left), Herbert Köfer (right) and Helga Piur (centre) hosted the traditional BFC event in 1981. (20)
GDR pop star Frank Schöbel’s performance was the highlight of BFC Dynamo’s 1979 championship celebrations. Schöbel (2nd from right) is seen here with captain Frank Terletzki (left), coach Jürgen Bogs (2nd from left) and Reinhard ‘Mäcki’ Lauck (right). (22)
Stasi Minister Mielke dancing with his wife at the 1980 championship celebration. In the background: Günter Mittag, responsible for economic issues on the SED Central Committee. (23)
Popular singer and actress Helga Hannemann performed in the cultural programme at the 13th traditional BFC Dynamo event in 1979. Prominent people from the worlds of culture, sport and politics looked on in the background during the goal-kicking match in the Dynamo sports centre, including the American singer and actor Dean Read (2nd from left), who lived in the GDR, and the President of the German Gymnastics and Sport Federation of the GDR and member of the Central Committee of the SED Manfred Ewald (3rd from right). (24)
Dining at the 1979 championship celebrations: Representatives of the SED Central Committee were guests at the reception organised by the BFC Dynamo praesidium to mark the club’s winning of the first GDR football championship. Left: the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and President of the People’s Chamber Horst Sindermann, right: the Chairman of the SED youth organisation FDJ Egon Krenz. (25)
BFC Dynamo was provocatively defiant towards its sporting rival from Dresden at the 1980 championship celebrations. The final score of 1:0 in favour of BFC showed who had won the current GDR championship. There was a great deal of competition between the two Dynamo teams. Before 1979, Dynamo Dresden had won the GDR football championship three times in a row. (26)
BFC Dynamo guests feasting their eyes on a championship cake at the celebratory event to mark the 1979 GDR football championship win. (27)
BFC Dynamo and the press: Prominent GDR press representatives serenading BFC Dynamo on the occasion of their 10th GDR championship at the 1988 championship celebrations in the East Berlin Palasthotel. Viewers included Wolfgang Hempel from Radio DDR (left), Manfred Hönel (3rd from left) from Junge Welt, Hubert Knobloch (centre) from Sportecho, Jürgen Nöldner (3rd from right) from Fußballwoche and Wolfhard Kupfer (right) from GDR television. (28)

Erich Mielke, Minister for State Security and chairman of the Dynamo sports club, opened the celebrations for BFC Dynamo’s 3rd championship at the Palasthotel in East Berlin in the summer of 1981. (29)
GDR pop star Frank Schöbel entertaining guests at BFC Dynamo’s 4th championship celebration in 1982. (31)
The GDR’s most popular comedy duo, Rolf Herricht and Hans-Joachim Preil, entertained guests at BFC Dynamo’s 10th anniversary celebrations in 1976. (32)
BFC Dynamo’s championship celebration in 1984. BFC star Rainer Ernst, later a Bundesliga professional with 1. FC Kaiserslautern, speaking to guests to celebrate BFC’s 6th championship title. (37)
The chairman of the Free German Trade Union Federation of the GDR and member of the SED Politburo, Harry Tisch (right), in conversation with BFC chairman Manfred Kirste (left) and captain Frank Rohde at BFC Dynamo’s 10th championship celebration in 1988. Harry Tisch, who sponsored the football cup in the GDR as head of the FDGB, is holding a pennant from the 1988 cup final, which BFC Dynamo also won in 1988. (38)
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