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Friday 12 July 2024
Played at Arena Hans Zoschke
Ground Tick #497
German Beer Ticks up to #143
Tonight's trip took us into the East of Berlin. The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit was the State Security Service of East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), from (roughly) the end of the Second World War until the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of The Cold War, and German Reunification. The MfS, commonly known as The Stasi, were similar to the Soviet Union KGB - they were responsible for maintaining the authority of the Communist State.
Essentially, The Stasi spied on and terrorised their own people. When the Wall fell in 1989, The Stasi employed 91,015 people full time. And another 173,081 unofficial informants inside the GDR, and 1,553 informants in West Germany. There was one Secret Policeman for every 166 East German citizens. Once you factored in all the unofficial informants, grasses, busy bodies, snitches, and downright nosey fuckers - there was one Stasi Agent for every seven people.
I explain all this because, Arena Hans Zoschke, the home of SV Lichtenberg 47, my 497th Ground Tick, is right there on Ruschestrasse and Normannenstrasse, overlooked by the old Stasi headquarters buildings, and the cells and “remand centre”. Much of that is now a museum to what can happen if you don't stop it happening.
A pathway behind the stadium connected the main Stasi buildings to the Postal Inspection Building - where they opened your fucking letters before you got them. In the 1970s, there were (failed) plans to shut the ground down and use it for Stasi Shooting Practice. I mean, fuck me.
Anyway. Happier times now. Although, of course, (just as in parts of England) the Neo Liberal dream has not reached into all corners of Berlin. People living on the streets, under railway bridges, the lot.
Lichtenberg play in the Oberliga Nordost Staffel Nord, Tier 5 of the German pyramid. I'm not quite sure what vibe they're going for at their somewhat evocative stadium. Certainly, they're letting the grass grow on the terraces!!!
“It'll only take some saplings to bed in and they'll be fucked.”
Explained the Carrier Bag Firm Allotment Correspondent.
Having detailed one Secret Society in The Stasi, I must now turn to another. And to start this story, we must (virtually) visit the Bus Stops on Fern Street in Motherwell, Scotland. Those stops are on the main road near Motherwell Football Club's Fir Park ground. Lots of Motherwell fans use those stops to get to and from matches. Including, of course, the Overtown to Glasgow via Wishaw and Bellshill route on the 240 bus.
As I'm sure you're aware, the similarly numbered 240 bus in Berlin runs along Josef Orlop Strasse, turns down Siegfriedstrasse, turns again into Rudigerstrasse, which is the most convenient stop for the Hans Zoschke ground.
So. Recap. We have a bus convenient for Motherwell's ground. We have a bus convenient for Lichtenberg’s ground. And both are the 240. And, according to my “informant”, a handful of Motherwell fans became friendly with a handful of Lichtenberg fans. I was told “through Punk Rock”. And the Two 40 Crew became a thing. Now that's a Secret Society if ever…
Congratulations, You Have Just Been Informed By The Carrier Bag Firm.
There was a No Tick Beer in the ground.
Berliner Kindl Schultheiss Brauerei, Pilsner at 5%
Tonight's opponents were from Hallescher. They played last season in Bundesliga 3. Obvs I don't know what strength either side put out. Although there were Meaningless Bits Of Paper.
But that's quite a result for the home team against some lads from the big leagues. One each at HT after Lichtenberg went ahead. Hallescher pressed it to 2-1 in the second half. But a late equaliser and an even later 87th minute winner meant the 240 was fucking rocking on the way home.
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