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| Full name | Tennis Borussia Berlin e.V. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | TeBe Veilchen (Violets) Lila-Weiße | ||
| Founded | 9 April 1902 | ||
| Ground | Mommsenstadion | ||
| Capacity | 15,005 | ||
| Chairman | Günter Brombosch | ||
| Head coach | Benjamin Eta | ||
| League | NOFV-Oberliga Nord (V) | ||
| 2022–23 | Regionalliga Nordost 18th (relegated) | ||
Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin.
The team was founded in 1902 as Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia taking its name from its origins as a tennis and table tennis club. Borussia is a Latinised version of Prussia and was a widely used name for sports clubs in the former state of Prussia. In 1903 the club took up football and quickly developed a rivalry with Berlin's leading side Hertha BSC. In 1913 the club changed its name to Berliner Tennis-Club Borussia. They won their first city league championship in 1932 in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg and repeated the feat in 1941, this time by defeating Hertha (8–2) in the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg.
Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in Germany after World War II. This included football clubs. TeBe played as SG Charlottenburg in the first season after the war. The club was able to use its name Berliner Tennis-Club Borussia again from the 1948–49 season. After World War II and into the early 1950s, TeBe emerged as Berlin's top side but were unable to keep up their form and earn selection to Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga, formed in 1963. The team played in tier II leagues throughout the 60s and 70s with the exception of two short-lived forays into the Bundesliga in 1974–75 and 1976–77. Most of the 1980s were spent playing in the third tier Oberliga Berlin.
Through most of its history TeBe has been afflicted by financial problems but has always managed to hang on while many other of Berlin's clubs folded or disappeared in mergers. In 1997–98, a deep-pocketed sponsor brought expensive new talent to the team as they made a run at a return to 2. Bundesliga, which they achieved, winning the Regionalliga Nordost. While initially successful, the bid collapsed in 2000 as the team's finances failed. They were refused a license and were forcibly relegated [1] to the Regionalliga Nord (III) where they finished last in 2000–01 and so slipped further still to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord (IV) the following season.
In 2000, the club changed its logo to read Tennis Borussia Berlin which became the official club name in 2005. The club had always been known under this moniker and to avoid being mistaken as a tennis club. It continued playing in the fourth tier – fifth after the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 – until 2009, when they won the Oberliga championship and gained promotion again to the Regionalliga Nord. After running into financial difficulties once again, the club went into administration and dropped back down to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord (V) for the 2010–11 season. [2] Seen as one of the pre-season favourites for a second successive relegation, they managed to reach the relegation playoffs at the end of the campaign, but finally lost out 3–1 to SC Borea Dresden over two legs to be relegated to the sixth tier of the German football league system, the Berlin-Liga, for the first time in their history. [3] [4] [5]
Tennis Borussia Berlin and its supporters are associated with left-wing politics. [6]
The club has an established record of publicly stated positions and concrete actions opposing racism, antisemitism, homophobia, and right-wing extremism. [6] Tennis Borussia Berlin has issued formal statements committing the club to anti-discrimination principles and has aligned itself with campaigns and initiatives addressing far-right violence and social exclusion. Supporter groups associated with Tennis Borussia Berlin regularly display antifascist, anti-racist, pro-LGBTQ, and pro-refugee banners and symbols at matches in the Mommsenstadion. Organised fan sections have participated in coordinated actions such as fundraising, awareness campaigns, and public demonstrations connected to these causes. [7]
A notable institutional action occurred during the 2021–22 season, when the club sought to feature the CURA victim support fund for people affected by right-wing violence as a shirt sponsor. The application was initially rejected by the Northeastern German Football Association on the grounds that political advertising was not permitted during matches. Tennis Borussia Berlin responded by selling special edition shirts linked to donations to the fund. [6] The controversy contributed to a subsequent regulatory change that allowed jersey advertising to counter discrimination and support Germany’s constitutional values. The club later received the Paul Spiegel Prize for Civil Courage from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, explicitly citing its sustained engagement against antisemitism and right-wing extremism. [8]
The political orientation of the supporter scene has also shaped interactions with other clubs and authorities. Tennis Borussia Berlin supporters have been targeted in documented incidents involving right-wing football supporters, including verbal abuse and physical attacks accompanied by antisemitic and racist language. In December 2011, Tennis Borussia Berlin fans were involved in a serious incident with supporters of FFC Viktoria 91 during a hall tournament in Frankfurt (Oder). TeBe fans were reportedly attacked with stones and fireworks, subjected to antisemitic insults, and verbally abused, with members of the visiting right-wing fan scene targeting them for their anti-fascist and left-wing affiliations. The violence escalated to the point that the TeBe team withdrew from the tournament in protest, and fans sought refuge on their bus while being pelted with pyrotechnics, bottles, and stones. [9]
Structurally, Tennis Borussia Berlin operates as a member-run association under German football governance rules, which enables supporter participation in decision-making processes. This organisational model has facilitated the formal adoption of anti-discrimination policies and the endorsement of social initiatives without reliance on external commercial sponsors.
Kevin Kühnert, a leading member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, is a known supporter of TeBe. [10]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The only child of two civil servants, he was named after Kevin Keegan, an English soccer player his mother adored, and soccer has shaped his politics. His team, a plucky little 5th league club called Tennis Borussia Berlin, has a proud Jewish history and several Turkish players, and regularly encounters anti-Semitism and racist slurs from hostile fans. The club's purple colors sometimes draw homophobic jeers, too. Mr. Kühnert is himself gay, but he never talks about it. "I don't want to do identity politics," he said.
