Hertha Zehlendorf

The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin.

The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a strong youth department which has won two national youth championships. The department has developed a number of international players for Germany and other countries.

History

1903–1945

The club was formed by 30 local football enthusiasts on 10 March 1903, under the name of Thor- und Fusballclub Germania 03 Zehlendorf. By 1909, it had however changed its name to FC Hertha Zehlendorf. In 1913, the club moved to a new ground, Siebenendenweg, now called Ernst-Reuter-Sportfeld, away from the Tempelhofer Feld, where it was never entirely happy. The team was for a time part of BFC Hertha 1892 but by September 1914 the club became independent again, under the name of FC Hertha 06 Zehlendorf.

After the end of the First World War, in January 1919, the club merged with local side VfB Zehlendorf 03 to form the current club, FC Hertha 03 Zehlendorf. It was from this union that the club took its foundation date.

For the next decade, the club did not particularly stand out within the ranks of Berlin football clubs. In 1933, it finally won a championship in the local Kreisklasse. However, they missed out on being promoted when German football league system was restructured with the introduction of the top-flight Gauliga.

The club struggled through this period and eventually had to form an on-the-field relationship with Union 24 Lichterfelde to survive. During the Second World War, play came almost completely to a halt.

1945–1963

After the war, all previously existing clubs and associations were outlawed in Berlin and the former Hertha existed under the name of SG Zehlendorf for a while. It entered the Amateurliga Berlin (II) in 1947, a league that was played in a number of regional groups. It howeve