Jörg Berger

Jörg Berger (13 October 1944 – 23 June 2010) was a German football manager and player, who last managed Arminia Bielefeld.

Jörg Berger
Personal information
Date of birth (1944-10-13)13 October 1944
Place of birth Gotenhafen, Nazi Germany
Date of death 23 June 2010(2010-06-23) (aged 65)
Place of death Duisburg, Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1970 1.FC Lok Leipzig
Teams managed
1970–1972 Lok Leipzig II
1972–1974 Carl Zeiss Jena
1974–1976 Hallescher FC Chemie
1976–1978 East Germany U-19
1978–1979 East Germany U-21
1979–1980 SV Darmstadt 98
1980–1981 SSV Ulm 1846
1981–1982 Fortuna Düsseldorf
1983–1986 KSV Hessen Kassel
1986 Hannover 96
1986–1988 SC Freiburg
1988–1991 Eintracht Frankfurt
1991–1993 1. FC Köln
1993–1996 FC Schalke 04
1997 FC Basel
1997–1998 Karlsruher SC
1998–1999 Eintracht Frankfurt
2000 Bursaspor
2001–2004 Alemannia Aachen
2004–2005 Hansa Rostock
2009 Arminia Bielefeld
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

As an active he played for 1.FC Lok Leipzig.

Coaching career

In 1970, Berger was forced to retire due to a muscle injury and started his managing career after the studying at the DHfK Leipzig. Berger was a reputable manager in East Germany who was planned to manage the national team as successor of longtime manager Georg Buschner some day.

Berger managed the youth team of the GDR. In 1979, he used a match in Yugoslavia to flee to West Germany. He signed with Second Bundesliga side SV Darmstadt 98. As a GDR refugee he suffered many threats by the East German secret police Stasi. He survived being poisoned whilst managing KSV Hessen Kassel in the mid-1980s. Evidence of the threats to his life were not available until 1990 when Germany was reunified, after which he was able to search his Stasi files.[1]

He was renowned as a great motivator, helping clubs threatened with relegation, but with little chance to build up teams over a longer period. Berger became the ’’fireman’’ of the Bundesliga after he twice failed to gain promotion to the Bundesliga with KSV Hessen Kassel, ending up in fourth position in the Second division of the Bundesliga (1984 and 1985).[2] His greatest achievements were two third positions with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1990 and with FC Schalke 04 in 1996.[3] He was replaced as manager of Schalke by Huub Stevens in October 1996 shortly before they won the UEFA Cup in 1997.

Berger's last big success was reaching the DFB-Pokal final with Alemannia Aachen, a side from the Second division of the Bundesliga. However his contract was cancelled, by mutual agreement, after they lost to the then current champions (SV Werder Bremen) and failed to gain promotion to the Bundesliga.[4]

From 17 November 2004 until 14 August 2005, he was the manager of FC Hansa Rostock.[5] He was fired after a 1–4 defeat by TSV 1860 München. On 18 May 2009, was named as the new Head Coach from DSC Arminia Bielefeld.[6] His contract ran until 30 June 2009.[7] He left the club on this date.

Personal life

Berger was the father of three children. In 2002, he had to interrupt his time as Alemannia Aachen manager due to an operation on an intestinal tumour. In 2005, he was operated on again, this time on liver metastasis. He released his biography "Meine zwei Halbzeiten: Ein Leben in Ost und West" (English: My Two Halves: A Life in the East and in the West) over the Leipzig based Rowohlt Verlag in March 2009.[8] Berger died on 23 June 2010 of an enteric tumor.[9]

See also
  • List of Eastern Bloc defectors

References
  1. "Jörg Berger ist tot: Ex-Löwen Coach gestorben". Dasbesteausnordhessen.de.
  2. "Ehemaliger Bundesliga-Trainer verstarb mit 65 Jahren Jörg Berger ist tot". Kicker.de. 24 June 2010.
  3. "Schalke 04 trauert um Jörg Berger". Schalke04.de. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010.
  4. "Alemannia trauert um Jörg Berger Ehemaliger Trainer starb im Alter von 65 Jahren". Alemannia Aachen.
  5. "F.C. Hansa Rostock trauert um seinen ehemaligen Trainer Jörg Berger". F.C. Hansa Rostock. 24 June 2010.
  6. "Jörg Berger neuer DSC-Coach". Arminia Bielefeld.
  7. "Zum Tod von Jörg Berger". Arminia Bielefeld.
  8. Trauer um Fußball-Trainer Jörg Berger Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Keine Rettung für den Retter Archived 28 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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