){kind=logo}
)
Chronicle
1899-1932
From FVW to SVW
)
In the beginning, there was the ball – more precisely, a football that a small group of students at a Bremen secondary school won in the autumn of 1898 at a sports competition. Whether this contest was a tug-of-war or rather a relay race can no longer be clearly determined. What is certain, however, is that the group quickly grew and trained regularly on the meadows near “Kuhhirten,” a popular excursion spot on the Stadtwerder. By February 1899, with their numbers increased to sixteen, the students decided to establish their own club and named it after the place they played. Appropriately, the “Football Club ‘Werder’ Bremen of 1899” was founded on the veranda of the “Kuhhirten.” Unfortunately, there is no record of the founding meeting, and perhaps none was ever made, so there are different accounts of the founding date. All dates refer to early February, and most likely, it was Saturday, February 4th.
Just four years later, the young football club celebrated a title hat-trick as three FVW teams won championships in all three Bremen divisions. Games of the Football Club Werder Bremen quickly attracted public interest to the extent that, as the first Bremen club, admission fees could now be charged for matches.
)
Besides sporting success, such as qualifying for the Northern German Championship, prevailing against non-sporting opponents at the time was also important. Members of the nationalist gymnastic movement in Germany disliked football’s English origins, considering it “un-German.” Nonetheless, play continued, and competition even persisted through World War I, despite many men dying in battle.
From 1919, women were also permitted to join FV Werder Bremen, whereas previously only men of higher education were welcome. Over time, the trend shifted away from exclusive football clubs toward sports clubs in general—including in Bremen. Thus, the club was officially renamed “Sportverein Werder Bremen of 1899” in 1920. Athletics, chess, tennis, and even baseball and cricket were added, though football remained the most significant department. The membership numbers eventually exceeded 1,000.
With the growing professionalization of football from the 1930s, Werder signed future national players, including Hans Tibulski and Matthias Heidemann—Werder's first international.
At this time, matches were already being played in Weserstadion. Although Werder lost the competition for building a stadium on the Weser riverbank to the Allgemeiner Bremer Turn- und Sportverein (ABTS), ABTS had to lease the Weserstadion in subsequent years due to the financial strain of the project, including to Werder Bremen.
The Path of the Diamond – Werder's Logo since 1899
Contact
Tel +49 (0) 421 - 43 45 90
Fax +49 (0) 421 - 49 35 55
SV Werder Bremen
Service Department
Franz-Böhmert-Straße 1c
28205 Bremen