Next to last and relegated: Top row, left to right: Jurgen Heinsch – assistant coach, Eckhardt Marzke, Hans-Joachim Streich, Helmut Schuhler, Gerhard Krentz, Wolfgang Rahn, Dieter Lenz, Jorg Seering.
Middle: Hartmut Kruger, Hans-Joachim Wandke, Dieter Schneider, Peter Sykora, Gerd Kische, Bernd Jakubowski.
Bottom: Heinz Werner – coach, Michael Brusehaber, Hans Albrecht, Lothar Hahn, Jurgen Decker, Dietrich Kehl, Michael Mischinger, Rainer Kaube.
Hansa are the most successful East German team after the unification of Germany, but in the old days were lowly club, often relegated. However, their 1974-75 failure was somewhat strange: this squad had 10 players included in Junior and other national teams of DDR. Three more were A-national team players – Schneider played rarely, but Kische and especially Streich were regulars. Hans-Joachim Streich was one of the brightest stars of East Germany at the time And all this talent plummeted to Second Division…
Which was normal for Forwarts (Stralsund).
The club belonging to the army normally played in the Second Division. They won a rare promotion in 1974 and after finishing last in the 1974-75 season moved back to their familiar realm.
Top, left to right: Klaus Marowski, Wolfgang Bruhs, Dieter Schoning, Joachim Metelmann, Jurgen Siermann.
Middle: Gunter Seidler, Dietmar Schulze, Gunter Baltrusch, Eberhard Kogler, Harald Biehl, Manfred Finger.
First row: Klaus Wulst, Detlef Wiezorrek, Gerold Manschus, Jorg-Michael Schmidt, Bernhard Schaupke, Jurgen Renn.
Unlike Hansa, not a single player worth inclusion in any national team formation. In general, Vorwarts belonged exactly to the last place and were the typical story – as a rule, promoted to the First Division clubs sunk back to the Second the next year, which probably was the reason for small league – East Germany run 14-team First Division until the Fall of the Wall. Just as a novelty: Chemie (Leipzig) and Energie (Cottbus) earned promotion in 1975, to replace Hansa and Vorwarts. Both were relegated in 1976, but curiously enough lowly and unstable Hansa and Energie adapted better than any other East German club to the reality of unified Germany and Bundesliga football. Unimaginable in 1975.
