A blue and yellow love affair
Eintracht Braunschweig still enjoys a good reputation in the history of professional German football today, even if the glory days as a founding member of the German national football league in 1963 and winner of the German championship in 1967 are times long ago.
Playing 2nd division today, the city lives and loves its BTSV– the “Braunschweig Gymnastics and Sports Club”, founded in 1895. When taking a walk through the city, the colours of blue and yellow seem to be everywhere you look. The crowd in Braunschweig traditionally starts to sing the champions’ song in the 67th minute, in memory of the championship year 1967. That long tradition can still be felt today. And it’s exactly here that the club faces its greatest dilemma. The past is larger than the present – and it takes more than tradition alone to secure the club’s success.
But that doesn’t bother the Braunschweig fans a bit: one home match after another, the crowds flock to the time-honoured stadium on Hamburger Straße, hungry to experience football with a passion. It’s not for nothing that the Braunschweig spectators are feared by so many opponents as the “12th player” – after all, they really know how to cheer on their team to reach new heights when the going gets tough and the tough have to get going. My photo documentary takes a closer look at the many different traces of the club to be found in the city and builds an affectionate relationship with the regular man in the street and the unpretentious fan – after all, at Eintracht Braunschweig, you’re much more likely to meet up with bratwurst and beer than with fancy finger-food and champagne.
This is an ongoing project updated at regular intervals.
