How Sport Helps Explain the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Abstract

While the exploitation of sport for the legitimation of state socialism in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) has attracted widespread attention, the role of sport in the collapse of the one-party dictatorship is a little explored area. With particular reference to the 1980s, this article argues how sport, at elite and recreational level, both reflected and exacerbated tensions and conflicts in politics, the economy, culture and society. Although the deepening economic malaise, the courage of protesters on the streets of Leipzig and the shock waves triggered by Gorbachev’s reforms were primary agents in the fall of Communism, the prevalence of autonomous activities in East German sport and the ensuing challenge to authority contributed significantly to the socio-cultural defeat of GDR-style socialism. In effect, sport represented a way of saying ‘no’ that grew ever louder, more diverse and more widespread as the fateful autumn of 1989 approached.

DOI: 10.14712/23363231.2025.2