Stadion Glück-Auf im Sportforum Küchenhorn, Wolmirstedt (OhreKicker Wolmirstedt, formerly B ground of BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt - BSG Kali Wolmirstedt - SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990 & A ground of SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990)
East Germany (former GDR / DDR), state: Saxony-Anhalt = Saksen-Anhalt
24 X 2026 / OhreKicker Wolmirstedt - SV Irxleben II 7-0 / Bördeoberliga (= BRD level 10)
Timeline
- 1913 / Foundation of a first football club in the mining town of Wolmirstedt, to the north of Magdeburg in Prussia. The club takes on the name Sportclub (SC) Eintracht Wolmirstedt, with the first playing field being the Sportplatz hinter dem Feldschlösschen.
- 1914 / With Germany declaring war on Russia and France, footballing activities in Wolmirstedt come to a standstill for the duration of World War I.
- 1919 / SC Eintracht Wolmirstedt is re-established after a lull of five years.
- 1925 / Spielplatz Küchenhorn is first mentioned in sources relating to SC Eintracht Wolmirstedt. The pitch occupied the site of what is now the secondary pitch at Sportforum Küchenhorn / Stadion Glück-Auf (picture 2 below). Another pre-war location used by the football club was the Spielplatz zur Grube, not far from the future Stadion des Friedens, to the north of the town centre of Wolmirstedt.
- 1928 / A handball branch is added to SC Eintracht Wolmirstedt, which thus becomes an omnisports club.
- 1933 / SC Eintracht Wolmirstedt is renamed Germania Wolmirstedt.
- 1945 / After World War II and several years without footballing activities in Wolmirstedt, Germania Wolmirstedt is re-established under a new name, Fortuna Wolmirstedt. By now, the Spielplatz Küchenhorn – the location also used in pre-war years – is the club’s main ground.
- 1950 / With the communist regime having been firmly established in what is now the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR), Fortuna Wolmirstedt is absorbed into a newly founded omnisports club, Betriebssportgemeinschaft (BSG) Einheit Wolmirstedt, with branches for football, handball, table tennis, athletics, canoeing, and gymnastics. Betriebssportgemeinschafte were sports clubs affiliated with state-owned enterprises, industrial combines, public institutions or other organisations. They formed an important part of the GDR’s state-organised sports system, providing opportunities for employees and local communities to participate in organised sports, including football. The state enterprise behind BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt was Kaliwerk Zielitz, a large potash mine and processing plant producing potassium salts primarily used in agricultural fertilizers.
- 1953 / With the club still playing its home matches at Spielplatz Küchenhorn, the ground is broken for the construction of the projected Stadion des Friedens, a stadium for BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt on a plot of land owned by the local church, adjacent to a graveyard, not far from the pre-war football pitch, Spielplatz zur Grube.
- 1959 / Inauguration of the Stadion des Friedens on August 9th, 1959, with first team football of BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt moving to this location. The new ground has a maximum capacity of 4,000. The Spielplatz Küchenhorn is retained for lower team football and training sessions.
- 1971 / At the behest of local authorities, designs are made for a projected Sportforum Küchenhorn, an extension of the Spielplatz Küchenhorn with two additional football pitches as well as facilities for various other sports. The projected new main pitch of the park is to be surrounded by a gravel track as well as being adorned with terraces on either side. However, it would take more than a decade and several redesigns before this plan would come to fruition.
- 1972 / A merger is concluded between BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt and BSG Aktivist Zielitz, resulting in the foundation of BSG Kali Wolmirstedt. Henceforth, first team football takes place in Stadion des Friedens in Wolmirstedt, with Spielplatz Küchenhorn remaining in use for lower team football and training sessions. It is unclear if the pitches of the former BSG Aktivist Zielitz remained in use in subsequent years.
- 1981 / BSG Kali Wolmirstedt changes its name, reverting to the pre-merger denomination BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt.
- 1982 / Eleven years after the first designs, the ground is finally broken for the construction of the projected Sportforum Küchenhorn, the extension of Spielplatz Küchenhorn to the south of the town centre of Wolmirstedt.
- 1985 / On May 4th, 1985, after three years of construction works, the Sportforum Küchenhorn is inaugurated, with the eye-catcher of the renovated and extended facility being the main pitch, Stadion Glück-Auf, surrounded by a gravel track and two terraces. In the following years, BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt – and its successors – usually continue to play their first team football at the Stadion des Friedens in the town centre, with the Sportforum Küchenhorn being used for lower team football and training purposes – as well as the activities of virtually all other branches of the club, notably the athletics section.
- 1988 / BSG Einheit Wolmirstedt reverts to its 1970s name BSG Kali Wolmirstedt.
- 1990 / With the SED regime in East Germany crumbling following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the projected unification of Germany, BSG Kali Wolmirstedt sheds itself of its heritage as a Betriebssportgemeinschaft, taking on the new name Sportverein (SV) Kali Wolmirstedt 1990.
- 2001 / In addition to the gravel track surrounding the main pitch, the Stadion Glück-Auf, at the Sportforum Küchenhorn, a 100-metre tartan track is added to the set-up, with the new facility being laid out in front of the main stand.
- 2015 / Following the 2014-15 season, SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990 withdraws from first team football. This coincides with the club abandoning the Stadion des Friedens, which had seen the bulk of first team football since its inauguration in 1959. All activities of the remaining youth academy take place at the Sportforum Küchenhorn and its Stadion Glück-Auf. The lease agreement with the church on the grounds of the Stadion des Friedens is allowed to expire at the end of 2015, with the ground falling into disrepair in the following years.
- 2016 / The footballing branch of SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990 folds, ceasing all activities, while the other branches of the club – notably the athletics section – existing until the present day. Following the demise of the football club, a phoenix version is formed straightaway, which is given the name OhreKicker Wolmirstedt – with the first part of the name being a reference to the Ohre River, which runs through Wolmirstedt. With no first team being formed as yet, the new football club takes its place at the Sportforum Küchenhorn and its Stadion Glück-Auf, becoming groundsharers with the athletes of SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990.
- 2022 / After six seasons of only competing with youth teams, OhreKicker Wolmirstedt now enters a first team into the regular football pyramid, which has to start at the bottom of the league pyramid, the 2. Bördekreisklasse, i.e. the thirteenth level in German football.
- 2023 / Runaway champions in 2. Bördekreisklasse Group 1, 10 points ahead of closest followers SG Bösdorf I - Etingen-Rätzlingen II, OhreKicker Wolmirstedt wins promotion to the 1. Bördekreisklasse, the twelfth tier of German football.
- 2024 / Champions in the 1. Bördekreisklasse Group 1, 1 point ahead of closest rivals SG Hundisberg-Nordgermersleben-Bebertal, OhreKicker Wolmirstedt manages back-to-back promotions, acceding to the Bördeliga, the eleventh tier of the German football pyramid.
- 2025 / Runaway champions in the Bördeliga, 12 points ahead of closest followers Empor Wanzleben, OhreKicker Wolmirstedt wins promotion for the third time in a row, acceding to the Bördeoberliga, which is the tenth level of German football. Also in 2025, works get underway to build OhreKicker Wolmirstedt and the athletes of SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990 a new ground, the projected Stadion an der Samsweger Chaussee, on the westside of the town.
- 2027 (projected) / Abandoning the Sportforum Küchenhorn with its Stadion Glück-Auf, which will be allowed to become floodplains of the Ohre River, OhreKicker Wolmirstedt and athletics club SV Kali Wolmirstedt 1990 move into the newly laid-out Stadion an der Samsweger Chaussee, of which the main pitch – surrounded by an athletics track – has a natural ground surface, with a synthetic training pitch alongside it.
Note – Heartfelt thanks to OhreKicker Wolmirstedt board members Thomas Thiel and Bendix Schulze for their hospitality on matchday and all of their help in drawing up a picture of the history of football in their town.
All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author