While the country was still divided, European club competitions saw teams from the western Federal Republic of Germany square off against opposition from the eastern German Democratic Republic on no fewer than 17 occasions. And the last of these spicy encounters, which took place 25 years ago when Borussia Dortmund faced Chemnitzer FC, is now set for a repeat in the DFB Cup on Sunday.

The first leg took place in Dortmund's Westfalenstadion on 19 September 1990, one year before the GDR top flight ceased to exist and the Bundesliga temporarily expanded to 20 clubs to accommodate the east's top two of Dynamo Dresden and Hansa Rostock. Borussia Dortmund had qualified for the UEFA Cup after finishing their domestic campaign in fourth, while in Chemnitz a new club had been formed just a short while earlier when FC Karl-Marx-Stadt, runners-up in the 1989/90 season, changed their name to Chemnitzer FC on 13 June 1990. The decision was made when a large majority of the people of Chemnitz voted to revert to the name of the city, which had been the club's name until 1953.

The circumstances meant there was a great deal of emotion surrounding a match which was to go down as the last time East and West Germany faced off at European club level. The 30,100 spectators attending the UEFA Cup first round match at Strobelallee witnessed a cagey match after BVB had taken the lead through Thomas Helmer in the 20th minute. But Frank Mill doubled the home side's advantage in the last minute, giving BVB the perfect result and putting them in pole position ahead of the return leg in Saxony a fortnight later.

Return leg on the GDR's last day

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The match took place on what proved to be an historic date: the last day of the German Democratic Republic's existence. Tickets for the clash at the Ernst-Thälmann-Sportforum cost 10 D-marks.

Rolf Nielinger of the Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung (WAZ) newspaper in Essen wrote in his memoirs: "That night the small, open-air stadium hosted 11,904 buoyant spectators, including approximately 2,200 BVB fans. Shortly before kick-off they all started setting off fireworks and firecrackers. I'd never seen anything like it before. Fireworks were available for purchase throughout the town and you could take them into the stadium without being asked any questions - everyone was overcome by the festivities surrounding German reunification. Both sides were setting fireworks off throughout the match." Fortunately no-one was injured amid the celebrations.

Defender Thomas Helmer broke the deadlock for the visitors in the return leg, scoring a goal in the 24th minute which effectively ended the tie as Chemnitz required four goals to progress. Michael Rummenigge struck shortly after half-time to make it 2-0.

The following day (3 October 1990) the GDR was no more as the two halves of Germany, divided for over four decades, celebrated reunification.

Boris Rupert