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- The 1989-90 season was tumultuous for BFC Dynamo. The East German regime faltered and parts of the Berlin Wall were opened on 9 November 1989. Forward Andreas Thom became the first player in the DDR-Oberliga to leave for the West German Bundesliga. The dismantling of the champion team from the 1980s was now well underway. The Stasi was dissolved and the club thus lost a major sponsor. The East German Ministry of the Interior declared that it was only prepared to support the club until the end of the 1989-90 season. The club changed its name to FC Berlin on 19 February 1990, in an attempt to distance the club from the Stasi. The number of spectators dropped drastically. FC Berlin finished the 1989-90 DDR-Oberliga in fourth place and failed for the first time to qualify for a European competition. Also Thomas Doll, Frank Rohde and Rainer Ernst left for the Bundesliga after the season. FC Berlin got off to a poor start in the 1990-91 NOFV-Oberliga, and Jürgen Bogs returned as coach. FC Berlin fans created one of the biggest hooligan scenes in East Germany, and an 18-year-old supporter, Mike Polley, was shot dead by police during riots in Leutzsch in connection with a match against FC Sachsen Leipzig on 3 November 1990. The team finished the 1990-91 NOFV-Oberliga in eleventh place, but qualified for the play-off for the 2. Bundesliga. FC Berlin narrowly missed promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. A large number of players left the club after the season, including Heiko Bonan, Burkhard Reich, Waldemar Ksienzyk, and Hendrik Herzog. FC Berlin participated for the first time in the DFB-Pokal in the 1991-92 season. The team dominated the 1991-92 NOFV-Oberliga, but would once again fail to qualify to the 2. Bundesliga. More players left the team, including Christian Backs and Jörn Lenz. FC Berlin would lose two complete teams during the first one or two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. FC Berlin had to continue at the amateur level. The competitors in the league now consisted of teams such as Tennis Borussia Berlin, Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl, and BSV Stahl Brandenburg. FC Berlin had to rely on its youth department to supply the team with new players. The club qualified for the 1994–95 Regionalliga Nordost. The re-instated Regionalliga now constituted the new third level. The Regionalliga Nordost meant new meetings with well known opponents such as 1. FC Union Berlin and FC Carl Zeiss Jena. FC Berlin struggled in the Regionalliga Nordost, but managed to retain it place in the league. The 1995–96 Regionalliga Nordost would also mean meetings with the old rival 1. FC Dynamo Dresden. Werner Voigt became the new coach at the end of autumn 1996. He had a long history with BFC Dynamo. The millions the club had earned on player transfers in the early 1990s had been used up by the mid-1990s. Club President Volkmar Wanski had to support the club with annual personal contributions. The successes in the Regionalliga Nordost did not materialize, and Voigt was eventually dismissed. Central players in the team during 1998-99 season were Heiko Brestrich, Jörn Lenz, Mario Maek, Mario Kallnik, and Davor Krznarić. The club decided to take back its old club name of BFC Dynamo at the general meeting on 8 May 1999. BFC Dynamo then won the 1998-99 Berlin Cup and thus captured its first Berlin Cup title. BFC Dynamo continued to have financial difficulties, as it did not have enough sponsors. The number of spectators was also low and new sponsors were deterred by hooliganism. Jürgen Bogs returned for his third stint as coach at the end of 1999. The club finally got a promising main sponsor in the form of software company Lipro AG in early 2000. However, the difficulties in the league continued and the club's liabilities started to become significant. BFC Dynamo finished the 1999–2000 Regonalliga Nordost in 17th place and was relegated to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. The club made an attempt to win promotion back to the Regionalliga Nord. BFC Dynamo dominated the 2000–01 NOFV-Oberliga Nord. The team had lost only three matches during the league season, and striker Denis Kozlov had scored a whopping 29 goals. BFC Dynamo would face 1. FC Magdeburg of the NOFV-Oberliga Süd in the play-off for the Regionalliga Nord. However, it was clear even before the first meeting that the club had major financial problems. BFC Dynamo lost the play-off and the club's total debts were now estimated at several millions of Deutsche Mark. The insurance company AOK applied for insolvency against BFC Dynamo on 21 June 2001, and the club was thrown into a financial crisis. Supporters started a fundraiser and organized a demonstration to save the club. Also, former players from the 1980s, such as Hans-Jürgen Riediger and Rainer Troppa, intended to participate in the demonstration. Insolvency proceedings were opened on 1 November 2001. The club was thus automatically relegated to Verandsliga Berlin. The total debts were estimated at up to 7 millions Deutsche Mark. The entire presidium resigned and an emergency board was appointed. Two of the members of the emergency board were André Sommer and Rayk Bernt. Sommer and Bernt were longtime supporters, but controversial due to their connection to the Hells Angels. The Sommer and Bernt presidium was eventually overthrown by supporters and the former coach of the women's team Volkmar Lucius, after an application to the Charlottenburg District Court. Entrepreneur Mike Peters became club president on 31 May 2002. The preferential claims seemed insurmountable, but supporters had received several waivers from creditors and had also collected thousands of Euro. The new presidium around Peters made a major financial contribution to the insolvency plan. Peters would also finance a large part of the budget for the 2002-03 Verbandsliga Berlin. The team finished its first season in the Verbandsliga Berlin in third place. BFC Dynamo then finished the 2003-04 Verbandsliga Berlin in first place and finally won promotion back to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. The team had won all 17 matches in the second half of the season, which was a new record in the Verbandsliga Berlin. The insolvency proceedings finally came to a positive conclusion and were closed on 16 June 2004. (en)
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