“What disgusting types are there!”: Stasi confessions by the GDR footballers caused a scandal

“What are disgusting guys!”
Stasi confessions by the GDR footballers caused a scandal

By Ben Redelings
01/31/2022, 7:28 p.m

Thirty years ago, Dresden’s Torsten Gütschow opened Pandora’s box with his Stasi confession. His stories of cowardice, lies and betrayal revealed a sad chapter in German history – and showed dramatically how deep the rifts were for a long time after the end of the GDR.

“I know how bad it all is. But I haven’t found the courage to talk about it properly yet. Now is the time. I want to start again. And I can only do that if I have everything, really everything confession.” It was late January 1992 when Dynamo striker Torsten Gütschow was one of the first East German footballers to make a comprehensive confession about his Stasi activities in a major German sports magazine. However, his step was not entirely voluntary – four days earlier he had been unmasked by a journalist. Nevertheless, his descriptions burst like a bomb in the reunited, intact Bundesliga world. Gütschow himself wanted to resign immediately and leave Dresden. But it shouldn’t come to that – also because former teammates surprisingly shook hands with him.

Gradually, in the weeks following the big confession, more and more Stasi revelations made the headlines in the Bundesliga and caused a stir in the clubs – above all, of course, in those in the East. After Gütschow, Ulf Kirsten was one of the first to be “exposed”. Maybe that’s why the former Dresden player treated his former teammate Torsten Gütschow with foresight and understanding after he was exposed. Kirsten himself was registered with the Stasi under the alias “Knut Krüger”.

But the former GDR international successfully refused to cooperate constructively. His Stasi advisor noted at the time: “Kirsten is unreasonable and doesn’t really cooperate. We have to take care of his father now.” Another entry: “Kirsten cannot answer questions about the risk of escape from other players and who they are talking to. The assumption is that he knows more than he is saying.” Kirsten will later be told that the Stasi assigned him to “escape squad number one”. For the GDR authorities, he was considered a potential refugee.

Gütschow triggered an avalanche

Trainer Ede Geyer was also in the service of the Stasi. He pretended not to have seen any other option: “I was just too cowardly to rebel against it. You must understand that. Anyone who did not participate in this system always had to reckon with disappearing without a trace.” Geyer reported frighteningly: “I was in contact with the State Security almost every day. I have given verbal or written reports on almost every player I have dealt with since 1971.” However, Geyer himself believed (and hoped) that he had not done anything that “harmed others”.

One of the most popular cases, however, was that of Torsten Gütschow, mainly because of the extensive confession. His alias as a Stasi informer was “IM Schröter”. Gütschow explained: “I’ve always tried to write a lot without really saying anything, which puts a strain on other players. I don’t know for sure if I’ve really harmed anyone. I hope that’s not the case, but I can’t exclude.”

Immediately before the big interview, Gütschow confessed his story to the team: “I couldn’t really look the boys in the eye – and neither did they me. But they told me that they would forgive me. Maybe they only said it because “They need me in the fight against being relegated to the Bundesliga. I need trust now and I want to give that back. Even if it’s only with goals!” But that sounded easier than it finally was in reality. Gütschow had unleashed an avalanche – also in Dresden and at Dynamo itself. The topic was now on the table and so there were new revelations almost every day that made sporting success more difficult.

The fall of the wall is not the end

And others also caught up with their past in these dramatic days. Coach Jörg Berger came to the West in the early 1980s. However, during a conversation with Rostock’s President Kische after reunification, he was immediately reminded of this long-ago time: “The way Kische treated me reminds me a lot of the machinations in the former GDR. It scares me. The, the Those who used to abuse power, who benefited from the regime, are now back in power. Those who suffered for 40 years are now unemployed.”

At that time, Uwe Reinder’s coach was in Rostock. When Berger turned down a job at Hansa, Kische made it clear: “He asked me to forget our phone call. I should say: we never spoke to each other.” And Frankfurt’s Axel Kruse also came from the former GDR and was outraged by a former teammate. About Rostock’s Florian Weichert, Kruse said without hesitation: “A pervert. He worked for the Stasi and was set on me, betrayed his own buddies. When we played in Rostock last season, he wanted to hug me. That’s when I got hate, am took three steps back and just hissed: ‘Go away.’ What disgusting types are there!

Torsten Gütschow was luckier right after his comprehensive confession exactly thirty years ago. His former team-mate Matthias Sammer said: “I spoke to Torsten on the phone and would like to help him because I still trust him.” The former Dresden goalscorer Torsten Gütschow now works as a coach. The 59-year-old is currently looking for a new job.