List of East German sport clubs
Sports clubs in East Germany were closely associated with the Sportvereinigung Dynamo and the Armeesportvereinigung Vorwärts. The biggest sport club in East Germany was SC Dynamo Berlin. Every sports club focused on selected kinds of sport. The well-equipped sports clubs were only tasked with competitive sports, in contrast to the Betriebssportgemeinschaft clubs that organised non-competitive sports.
Talented athletes could not join a sport club of their own volition, but were delegated by the leadership of the respective sport clubs. The most important talent hotbed for the sports clubs were the Kinder- und Jugendsportschule institutions.
In 1965, association football was given a special status in East Germany's sports system, when football clubs were formed from the footballing departments of the sport clubs. Afterwards, these clubs dominated play in the DDR-Oberliga.
Most sportclubs had their seat in the capitals of the Bezirke - each capital had at least one. The exception were winter sports that were as of 1986 concentrated in the Mittelgebirge, particularly in Klingenthal, Oberwiesenthal, Oberhof, Zella-Mehlis and Zinnwald.Asterisks denote a Sportgemeinschaft working under sport club conditions
