Hertha Back on the Brink: What the 2026-27 Bundesliga Season Means for Berlin Football

Hertha BSC confirmed Thursday that pre-season training at the Schenckendorffplatz training ground in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf begins July 14, six weeks before the club kicks off its 2026-27 Bundesliga 2 campaign. The timing matters. Hertha finished fourth last season, three points short of the promotion playoff spot, and club leadership has made clear this is not a cycle they intend to repeat.

Berlin has not had a top-flight club since Hertha's second relegation in May 2024. For a city of 3.8 million — and one that hosted six matches during UEFA Euro 2024 at the Olympiastadion in Westend — that absence has stung in ways that go beyond the table. Sponsorship revenue dropped an estimated 22 percent in the first full second-division season, according to figures presented to the club's supervisory board in April, and average Bundesliga 2 attendance at the Olympiastadion fell to just under 38,000 per match, roughly 14,000 short of what the stadium regularly drew in the top flight.

The Squad Hertha Is Building

The club has moved quickly this summer. Four signings were confirmed by June 30, including a central midfielder from Fortuna Düsseldorf and a left back from Hannover 96. The transfer window closes August 28, and sporting director Benjamín Henrichs — no relation to the German international — has indicated at least two more additions are expected before then, with attacking depth the stated priority. The wage budget has been restructured after the club reached a refinancing agreement with its main creditor group in February, giving the board room to offer contracts that were unthinkable eighteen months ago.

Union Berlin, meanwhile, sits in a very different position. After surviving Bundesliga relegation by a single point last May, the club from Köpenick enters the new season under a new head coach and with a sharpened identity as a mid-table Bundesliga outfit rather than the Europa League contender it briefly became in 2023. An der Alten Försterei — capacity 22,012 — will again sell out every home match; Union's season-ticket waiting list currently stands at around 11,000 names. The club's model, built on community ownership and modest wages, has proved more durable than many predicted when top-flight money first arrived.

What July Looks Like for Berlin Football Fans

For supporters trying to plan the summer, the calendar is already busy. Hertha holds its annual open training day on July 19 at Schenckendorffplatz — admission free, capacity capped at 4,000 — before a pre-season friendly at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Prenzlauer Berg on July 26 against an as-yet-unnamed Regionalliga Nord side. Ticket prices for the friendly are set at €12 general admission, with under-14s free.

Union's pre-season schedule takes the squad to the Netherlands for a training camp from July 11 to 18, followed by a home friendly on August 1 at An der Alten Försterei against Danish side FC Midtjylland. That match will also serve as an official opening for the stadium's newly expanded south terrace, which adds 800 standing places and was completed in late June after a €3.4 million renovation funded partly through the club's supporter bond scheme.

The official Bundesliga 2 season opener for Hertha is scheduled for the weekend of August 8-9, with fixtures released by the DFL on July 10. Union's Bundesliga campaign begins the same weekend, with the full Bundesliga fixture list published simultaneously. Both clubs have urged supporters to finalise transport arrangements early; BVG, Berlin's public transport authority, is expected to run extended U-Bahn service on match days through the Olympiastadion corridor on Line U2 and along the S-Bahn routes serving Köpenick.

The next six weeks will tell a great deal. Hertha's transfer activity, Union's pre-season form, and the DFL fixture release on July 10 will set the tone. For a city that has spent two years watching its football clubs fight for relevance rather than trophies, the 2026-27 season arrives with more riding on it than a simple table position.