Patch Patrol would like to thank U.K. member Jake Bland for putting this list together.
Some things to bear in mind before seeing German patches (mostly from the 80s):
- Many are very NSFW, big breasted women etc etc, ‘we drink beer and have sex’ being the essential message of most.
- A lot of the patches are against rival teams, so you’ll see all kind of designs mentioning other clubs in a few of the archives.
- Some have a bit of a neo-nazi look to them, I believe this is just symptomatic of the time , there were issues with right wing hooligans at many German clubs in the 80s.
- Union Jacks/any mention of ‘firms’/any England flags is from a sort of idolisation of British hooligans.
THE PATCH LOVERS GUIDE TO GERMAN:
Aufnäher – patch
Kutte – vestment
Rückenaufnäher – backpatch
Freundschaftsaufnäher – friendship patch (BVB&HSV have a ‘Kutte’ fan friendship, there are many other friendships within German football (e.g Schalke & Nürnberg, Bochum & Bayern) and therefore plenty of friendship patches)
Fanclub-Aufnäher – Fanclub Patch (most patches fall into this category)
[number] Stück – is what ever run size it was. e.g 50 Stück = run size of 50
Most of the links are just one page on a wider fan miscellany or fan group website, but a couple (BVB especially) actually require navigating the website.
WEBSITE FOR ALL CLUBS:
http://www.fanclubaufnaeher.de/index.php
This site has every German club you can think of, all listed down the side of the page in the grey column on the left, click one and it’ll show you Fanclub patches from that club. Also along the top they have a ‘Kutten’ section which displays some AWESOME vestments
VFL BOCHUM
https://vfl-bochum-schals.jimdofree.com/aufnäher/
This site is literally called ‘VFL Bochum scarves’ so the patches aren’t the main focus but it’s got some good ones, not just Fanclub ones too, plenty of Bochum x Bayern friendship patches
ARMINIA BIELEFELD
http://www.boys-bielefeld.de/index104/fanclubaufnaeher/de.html
This appears to be the website of the Bielefeld Ultras – Boys Bielefeld 1995, some good Fanclub patches and this site has run sizes and years for a lot of them. Plenty of recent ones there too, I’ve seen one from 2017 there could be some even more recent
HAMBURGER SV
https://www.hsv-fanclubsammlung.de/fan-club-aufnaeher.html
This is a website showing all kinds of HSV Fanclub miscellany, HSV are fucking HUGE so they have Fanclubs everywhere in Germany and some abroad, my friends in their Luxembourgish Fanclub, and has the patch!
KSV HESSEN KASSEL
http://www.redwhitestars.de/Gallery/aufnaeher/aufnaeher1.htm
The website of a Fanclub from a team from the 5th division, not too many but still a nice showcase on their website
KICKERS OFFENBACH
https://kickers-fan-museum.de/index.php/bilder/inventar-3/bilder-vom-inventar-4
This is an online fan museum of Kickers Offenbach, two pages to choose from: Fanclub patches and club (other) patches. Some nice stuff, a club who were once at the top table but now in the Regionalliga (4th division)
BORUSSIA DORTMUND
https://bvb-fanclubaufnaeher.hpage.com/
Alright, this is where it gets tough. A WHOLE WEBSITE to navigate. It’s a website run as a passion project by a guy (see the ‘Das bin ich’ tab). There are a couple of tabs introducing the guy, but the tabs you’ll want to browse are ‘BVB-Fanclubaufnäher’ ‘Gedruckte BVB Aufnäher’[printed patches, all on canvas I think] ‘BVB Rückenaufnäher’ ‘BVB HSV Freundschaftsaufnäher’ ‘Alte Anti-Aufnäher’ (old anti rival patches) then everything from ‘Meine Kutte’ to ‘Die Kutten anderer Vereine’ (my vestment and vestments from other clubs). He even has an eerily PP like ISO page further up too, clearly trying to bag some old BVB heat, also seems to have had a trade pile at one stage but it’s empty.
BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH
https://www.flickr.com/photos/187510378@N05/sets/72157713564296332/
We saved this bountiful treasure as a reward for getting to the end, a Flickr site to surf through leisurely, free from the fears of having to translate anything (well, anything that isn’t on patches). A lot of NSFW ones, a lot of anti Köln (biggest rivals) and a lot of them say VFL, this is just because the full name is VFL Borussia Mönchengladbach