The Derbyless City: An Emotional Map of Berlin Football

The Derbyless City dives into the hidden world of Berlin football, exploring a city in perpetual flux and shaped by its fractured history. From the Olympiastadion to the Alte Försterei – weaving through pubs and grassroots pitches – we discover a football scene pulsating with identity, contradictions, history and community. The Derbyless City uncovers the hidden world of Berlin football, exploring its full depth far beyond the bright lights of the Bundesliga. Drawing on years of first-hand experience and his own photography, Damiano Benzoni guides readers from the grandeur of the Olympiastadion to the intimate terraces of the Alte Försterei, weaving through smoky pubs, kebab shops, quirky grassroots pitches and the many clubs that complete the city’s vast football tapestry beyond Hertha and Union. Through reportage, social observation, research and personal anecdotes, the book paints a portrait of an international city in perpetual flux, shaped by migration and by its fractured history. The result is an exploration of why a city with such a vivid football culture remains ‘derbyless’ at the top level, even as it continues to pulse with identity, contradictions, history and community.