Hell is empty, all the devils are here: Kaiserslautern at the DFB-Pokal final

Words: Floyd Heubel

Images: Floyd Heubel

Red Devils, in Berlin, to be precise. Tens of thousands of Kaiserslautern fans made the long trip to Berlin to see their team play in the German Cup Final for the first time since 2003.

Only the biggest of optimists believed that they could win it against Bayer Leverkusen, who had just completed an unprecedented unbeaten Bundesliga season on their way to their first ever league title, while Kaiserslautern came dangerously close to relegation from the 2nd Bundesliga in a roller coaster season.

But that didn’t matter, this was all about celebrating the club finally being back on the big stage after years of mostly misery. And about showing how big of a club this still is, just in case some people needed a reminder.

For the younger generation of fans, this was the first taste of what being a Kaiserslautern fan had been like in the 90s, when the club won two Bundesliga titles and two German cups. And for those fans who still remembered those glory days, it was just as important to be back. If only for a weekend.

They certainly made the most of it. In the trains and on the Autobahn to Berlin, at the overcrowded fan zone around the Gedächtniskirche, in bars and at the fan march to the Olympiastadion.

©Floyd Heubel/Terrace Edition. 1. FC Kaiserslautern vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

And then in the stadium, too. During warm-ups, a huge banner remembered those FCK fans and players who have passed away and could not be there for this big day. A beautiful touch that brought back memories of loved ones for most fans in attendance.

For the start of the match the players were greeted by a massive tifo of a rising red devil grasping the cup with one hand and stirring a pot with this season’s cup opponents with the other. All created and paid for by the fans themselves - reportedly 1000 hours of work and €100000 worth of materials went into it.

There was football, too. Kaiserslautern started out well, only to be brought back to earth by a Granit Xhaka wonder goal. But when Leverkusen were reduced to ten men just before the half, even the most pessimistic of Kaiserslautern fans dared to dream.

Surely, the glowing red sky during the halftime break could only mean that the Red Devils would come back to win this one. Right?! The answer to that was delayed for a few minutes thanks to a sizeable amount of flares, smoke and rockets in the Kaiserslautern end.

And in the end, the answer was no. Leverkusen held on to their 1-0 lead pretty comfortably with Kaiserslautern lacking the quality to break them down. The disappointment of having come much closer than expected quickly made way for pride.

For clubs like Kaiserslautern, football is not all about winning, but first and foremost about community and making memories. And the memories will live long in those who were there, and they will go on to tell the next generation of fans all about them. And the next generation will dream of going to Berlin themselves one day.

Floyd is on X and Instagram: @floydheubel

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