Ulf Kirsten

• Name — Ulf Kirsten • Born — 4 December 1965 • Birthplace — Riesa, East Germany • Height — 1.72 m • Position — Striker • Youthyears1 — 1972–1978 • Youthclubs1 — BSG Chemie Riesa (de) • Youthyears2 — 1978–1979 • Youthclubs2 — BSG Stahl Riesa • Youthyears3 — 1979–1983 • Youthclubs3 — Dynamo Dresden • Years1 — 1983–1990 • Clubs1 — Dynamo Dresden • Caps1 — 154 • Goals1 — 57 • Years2 — 1990–2003 • Clubs2 — Bayer Leverkusen • Caps2 — 350 • Goals2 — 181 • Totalcaps — 504 • Totalgoals — 238 • Nationalyears1 — 1981–1982 • Nationalteam1 — East Germany U16 (de) • Nationalcaps1 — 7 • Nationalgoals1 — 4 • Nationalyears2 — 1982–1984 • Nationalteam2 — East Germany U18 (de) • Nationalcaps2 — 29 • Nationalgoals2 — 9 • Nationalyears3 — 1984–1986 • Nationalteam3 — East Germany U21 • Nationalcaps3 — 10 • Nationalgoals3 — 4 • Nationalyears4 — 1985–1990 • Nationalteam4 — East Germany • Nationalcaps4 — 49 • Nationalgoals4 — 14 • Nationalyears5 — 1990–2000 • Nationalteam5 — Germany • Nationalcaps5 — 51 • Nationalgoals5 — 20 • Manageryears1 — 2003–2005 • Managerclubs1 — Bayer Leverkusen (assistant) • Manageryears2 — 2005–2011 • Managerclubs2 — Bayer Leverkusen II • Manageryears3 — 2024 • Managerclubs3 — Dynamo Dresden (assistant, interim)

• Illustration — Kirsten with Dynamo Dresden in 1989 Kirsten began playing football for local team BSG Chemie Riesa in 1972. He joined BSG Stahl Riesa in 1978 before joining the youth academy of Dynamo Dresden in 1979. Dynamo Dresden was a center of excellence (Leistungszentrum) and the most prominent club in Bezirk Dresden. It was also the most successful club in East Germany at the time. Kirsten made his professional debut for Dynamo Dresden in the 1983–84 DDR-Oberliga season. Kirsten played 154 matches and scored 57 goals for Dynamo Dresden in the DDR-Oberliga. He won the DDR-Oberliga with Dynamo Dresden in two consecutive seasons: 1988–88 and 1989–90. Kirsten became the Footballer of the Year in East Germany in 1990. Kirsten had an unusual build: measuring only 172 cm, but weighing 81 kg. He therefore had an unusually low centre of gravity, which enabled him to protect the ball in the box against much bigger defenders and turn around quickly for close-range shots. His playing style was often compared to that of Gerd Müller. In addition, despite his small height, Kirsten was also a feared header.

• Illustration — Kirsten in 1997 Kirsten was one of the first East German men's footballers to enter the Bundesliga after the German reunification. In the German Bundesliga he played 350 matches for Bayer 04 Leverkusen and scored 182 goals (ranked #7 in the Bundesliga all-time top scorer list). He established himself as one of the most dangerous strikers in the Bundesliga, but Bayer Leverkusen regularly ended as runner-up to either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund. He stayed there until his retirement in 2003. He also played in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, although his team lost to Real Madrid. In the 1999–2000 season, Kirsten won the EFFIFU award for being the most efficient striker in the league. Off the pitch, Kirsten was famous for his strong beard growth, which earned him a sponsorship by Braun, who used him to advertise their electrical shavers.

• Illustration — East Germany squad photo from 1986 – Kirsten is seated third from left in the front row Kirsten's 100 caps are almost evenly split: 49 for East Germany and 51 for the re-unified Germany in a career which spanned 15 years from 1985 until 2000, with the reunified team being formed in late 1990. Kirsten scored a total of 34 international goals, 14 of them for East Germany. His only major tournaments came late in his career; Kirsten played for his country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and Euro 2000.

Kirsten's son Benjamin is also a footballer and has played as a goalkeeper for Dynamo Dresden and NEC Nijmegen. Along with several other teammates, Kirsten was allegedly implicated as an Stasi Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter (informant) under the codename "Knut Krüger" during his time at Dynamo Dresden through files recovered from the security service's archives after the fall of East Germany. Nicknamed "Der Schwatte" by fans due to his southern European appearance and his swarthy hair, he and his son created a gin tonic brand with the same name in 2020. The term "schwatt" is a dialect expression in the Ruhr area and Rhineland for the colour black.

Including only appearances and goals for Bayer Leverkusen • Club — Season — League — DFB-Pokal — DFB-Ligapokal — Europe — Other — Total • Division — Apps — Goals — Apps — Goals — Apps — Goals — Apps — Goals — Apps — Goals — Apps — Goals • Bayer Leverkusen — 1990–91 — Bundesliga — 32 — 11 — 2 — 2 — — — 5 — 2 — — — 39 — 15 • 1991–92 — 23 — 12 — 1 — 1 — — — — — — — 24 — 13 • 1992–93 — 33 — 20 — 7 — 3 — — — — — — — 40 — 23 • 1993–94 — 28 — 12 — 3 — 1 — — — 4 — 5 — 1 — 1 — 36 — 19 • 1994–95 — 27 — 15 — 1 — 0 — — — 9 — 10 — — — 37 — 25 • 1995–96 — 29 — 8 — 3 — 2 — — — 2 — 1 — — — 34 — 11 • 1996–97 — 29 — 22 — 1 — 0 — — — — — — — 30 — 22 • 1997–98 — 27 — 22 — 3 — 2 — 1 — 1 — 9 — 2 — — — 40 — 27 • 1998–99 — 31 — 19 — 2 — 2 — 2 — 1 — 3 — 2 — — — 38 — 24 • 1999–2000 — 27 — 17 — 0 — 0 — 2 — 2 — 6 — 4 — — — 35 — 23 • 2000–01 — 29 — 12 — 2 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 4 — 3 — — — 36 — 17 • 2001–02 — 32 — 11 — 5 — 3 — 1 — 0 — 14 — 4 — — — 52 — 18 • 2002–03 — 3 — 0 — 1 — 0 — 1 — 0 — — — — — 5 — 0 • Career total — 350 — 181 — 31 — 17 — 8 — 5 — 56 — 33 — 1 — 1 — 446 — 237

Appearances and goals by national team and year • National team — Year — Apps — Goals • East Germany — 1985 — 7 — 1 • 1986 — 10 — 2 • 1987 — 9 — 4 • 1988 — 10 — 0 • 1989 — 11 — 4 • 1990 — 5 — 3 • Total — 52 — 14 • Germany — 1992 — 3 — 0 • 1993 — 6 — 2 • 1994 — 4 — 3 • 1995 — 4 — 1 • 1996 — 1 — 0 • 1997 — 7 — 5 • 1998 — 16 — 5 • 1999 — 5 — 1 • 2000 — 5 — 3 • Total — 51 — 20 • Career total — 103 — 34 • Ulf Kirsten's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ulf Kirsten goal. International goals by Ulf Kirsten • No. Number — Team — Cap — Date — Venue — Opponent — Score — Result — Competition — Ref Reference(s) • 1 — East Germany — 3 — 14 August 1985 — Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway — Norway — 1–0 — 1–0 — Friendly • 2 — 10 — 19 February 1986 — Estádio 1º de Maio, Braga, Portugal — Portugal — 2–0 — 3–1 — Friendly • 3 — 16 — 29 October 1986 — Sportforum Chemnitz, Chemnitz, East Germany — Iceland — 2–0 — 2–0 — UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying • 4 — 23 — 23 September 1987 — Stadion der Freundschaft, Gera, East Germany — Tunisia — 2–0 — 2–0 — Friendly • 5 — 24 — 10 October 1987 — Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, East Berlin, East Germany — Soviet Union — 1–0 — 1–1 — UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying • 6 — 25 — 28 October 1987 — Ernst Grube Stadium, Magdeburg, East Germany — Norway — 1–0 — 3–1 — UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying • 7 — 3–1 • 8 — 37 — 13 February 1989 — Cairo International Stadium, Cairo, Egypt — Egypt — 1–0 — 4–0 — Friendly • 9 — 3–0 • 10 — 42 — Zentralstadion, Leipzig, East Germany — Austria — 1–1 — 1–1 — 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification • 11 — 43 — 23 August 1989 — Steigerwaldstadion, Erfurt, East Germany — Bulgaria — 1–0 — 1–1 — Friendly • 12 — 50 — 28 March 1990 — Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, Berlin, Germany — 1–0 — 3–2 — Friendly • 13 — 2–0 • 14 — 3–1 • 15 — Germany — 4 — 14 April 1993 — Ruhrstadion, Bochum, Germany — Ghana — 1–1 — 6–1 — Friendly • 16 — 6 — 13 October 1993 — Wildparkstadion, Karlsruhe, Germany — Uruguay — 4–0 — 5–0 — Friendly • 17 — 10 — 27 April 1994 — Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — 1–0 — 2–0 — Friendly • 18 — 11 — 16 November 1994 — Arena Kombëtare, Tirana, Albania — Albania — 2–1 — 2–1 — UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying • 19 — 12 — 14 December 1994 — Republican Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova — Moldova — 1–0 — 3–0 — UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying • 20 — 17 — 6 September 1995 — Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany — Georgia — 3–1 — 4–1 — UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying • 21 — 20 — 2 April 1997 — Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain — Albania — 1–1 — 3–2 — 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification • 22 — 2–1 • 23 — 3–1 • 24 — 23 — 6 September 1997 — Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany — Portugal — 1–1 — 1–1 — 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification • 25 — 24 — 10 September 1997 — Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany — Armenia — 4–0 — 4–0 — 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification • 26 — 28 — 25 March 1998 — Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany — Brazil — 1–1 — 1–2 — Friendly • 27 — 32 — 5 June 1998 — Carl-Benz-Stadion, Mannheim, Germany — Luxembourg — 1–0 — 7–0 — Friendly • 28 — 4–0 • 29 — 40 — 14 October 1998 — Republican Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova — Moldova — 1–1 — 3–1 — UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying • 30 — 2–1 • 31 — 44 — 4 June 1999 — BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany — Moldova — 2–0 — 6–1 — UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying • 32 — 48 — 26 April 2000 — Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany — Switzerland — 1–1 — 1–1 — Friendly • 33 — 49 — 7 June 2000 — Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany — Liechtenstein — 5–2 — 8–2 — Friendly • 34 — 7–2

• Team — From — To — Record • G — W — D — L — GF — GA — GD — Win % • Bayer Leverkusen II — 1 July 2005 — 30 June 2011 • Total

Dynamo Dresden • DDR-Oberliga: 1988–89, 1989–90 • FDGB-Pokal: 1984–85, 1989–90 Bayer Leverkusen • DFB-Pokal: 1992–93 • UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2001–02

• East German Footballer of the Year: 1990 • Bundesliga top scorer: 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98 • European Cup Winners' Cup top scorer: 1993–94 • UEFA Cup top scorer: 1994–95 • kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1996–97, 1998–99