1. FC Union Berlin was allegedly founded on the initiative of the powerful Herbert Warnke. Herbert Warnke was the chairman of the state-controlled national trade union FDGB and a member of the SED Politburo. Both ASK Vorwärts Berlin and SC Dynamo Berlin were associated with the armed organs (). Warnke therefore argued for the creation of a third "civilian club" for the working people in East Berlin. He would become a passionate fan of 1. FC Union Berlin and a sponsoring member of the club. 1. FC Union Berlin was established in the middle of one of the largest industrial centers in East Germany. The intention of the SED to win support from FDGB for 1. FC Union Berlin was likely well thought out. The FDGB unified all workers in East Germany and therefore was most likely to carry the proper identity for a club of the working people. The club was founded in a ceremony in the clubhouse of VEB Transformatorenwerk Oberschöneheide "Karl Liebknecht" (TRO) in Oberschöneweide on 20 January 1966. The founding of the club was organized by the then-SED First Secretary in Köpenick, Hans Modrow. Like Herbert Warnke, Hans Modrow would be a sponsoring member of the club.