Official | Union Berlin ‘architect’ Oliver Ruhnert departs club after eight years

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The personnel executive who helped Union Berlin rise from a 2. Bundesliga club to a German Champions League representative is departing Köpenick after an eight-year-long collaboration. Current FCU chief scout Oliver Ruhnert (53) announced his full departure from Union on Thursday evening. 

Ruhnert joined Union as the club’s chief scout in 2017, rising to the managing director position some nine months later. Ruhnert then voluntarily stepped back to allow seasoned German footballing administrator Horst Heldt to take his place in the summer of 2024 while he returned to his chief scout role. 

It would later be revealed that Ruhnert wished to focus more on his life’s other great passion, politics. Ruhnert – an active member of the SPD and later Die Linke earlier in his life – joined Berlin’s newly formed Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and was nominated to top his party’s list during the winter 2025 German Federal elections. 

Ruhnert took a two-month leave-of-absence from Union in early 2025 to focus on the elections. After his party failed to exceed the federal five-percent threshold needed to enter the Bundestag, Ruhnert returned to his footballing duties. No specific reason was given for the current separation. 

“The sporting progress of our men’s team since 2018 has given our club a tremendous boost in its development,” Union President Dirk Zingler noted in a club statement. “Oliver Ruhnert played an important role in this, and we are very grateful to him for his commitment over the years.“

“Together, we have achieved successes here that hardly anyone would have thought possible and that no one can take away from us,” Ruhnert himself added in his own statement. “I take many unforgettable moments with me from these years and will always remain closely connected to Union, the people who shape the club, the employees, and the fans.”

GGFN | Peter Weis