Foundation years The club was formed as the second American football club in Berlin on 12 February 1979, then under the name of Berliner Bären (). Shortly after its formation, the club was joined by the Berlin Bats, increasing the number of club members substantially. In the early days, all training was carried out on the facilities of the
US Army and supervised by US soldiers stationed in Berlin. In
1979, the Bears became a founding member of the
American Football Bundesliga, renamed the
German Football League in 1999, together with the
Frankfurter Löwen,
Düsseldorf Panther,
Ansbach Grizzlies,
Munich Cowboys und
Bremerhaven Seahawks. The Bears came third in their first season in competitive football, but was unable to make the playoffs in its first four seasons. To improve on-the-field performance, the team decided to join established club
BSC Wilmersdorf in 1981, changing its club colors and name, becoming the Berlin Adler. The team's first entry in the EFL in 1988 ended in the semi-finals, losing narrowly to the
Amsterdam Crusaders but, in 1989, the club returned to success, winning its second German Bowl, again undefeated all season, against the
Red Barons Cologne. After three titles in series from 1989 to 1991, the Adler declined somewhat but remained a strong side, still reaching the semi-finals in each of the following four seasons. In 1994, the club made its fifth German Bowl appearance, but lost for the first time, against the Düsseldorf Panther. In 1995, the club still had a strong season, but declined markedly after that. Berlin, in the meantime, had acquired an
NFL Europe team in 1999, the
Berlin Thunder, a club that lasted until 2007, when the league folded.
Return to success The Adler once more became a successful side in the German Football League, reaching the semi-finals in their first two seasons there. In 2004, the team ended the club's 13-year title drought, defeating the
Braunschweig Lions in a low-scoring German Bowl. After this, the club experienced two lean seasons, being knocked out in the quarter-finals in 2005 and having to play against relegation in 2006 but successfully avoiding the relegation round in the end. In 2009, the Adler had another successful season, losing only one league game and advancing to their seventh German Bowl, earning their sixth national title by defeating the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes 28–21. The 2010 season saw a repeat of this final, but this time Kiel was the stronger side and won their first national title. The Adler however achieved their second European success, finally winning the
Eurobowl for the first time. Berlin won this competition when it defeated the New Yorker Lions 20–17 in the 2014 final. In the GFL the club finished fifth in 2014 and thereby missed out on play-off qualification, repeated in 2015 when it came sixth.
Financial troubles and decline The financial situation of the Berlin Adler began to deteriorate during this era, however, the fact that other teams failed to get a license to play in the GFL kept them from being relegated for several years, until they had to face the relegation round after the 2017 season, as fate would have it, against the
Potsdam Royals. As Berlin lost that game, they found themselves in GFL2 for the following season, failing to stabilize the on-field situation, culminating with yet another relegation to the third tier. ==Honours==