Sascha Zäpernick holds his 40th Fanartikel-Sportbörse on June 7 – Alan Deamer is a regular
On the outskirts of Berlin, Germany’s most dedicated collector of football memorabilia is currently sifting through his treasure to prepare for another of his popular markets. On Saturday, June 7, fellow obsessives from across Europe will descend on the sleepy suburb of Reinickendorf for the 40th Berliner Fanartikel-Sportbörse.
These quarterly gatherings offer a rare glimpse into a fading culture, where memory and meaning matter more than market value.
Behind the operation is collector extraordinaire Sascha Zäpernick. A familiar face in Berlin for running a private security firm that keeps order at football grounds and sports events, Zäpernick’s off-duty life is shaped by another kind of order: curating his collection of more than 30,000 pins and badges, 1,000 scarves and 400 shirts.
Zäpernick’s journey began as a teenager, selling match programmes at BSC Preussen ice hockey games. A steward’s armband followed – the gateway to the live sport he loved – as well as an early stint in kickboxing, which he still practises today.
But it was football, and particularly the fan culture around it, that truly captivated him. His storage room in Reinickendorf has become a living archive of his devotion: shelves crammed with scarves from clubs as big as Bayern Munich and as niche as Optik Rathenow, drawers full of forgotten badges and stories behind every item.
A misprinted Borussia Dortmund cup-final scarf from 2015 – intended for a victory that never came – sits among his proudest finds. The flawed logic of pre-printed glory, rescued from destruction, becomes a keepsake with its own quiet symbolism.
Yet Zäpernick’s obsession has never been a solitary one. Four times a year, he organises Berlin’s Fanartikelbörse, a fair designed not just for trade and sale, but for connection. The events bring together private collectors, semi-professional traders and die-hard fans from across Germany and abroad to swap, showcase and celebrate football relics. No corporate booths, no inflated prices, just rows of tables, tablecloths and stories.
The upcoming fairs in June and on September 6 will feature a special exhibition of 600 beer glasses and 1,000 scarves. There will also be postcards, books, pennants, autographs and shirts from across the world of sport.
What unites them isn’t rarity or resale value, but the memories they evoke. One particularly threatened form of memorabilia is the stadium postcard – once a staple of club shops and kiosks, now a disappearing art. With clubs renaming grounds after sponsors and fans no longer sending snail mail, the postcard has become obsolete. Collectors who focus on these – some with thousands in carefully organised albums – now meet just once a year to trade, their ranks slowly dwindling.
Zäpernick, like many in the scene, worries about the future. Most collectors on the circuit are over 50. Young fans, drawn more to digital culture or fast fashion fandom, rarely attend. Yet Zäpernick believes there’s still a place for slow football – for shared stories, tangible history and the thrill of discovery.
That’s why his fairs remain accessible to all. Entry is €3 (free for under-16s), with tables available for €10 per metre. He also remains loyal to his origins in Berlin’s grassroots football. A lifelong Hertha fan, he saw them play in front of 2,500 fans at the Olympiastadion. He has deep ties to local clubs like Füchse Berlin and 1. FC Wilmersdorf, where he’s worked security and supported from the stands. He collects their memorabilia just as eagerly as that of Europe’s elite – not because of the trophies, but because of the stories.
Zäpernick’s approach is principled. He never deals in new merchandise – only secondhand items, either acquired directly from clubs or traded with fellow collectors. Duplicates are welcomed, not discarded — future currency in the quiet economy of shared passion.
For him, collecting is only partly about the items. It’s about the spark in someone’s eye when they recognise a pennant from a long-lost away day or the surprise of uncovering a club badge from a district that no longer exists. This is football as shared heritage.
At a time when the modern game often feels detached from its roots, these fairs – and the people involved in them – offer something refreshingly human. A simple and authentic love of football still lives in Berlin. You just have to know where to look.
Berliner Fanartikel-Sportbörse, Saturday June 7 & Saturday September 6, 9am-1pm. Breitenbachstraße 10, 13509 Berlin (indoor venue). Admission €3 (free for under-16s). Table rental: €10 per 1m (incl tablecloth). On-site catering and security provided.
