First woman to head coach a men's Bundesliga club

A few hours before the announcement by the Bundesliga club, Berlin had lost 3-1 at bottom-of-the-table Heidenheim. The eleventh-placed team is still seven points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place.

The task is not completely new territory for Eta, who will take over the Berlin women's Bundesliga team in the summer. The 34-year-old was already involved in Köpenick's relegation battle as assistant coach from November 2023 to May 2024.

"I am delighted that Marie-Louise Eta has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis before she becomes head coach of the professional women's team in the summer as planned," explained Horst Heldt, Managing Director of Professional Football, in a statement. She has "the conviction that we will get the decisive points with the team", added Eta.

Heldt: No longer had any conviction

In addition to the 54-year-old Baumgart, his assistant coaches Danilo de Souza and Kevin McKenna must also leave. "We've had an absolutely disappointing second half of the season so far and we're not letting ourselves be blinded by our position in the table: Our situation is still threatening and we urgently need points to ensure we stay in the league," Heldt announced.

"Two wins from fourteen games since the winter break and the performances shown in recent weeks do not give us the conviction that we can reverse the trend in the current constellation," Heldt continued. "We have therefore decided to start again now."

Baumgart's sporting end at Union also comes as a surprise because the Berliners had only extended the contract with the former Union player prematurely in January. Born in Rostock, he took over as coach of Köpenick at the beginning of January 2025 and led them to 13th place last season.