The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany.
The inaugural FDGB-Pokal (generally referred to in English as the East German Cup) was contested in 1949, four years before the initial DFB-Pokal was played in the western half of the country.
Until the mid-1980s the field of competition was made up of as many as sixty teams playing in five rounds due to the large number of eligible clubs in the country.
Beginning in 1975, the final was held each year in the Stadion der Weltjugend in Berlin and drew anywhere from 30,000 to 55,000 spectators.
FC Union Berlin, who appeared in the 2001 German Cup final, but lost 0–2 to Schalke.