Following World War II all organizations in Germany were dissolved, including sports and football clubs.

Clubs playing in what would become East Germany were subject to frequent name changes at the whim of state sports authorities.

When the city was renamed in 1953, the club was christened BSG Motor Fritz Heckert Karl-Marx-Stadt honouring a worker's movement leader of the interwar period.

They returned to second-tier play in 1989 just before German re-unification and spent the next two seasons in the transitional NOFV-Liga as the football leagues of the two Germanys were merged.

The team played third- and fourth-tier football in the NOFV-Oberliga Süd (III) until being relegated in 2003 and going through a financial crisis that contributed to its later merger with Fortuna.