Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Handball-Bundesliga | |
Sport | Handball |
---|---|
Founded | 1966 |
First season | 1966–67 |
Administrator | DHB |
No. of teams | 18 |
Country | Germany |
Confederation | EHF |
Most recent champion(s) | THW Kiel (23rd title) (2022–23) |
Most titles | THW Kiel (23 titles) |
TV partner(s) | Dyn |
Sponsor(s) | Liqui Moly |
Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
Relegation to | 2. Handball-Bundesliga |
Domestic cup(s) | DHB-Pokal DHB-Supercup |
International cup(s) | EHF Champions League EHF European League |
Official website | liquimoly-hbl.de |
The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. From 2007 onwards, the league was sponsored by Toyota and has officially been called the Toyota Handball-Bundesliga. This lasted until 2012 when the Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) [1] became the new sponsor. The official name has consequently been changed to LIQUY MOLY Handball-Bundesliga. The winners of the respective season are the official German handball champions. HBL is headquartered in Dortmund.
The Bundesliga was introduced with the 1966/67 season and initially operated with two regional sections, North and South. Since 1977 the Bundesliga has operated with a single section first division, currently composed of eighteen clubs. In 1981 a 2.Bundesliga was introduced as a new second division, supplanting the Regionalliga which became the third tier. The 2.Bundesliga used to consist of two (resp. three in the first two years after the German reunification) sections north and south for thirty years. Starting with the 2011/12 season the 2.Bundesliga is run in a single section consisting of twenty teams.
The season has 34 game days (or weeks) and is played as a Round-robin tournament without playoffs or a final. The season starts in August or September and ends in May. The first and second placed teams are entitled to play in the EHF Champions League the following season. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth placed teams additionally play in the EHF European League. The seedings are subject to change, in case a German team wins the Champions League, the EHF European League or the EHF Cup Winner's Cup because each winner of those tournaments is granted an automatic start in next years tournament without taking one of the leagues spots. It also can change if the DHB-Pokal Champion has one of the league spots for the Champions League or the EHF European League.
Until 2011, the two last placed teams would be relegated to the 2. Handball-Bundesliga for the next season, either in its northern or the southern section. The sixteenth placed team used to play in a home and away decider against the winner of the decider between the two-second placed teams of the northern and the southern section of the 2. Bundesliga. The champions of the second divisions received a spot for the Bundesliga automatically.
Since the 2017–18 season, the bottom two teams of the Bundesliga will directly be relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, while the top two teams of the 2. Bundesliga will be directly promoted to the Bundesliga.
Members of the 2023–24 Handball-Bundesliga.
Team | Location | Arena | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
HBW Balingen-Weilstetten | Balingen | Sparkassen-Arena Porsche-Arena | 2,320 6,181 |
Bergischer HC | Wuppertal Solingen Düsseldorf | Uni-Halle Klingenhalle Mitsubishi Electric Halle ISS Dome | 3,200 2,800 4,500 12,500 |
Füchse Berlin | Berlin | Max-Schmeling-Halle | 9,000 |
TV Bittenfeld | Stuttgart | Porsche-Arena | 6,211 |
ThSV Eisenach | Eisenach | Werner-Aßmann-Halle | 3,100 |
HC Erlangen | Nuremberg | Arena Nürnberger Versicherung | 8,308 |
SG Flensburg-Handewitt | Flensburg | Flens-Arena | 6,300 |
VfL Gummersbach | Gummersbach | Schwalbe-Arena | 4,132 |
Frisch Auf Göppingen | Göppingen | EWS Arena | 5,600 |
HSV Hamburg | Hamburg | Alsterdorfer Sporthalle | 7,000 |
TSV Hannover-Burgdorf | Hanover | ZAG-Arena Swiss Life Hall | 9,850 4,460 |
THW Kiel | Kiel | Sparkassen-Arena | 10,285 |
SC DHfK Leipzig | Leipzig | Arena Leipzig | 6,327 |
TBV Lemgo | Lemgo | Lipperlandhalle | 4,790 |
SC Magdeburg | Magdeburg | GETEC Arena | 6,600 |
MT Melsungen | Melsungen | Rothenbach-Halle | 4,500 |
Rhein-Neckar Löwen | Mannheim | SAP Arena | 13,200 |
HSG Wetzlar | Wetzlar | Buderus Arena Wetzlar | 4,421 |
The complete list of the German handball champions since 1950.
Club | Winners | Years |
---|---|---|
THW Kiel | 23 | 1957, 1962, 1963, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2023 |
VfL Gummersbach | 12 | 1966, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1991 |
Frisch Auf Göppingen | 9 | 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1972 |
TV Großwallstadt | 6 | 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1990 |
SV Polizei Hamburg | 4 | 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 |
SG Flensburg-Handewitt | 3 | 2004, 2018, 2019 |
TUSEM Essen | 3 | 1986, 1987, 1989 |
Rhein-Neckar Löwen | 2 | 2016, 2017 |
TBV Lemgo | 2 | 1997, 2003 |
SG Wallau-Massenheim | 2 | 1992, 1993 |
GWD Minden | 2 | 1971, 1977 |
Berliner SV 1892* | 2 | 1956, 1964 |
SC Magdeburg | 2 | 2001, 2022 |
HSV Hamburg | 1 | 2011 |
SG Leutershausen | 1 | 1968 |
The following data indicates German coefficient rankings between European handball leagues.
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
EHF League Ranking for 2023/24 season: [2]
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EHF Club Ranking as of 29 March 2024: [3]
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The SC Magdeburg is a professional handball club from Magdeburg, Germany. The team plays in the highest German league, the Handball-Bundesliga and regularly in highest international competitions. They won the EHF Champions League in 2002 and 2023, the EHF European League in 1999, 2001, 2007, 2021 and the IHF Men's Super Globe in 2021 and 2022. The governing body of the handball club is a professional multi-sports club and has also departments for: canoe sprint, athletics, rowing, swimming and gymnastics.
SG Flensburg-Handewitt is a professional handball club from Flensburg and Handewitt in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and EHF European League. They play home matches at Flens-Arena. Since forming in 1990, the club has been one of Germany's most successful teams domestically and in European tournaments. The club is best known for winning the EHF Champions League in 2014 by defeating arch-rivals THW Kiel in the final 30–28.
TUSEM Essen is a handball club from Essen, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga.
TV Großwallstadt is a team handball club from Großwallstadt, Lower Franconia. Currently, TV Großwallstadt competes in the 2.Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. The club has seen great success, especially from the late 1970s until the early 1990s.
Niklas Landin Jacobsen is a Danish handballer for Aalborg Håndbold and the Denmark national team.
Domagoj Duvnjak is a Croatian professional handball player for THW Kiel and the Croatia national team. Duvnjak is regarded as one of the best handball players of all time alongside fellow Croatian Ivano Balić.
Rhein-Neckar Löwen is a professional handball club founded in 2002, based in Mannheim, Germany. The club competes in the German Handball-Bundesliga and continentally in EHF European League. Rhein-Neckar Löwen play their home games in SAP Arena, with a seating capacity of 14,500.
Nenad Peruničić is a Serbian handball coach and former player.
Andreas Miroslav Palicka is a Swedish professional handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the Swedish national team.
Krešimir Kozina is a Croatian handball player for Frisch Auf Göppingen and the Croatian national team.
The 2016 DHB-Pokal was the 41st edition of the tournament.
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The 2020–21 Handball-Bundesliga was the 56th season of the Handball-Bundesliga, Germany's premier handball league and the 44th season consisting of only one league. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league announced 1 October 2020 as the start date and the season ended on 27 June 2021.
The 2021–22 Handball-Bundesliga was the 57th season of the Handball-Bundesliga, Germany's premier handball league and the 45th season consisting of only one league. It ran from 8 September 2021 to 12 June 2022.
The 2021–22 DHB-Pokal was the 45th edition of the tournament.