Handball-Bundesliga

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Bundesliga
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023–24 Handball-Bundesliga
SportHandball
Founded1966; 58 years ago (1966)
First season1966–67
AdministratorDHB
No. of teams18
CountryGermany
ConfederationEHF
Most recent
champion(s)
THW Kiel (23rd title)
(2022–23)
Most titlesTHW Kiel (23 titles)
TV partner(s)Sky Sport
HBL TV
Sponsor(s)Liqui Moly
Level on pyramidLevel 1
Relegation to2. Handball-Bundesliga
Domestic cup(s)DHB-Pokal
DHB-Supercup
International cup(s)EHF Champions League
EHF European League
Official websiteliquimoly-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.

History[edit]

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.

Season[edit]

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.

Relegation and Promotion[edit]

The HBL GmbH Headquarters

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.

Clubs[edit]

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

Champions[edit]

The complete list of the German handball champions since 1950.

Season Champion
1949–50 SV Polizei Hamburg
1950–51 SV Polizei Hamburg
1951–52 SV Polizei Hamburg
1952–53 SV Polizei Hamburg
1953–54 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1954–55 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1955–56 Berliner SV 1892
1956–57 THW Kiel
1957–58 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1958–59 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1959–60 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1960–61 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1961–62 THW Kiel
1962–63 THW Kiel
1963–64 Berliner SV 1892
1964–65 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1965–66 VfL Gummersbach
1966–67 VfL Gummersbach
1967–68 SG Leutershausen
1968–69 VfL Gummersbach
1969–70 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1970–71 Grün-Weiß Dankersen
1971–72 Frisch Auf Göppingen
1972–73 VfL Gummersbach
1973–74 VfL Gummersbach
1974–75 VfL Gummersbach
1975–76 VfL Gummersbach
1976–77 Grün-Weiß Dankersen
1977–78 TV Grosswallstadt
1978–79 TV Grosswallstadt
1979–80 TV Grosswallstadt
1980–81 TV Grosswallstadt
1981–82 VfL Gummersbach
1982–83 VfL Gummersbach
1983–84 TV Grosswallstadt
1984–85 VfL Gummersbach
1985–86 TUSEM Essen
1986–87 TUSEM Essen
1987–88 VfL Gummersbach
1988–89 TUSEM Essen
1989–90 TV Grosswallstadt
1990–91 VfL Gummersbach
1991–92 SG Wallau-Massenheim
1992–93 SG Wallau-Massenheim
1993–94 THW Kiel
1994–95 THW Kiel
1995–96 THW Kiel
1996–97 TBV Lemgo
1997–98 THW Kiel
1998–99 THW Kiel
1999–20 THW Kiel
2000–01 SC Magdeburg
2001–02 THW Kiel
2002–03 TBV Lemgo
2003–04 SG Flensburg-Handewitt
2004–05 THW Kiel
2005–06 THW Kiel
2006–07 THW Kiel
2007–08 THW Kiel
2008–09 THW Kiel
2009–10 THW Kiel
2010–11 HSV Hamburg
2011–12 THW Kiel
2012–13 THW Kiel
2013–14 THW Kiel
2014–15 THW Kiel
2015–16 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
2016–17 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
2017–18 SG Flensburg-Handewitt
2018–19 SG Flensburg-Handewitt
2019–20 THW Kiel
2020–21 THW Kiel
2021–22 SC Magdeburg
2022–23 THW Kiel

Total titles won[edit]

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 09 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1972
TV Großwallstadt 06 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1990
SV Polizei Hamburg 04 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
SG Flensburg-Handewitt 03 2004, 2018, 2019
TUSEM Essen 03 1986, 1987, 1989
Rhein-Neckar Löwen 02 2016, 2017
TBV Lemgo 02 1997, 2003
SG Wallau-Massenheim 02 1992, 1993
GWD Minden 02 1971, 1977
Berliner SV 1892* 02 1956, 1964
SC Magdeburg 02 2001, 2022
HSV Hamburg 01 2011
SG Leutershausen 01 1968

Statistics[edit]

EHF coefficients[edit]

The following data indicates German coefficient rankings between European handball leagues.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ DKB wird Namenssponsor der Handball-Bundesliga
  2. ^ "2023/24 season ranking" (PDF). European Handball Federation. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Club coefficients". eurotopteam.com. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

External links[edit]