Deutsche Jugendkraft Würzburg, commonly known as DJK Würzburg, is a German

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

club. It is most known for its

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

section, which in the past had a professional team. Its most known former player is

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gre ...

. Currently, the sports club contains around 3,000 amateur players.

History

The DJK Sport Association was founded on September 16, 1920 in Würzburg. Due to the geographic location of its home office, the DJK soon founded a local club in Würzburg. However, the different athletic departments found themselves divided among various Catholic clubs. During the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, all

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

DJK affiliates were banned by the government. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the DJK consolidated all of its local departments into DJK Würzburg. Today the club has over 3000 members, including a variety of non-Catholic members. The club's top women's handball team played in the

Handball-Bundesliga Frauen Handball-Bundesliga, is the top women's professional handball league in Germany. 2022-23 season teams *Thüringer HC *SG BBM Bietigheim * TuS Metzingen * Borussia Dortmund Handball * Buxtehuder SV * VfL Oldenburg *HSG Blomberg-Lippe *Bad Wildun ...

, the top flight of women's handball in Germany, from 1976 to 1985, during the 1987–88 season and from 1993 to 1995. The club's basketball department gained fame in the 1990s as both the men's and women's teams qualified for the top German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) division. The women's team played many years in the first and second divisions and was crowned German Champion in 1993. In 1989, the men's team made the jump into the second division. In 1997, featuring

in the line-up, DJK Würzburg claimed the 2nd Division South title, qualifying for the Basketball Bundesliga. In 2001, DJK spun off its men's basketball team into a private corporate entity, now known as s.Oliver Würzburg, to capitalize on their growth as a professional basketball team. DJK Würzburg has produced numerous players who have gone on to have success in the BBL, with the senior men's

German national basketball team The Germany men's national basketball team (german: Deutsche Basketballnationalmannschaft or ''Die Mannschaft'') represents Germany in international basketball competition. The team is directed by the German Basketball Federation (''Deutscher ...

and, for Nowitzki, the NBA. In 2005, the club resigned its spot in the BBL and the club stopped competing.

External links

Official website
(in German) Basketball teams in Germany