The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. A founding member of both

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

, the DFB has jurisdiction for the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for Football in Germany, association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 Season (sports), season consisted of 2,235 Sports_leag ...

and is in charge of the men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

national teams. The DFB headquarters are in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Sole members of the DFB are the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''American-Football-Bundesliga'' to ''German Foot ...

(german: Deutsche Fußball Liga; DFL), organising the professional

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world.

History

Commemorative_plaque_at_the_house_in_Leipzig_where_the_DFB_was_founded_in_1900

1875 to 1900

From 1875 to the mid-1880s, the first kind of football played in Germany was according to

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

rules. Later, association-style football teams formed separate clubs, and since 1890, they began to organise on regional and national levels.

1900 to 1933

The DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) was founded on 28 January 1900 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

by representatives of 86 clubs. The vote held to establish the association was 62:22 in favour (84 votes). Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may have voted only once. Other delegates present did not carry their club's authority to cast a ballot.

Ferdinand Hueppe Ferdinand Adolph Theophil Hueppe (24 August 1852 – 15 September 1938) was a German physician, bacteriologist and hygienist. From 1900 to 1904, he was the first Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB, German Football Association) president. Biography Fr ...

, the representative of DFC Prague, was named its first president. The DFB consolidated the large number of state-based German regional competitions in play for a single recognized national title for the season 1902/03. Germans were not present in Paris when FIFA was founded by seven nations in May 1904, but by the time the FIFA statutes came into effect on 1 September, Germany had also joined by telegram as the eighth nation. The German national team played its first game in 1908. Before 1914, the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

was much larger than today's Germany, comprising Alsace-Lorraine and the eastern provinces. The borders of the regional associations were drawn according to suitable railway connections. Also, teams based in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, then part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, were eligible, as they were German Football clubs and thus considered German. Thus, a German team from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

was runner-up in the German championship. On the other hand, clubs of the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

minority in

Northern Schleswig South Jutland County ( Danish: ''Sønderjyllands Amt'') is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of A ...

refused to join the DFB. This area after World War I voted to join Denmark. Due to border changes imposed by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, the DFB had to adapt its structure. The

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

, Danzig, and the Memelland were detached from Germany and

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

was cut off from the main part by the

Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor (german: Polnischer Korridor; pl, Pomorze, Polski Korytarz), also known as the Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia (Pomeranian Voivodeship, easter ...

1933 to 1945

The role of DFB and its representatives like Felix Linnemann under

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 ...

was documented in ''100 Jahre DFB'' and by Nils Havemann in ''Fußball unterm Hakenkreuz''. According to ''

Gleichschaltung The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...

'' policy, the DFB, with its large membership from all political sides, and strong regional structures compared to weak national ones, submitted to new rulers and new Gau structures. On a short general meeting on 9 July 1933 in Berlin, the DFB did so, at least formally. Later, the

Hitler salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. T ...

was made compulsory;

Marxists Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectic ...

and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

were expelled. The records of

German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

were erased from the DFD's records, such as those of

Gottfried Fuchs Gottfried Erik Fuchs (also Godfrey Fuchs; (3 May 1889 – 25 February 1972) was a German Olympic footballer. He scored a then-world record 10 goals for the Germany national football team in a 16–0 win against Russia at the 1912 Olympics. He le ...

who had scored a world record ten goals for Germany in a 16–0 win against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

in Stockholm, becoming the top scorer of the tournament and setting an international record. When, in 1972, German former player and national team coach

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...

asked the German Football Association vice president

Hermann Neuberger Hermann Neuberger (12 December 1919 – 27 September 1992) was the seventh president of the German Football Association (''Deutscher Fußball-Bund'', DFB) from 1975 until his death in office in 1992. Career Neuberger, son of two teachers, gre ...

to invite Fuchs as a guest or a guest of honour to an international against Russia on the 60th anniversary of Fuchs' performance for the German team, the DFB Executive Committee declined to do so, writing that it wasn't willing to invite Fuchs because it would have created an unfortunate precedent (as was pointed out, given that Fuchs was the last remaining former Jewish German international, the DFB's concern about creating a precedent was a difficult one to understand). As of 2016, Fuchs was still the top German scorer for one match. A new organization, Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (German Reich League for Physical Exercise), was established and Linnemann was appointed leader of its ''Fachamt Fußball'' (Football section), which took over the operational affairs, whereas the DFB lost most of its duties until it was formally dissolved in 1940. On the pitch, Germany had done well in 1934, but after a 0–2 loss to Norway in the quarter finals of the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

, with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

attending, the DFB and football fell from grace. ''Reichsjugendführer'' Baldur von Schirach and the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

took over youth football (under 16) from the clubs following a deal with ''Reichssportführer''

Hans von Tschammer und Osten Hans von Tschammer und Osten (25 October 1887 – 25 March 1943) was a German sport official, SA leader and a member of the Reichstag for the Nazi Party of Nazi Germany. He was married to Sophie Margarethe von Carlowitz. Hans von Tschammer un ...

, who had been in charge of all sports in Germany since 1933, making DFB officials even more powerless. Germany had made a bid to host the 1938 World Cup, but it was withdrawn without comment. Following the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

in March 1938 that made

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

part of Germany, the

Austrian Football Association The Austrian Football Association (german: Österreichischer Fußball-Bund; ÖFB) is the governing body of football in Austria. It organises the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austria national football team, as w ...

became part of the German federation. New coach

was told on short notice to use also Austrian players in his team, which was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup, weakening the situation of football within the Nazi politics to near meaninglessness. Four Germans (Hans Jakob,

Albin Kitzinger Albin Kitzinger (1 February 1912 in Schweinfurt – 6 August 1970) was a German football player. He played his whole career for 1. FC Schweinfurt 05. Career On the national level he played for Germany national team (44 matches/2 goals), ...

, Ludwig Goldbrunner, and Ernst Lehner) represented West Europe in a FIFA friendly on 20 June 1937 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and another two (Kitzinger again and Anderl Kupfer) represented a FIFA continental team on 26 October 1938 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. During the war, Germany played international games until 1942.

1945 to 1963

In the aftermath of

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 opposin ...

, German organisations were disbanded by the allies.

decided in November 1945 to ban the no longer existing DFB (and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's football association) from international competition, while the Austrian association was re-founded. Internationally, Germans were still represented, with

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

-based

Ivo Schricker Ivo Wolfgang Eduard Schricker (18 March 1877 – 10 January 1962) was a German footballer and the third General Secretary of the FIFA, serving from 1932 to 1951 upon his resignation. Biography Ivo Schricker was son of a privy councilor in Strasbo ...

serving as General Secretary of FIFA from 1932 to December 1950. In 1948, Switzerland requested FIFA to lift the ban on games against Germans, but this was denied. Swiss clubs played German clubs anyway, but had to cease doing so due to international protests. This was only changed in 1949 when

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

requested FIFA to lift the ban on club games. FIFA did so on 7 May 1949, two weeks before the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

was founded, thus games required permission by the military governments of the time. Due to partition into several occupation zones, and states, the DFB was legally re-founded in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

on 21 January 1950 only by the West German regional associations, without the

Saarland Football Association The Saarland Football Association (german: Saarländischer Fussball-Verband), the ''SFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Saarland.French occupied Saarland, which on 12 June 1950 would be recognized by FIFA as the first of three German FAs after the war. At the FIFA congress held on 22 June prior to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the

Swiss Football Association The Swiss Football Association (german: Schweizerischer Fussballverband, french: Association Suisse de Football, it, Associazione Svizzera di Football/Calcio, rm, Associaziun Svizra da Ballape) is the governing body of football in Switzerlan ...

requested that the DFB be reinstated with full FIFA membership, which was granted on 22 September 1950 in Brussels. Thus, Germany was excluded from the 1950 FIFA World Cup and could resume international games only in late 1950. In the early years of the

division of Germany Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics * Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consisti ...

, West Germany claimed exclusive mandate of all of Germany. Unlike the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, which granted only provisional recognition to the East Germans in 1955, demanding they participate in an All-German Olympic team (

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany (german: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes f ...

), FIFA fully recognized the East German Football Association in 1952. Winning the 1954 World Cup was a major success for the DFB, and the popularity of the sport in Germany. The teams of the DFB and the Saarland were squared off in the qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup before the Saarland and its FA was permitted to rejoin Germany and the DFB in 1956.

1963 to present

Due to that success, and due to regional associations fearing to lose influence, the old amateur structure, in which five regional leagues represented the top level, remained in effect longer than in many other countries, even though a ''

Reichsliga The Reichsliga (, ''Reich League'') was a proposed nationwide German association football league. First suggested in 1932 by German Football Association (DFB) president Felix Linnemann, the ''Reichsliga'' was essentially a forerunner of the ''B ...

'' had been proposed decades ago. Also, professionalism was rejected, and players who played abroad were considered "mercenaries" and not capped. The conservative attitude changed only after disappointing results in the 1962 FIFA World Cup when officials like the 75-year-old

Peco Bauwens Peter Joseph "Peco" Bauwens (24 December 1886 – 24 November 1963) was a German international footballer who played as a forward, referee and controversial administrator with the German Football Association (DFB). In total he was associated with ...

retired. According to the proposals of Hermann Neuberger, the DFB finally introduced a single nationwide professional league, the Bundesliga, for the 1963–64 season. The DFB has hosted the World Cup in 1974 and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. Germany also hosted the 1988 European Championship. Upon reunification in 1990, the East German

Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR The Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was from 1958 the football association of the (East) German Democratic Republic, fielding the East Germany national football team until 1990 before rejoining its counterpart, the German Football Asso ...

(DFV) was absorbed into the DFB. The national team won the World Cup for a second time in 1974, a third time in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, and a fourth in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. Also, they were crowned European champions three times, in 1972, in 1980 and in 1996. On top, the ''Mannschaft'' were runners-up in the 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002 World Cups and in 1976, 1992 and 2008 European Championships. The DFB has also overseen the rise of Germany as a world power in women's football. The

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

has won

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 2003 and 2007—the latter without conceding a goal in the final tournament, making them the only World Cup champions for men or women to do so. Furthermore, the women's national team's victory in 2003 made Germany the only nation to have won both the Men's and Women's World Cups. They have also won eight

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalen ...

s, including the last six in succession. In 1990, mere months before reunification became official, the DFB founded the women's Bundesliga (''Frauen-Bundesliga''), directly modelled after the men's Bundesliga. Initially, it was played in north and south divisions but became a single league in 1997. Bundesliga teams have enjoyed more success in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

than those from any other nation; four different clubs have won a total of seven titles, with the most recent being 2015 champions

1. FFC Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt. Eintracht have won sev ...

. Since 2005, in memory of former German-Jewish Olympian international footballer Julius Hirsch who was killed in

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, the German Football Federation awards the " Julius-Hirsch-Preis" for outstanding examples of integration and tolerance within German football. In 2018, Germany was chosen to host

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football cham ...

Critics

The main criticisms of the DFB are the lack of transparency and the commercialization of football, which has been strongly promoted by DFB officials. Christian Prechtl, from the fan organization '' FC PlayFair!'', mentioned that the growing unpopularity of the men's national team is “just a perfect example of what can happen when you have the fans out of sight ”.

Structure

Members

Direct members of the DFB are only its five regional associations and its 21 state associations, along with the

, whereas the clubs participating in the

are members of the state associations covering their district. Today, more than 25,000 clubs are organised in those state associations, fielding nearly 170,000 teams with over two million active players and totalling over six million members, the largest membership of any single sports federation in the world. The Association governs 870,000 female members and 8,600 female teams.

Regional and state associations

The DFB is organised into five regional associations, which themselves are sub-divided into 21 state associations. These associations typically have their boundaries run along the borders of the German states, with the exception of some states (

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

, and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

) having up to three state associations covering different areas of such state.

Southern Germany

The

Southern German Football Association The Southern German Football Association (german: Süddeutscher Fussball-Verband), the ''SFV'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse. ...

(german: Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband; ''SFV'') covers the states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. The ''SFV'', formed on 17 October 1897 under the name of ''Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine'', originally administered the

Southern German football championship The Southern German football championship (German: ''Süddeutsche Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in the southern Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to p ...

, until it was dissolved by the Nazis in 1933. Reformed in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

occupation zone after the Second World War, it operated the

Oberliga Süd Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...

, the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga until the introduction of the

in 1963. Since the 2012–13 season, the ''SFV'', except its member Bavarian FA, along with the ''Football Association of the Southwest'' is in charge of the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...

, a step 4 division in the

. The ''SFV'' itself is formed by the following state associations: *

Baden Football Association The Baden Football Association (german: Badischer Fußballverband), the ''bfv'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the north of Baden, the north-western part of the state of Baden-Württe ...

(german: Badischer Fußball-Verband; ''BFV'') *

Bavarian Football Association The Bavarian Football Association (german: Bayerischer Fussball-Verband), the ''BFV'', is one of 21 regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Bavaria.Hessian Football Association The Hessian Football Association (german: Hessischer Fußball-Verband), the ''HFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Hesse. The Hessian FA is also part of the Southern Ge ...

(german: Hessischer Fußball-Verband; ''HFV'') *

South Baden Football Association The South Baden Football Association (german: Südbadischer Fußball-Verband), the ''SBFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the south-western part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

(german: Südbadischer Fußball-Verband; ''SBFV'') *

Württemberg Football Association The Württemberg Football Association (german: Württembergischer Fußballverband), the ''WFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the north-western part of the state of Baden-Württember ...

(german: Württembergischer Fußball-Verband; ''WFV'')

Southwestern Germany

The

Southwestern Regional Football Association The Regional Football Association South West (german: Fussball-Regional-Verband Südwest), the ''FRVS'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saar ...

(german: Fußball-Regional-Verband Südwest; ''FRVS'') covers the states

and

and was formed after the Second World War in the French occupation zone in Germany. Its highest league until the introduction of the

in 1963 was the Oberliga Südwest, the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga. Since the 2012–13 season, the ''FRVS'', along with the ''Southern German football association'' is in charge of

, a step 4 division in the

. Additionally, the ''FRVS'' administrates the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, a step 5 division. The ''FRVS'' itself is formed by the following state associations: *

Rhineland Football Association The Rhineland Football Association (german: Fussball-Verband Rheinland), the ''FVR'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the northern part of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.Saarland Football Association The Saarland Football Association (german: Saarländischer Fussball-Verband), the ''SFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Saarland.Southwest German Football Association The South West German Football Association (german: Südwestdeutscher Fussball-Verband), the ''SWFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the southern part of the state of Rhineland-Palatin ...

(german: Südwestdeutscher Fußball-Verband; ''SWFV'')

Western Germany

The

Western German Football Association The Western German Football Association (german: Westdeutscher Fußballverband; ''WDFV'') is one of the five regional associations of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; ''DFB'') and covers German state of North Rh ...

(german: Westdeutscher Fußballverband; ''WDFV'') covers the state of

. The association was known as ''WFLV'' from 2002 to 2016 and used to administer the

Western German football championship The Western German football championship (German: ''Westdeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in Western Germany, in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, the Rhine Province, the northern parts of the p ...

until 1933. From 1947 to 1963, its highest league was the

Oberliga West Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...

, the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga. Since the 2008–09 season, the ''WDFV'' is in charge of the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...

, a step 4 division in the

. The ''WDFV'' itself is formed by the following state associations: *

Middle Rhine Football Association The Middle Rhine Football Association (german: Fußball-Verband Mittelrhein, FVM) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German mid-Rhein area and covers the football districts of Aachen, Berg, Bonn, Düren, Euskirchen, Heinsbe ...

(german: Fußballverband Mittelrhein; ''FVM'') *

Lower Rhine Football Association The Lower Rhine Football Association (german: Fußballverband Niederrhein, FVN) is the umbrella organization of football clubs in the German Lower Rhine region, and comprises 14 football districts. The FVN was founded in 1947 and has its headquarte ...

(german: Fußballverband Niederrhein; ''FVN'') *

Westphalia Football and Athletics Association The Westphalia Football and Athletics Association (german: Fußball- und Leichtathletikverband Westfalen, FLVW) is the umbrella organization of football and athletics clubs in the German Westphalia area, and comprises 29 districts. The FLVW was cre ...

(german: Fußball- und Leichtathletikverband Westfalen; ''FLVW'')

Northern Germany

The

Northern German Football Association The Northern German Football Association (german: Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband; ''NFV'') is one of the five regional associations of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; ''DFB'') and covers the four German states ...

(german: Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband; ''NFV'') covers the states of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

. The association used to administer the Northern German football championship until 1933. From 1947 to 1963, its highest league was the Oberliga Nord, the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga. Since the 1994–95 season, the ''NFV'' is in charge of the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

, a step 4 division in the

. The ''NFV'' itself is formed by the following state associations: *

Bremen Football Association The Bremen Football Association (german: Bremer Fussball-Verband), the ''BFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Bremen.Hamburg Football Association The Hamburg Football Association (german: Hamburger Fußball-Verband), the ''HFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Hamburg and some parts of southern Schleswig-Holstein.

(german: Hamburger Fußball-Verband; ''HFV'') *

Lower Saxony Football Association The Lower Saxony Football Association (german: Niedersächsischer Fussball-Verband), the ''NFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Lower Saxony.

(german: Niedersächsischer Fußball-Verband; ''NFV'') *

Schleswig-Holstein Football Association The Schleswig-Holstein Football Association (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Fussball-Verband), the ''SHFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers most parts of the state of Schleswig-Holste ...

(german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Fußball-Verband; ''SHFV'')

Northeastern Germany

The

Northeastern German Football Association The Northeastern German Football Association (german: Nordostdeutscher Fußballverband), the ''NOFV'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg ...

(german: Nordostdeutscher Fußball-Verband; ''NOFV'') covers the states of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

and

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. The association is the youngest of the five regional associations, having been formed after German reunification in 1990 as a successor of the disbanded ''German Football Association of the GDR''. Since the 2012–13 season and previously from 1994 to 2000, the ''NOFV'' administers the

Regionalliga Nordost The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany as well as West Berlin. It i ...

, a step 4 division in the

, and the step 5 Oberliga Nordost. The ''NOFV'' itself is formed by the following state associations:North Eastern German Football Association website
accessed: 17 July 2012 *

Brandenburg Football Association The Brandenburg Football Association (german: Fußball-Landesverband Brandenburg, FLB), is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German state Brandenburg and covers the football districts of Lower Lusatia, Prignitz/Ruppin, Uckerma ...

(german: Fußball-Landesverband Brandenburg; ''FLB'') *

Berlin Football Association The Berlin Football Association (german: Berliner Fussball-Verband, BFV) is the umbrella organization of football clubs in the German capital Berlin. The BFV was founded in 1897 and has its headquarters in Berlin. President of the BFV is Bernd Sch ...

(german: Berliner Fußball-Verband; ''BFV'') *

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Football Association The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Football Association (german: Landesfußballverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, LFVMV), is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and covers the football distr ...

(german: Landesfußball-Verband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; ''LFVM'') *

Saxony Football Association The Saxony Football Association (german: Sächsischer Fußball-Verband, SFV), is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German state Saxony and covers 13 football districts. The SFV was founded in 1990 and has its headquarters in L ...

(german: Sächsischer Fußball-Verband; ''SFV'') *

Saxony-Anhalt Football Association The Saxony-Anhalt Football Association (German: Fußballverband Sachsen-Anhalt - FSA), is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German state Saxony-Anhalt and covers 14 football districts. The FSA was founded in 1990 and has its he ...

(german: Fußball-Verband Sachsen-Anhalt; ''FSA'') *

Thuringian Football Association The Thuringia Football Association (German: Thüringer Fußballverband - TFV), is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German state Thuringia and covers nine football districts. The TFV was founded in 1990 and has its headquarters ...

(german: Thüringer Fußball-Verband; ''TFV'')

Presidents

(1900–1904) *

Friedrich Wilhelm Nohe Friedrich Wilhelm Nohe (10 April 1864 – 13 October 1940) was a German teacher, football player, and football administrator. From 1904 to 1905 he was the President of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB). Nohe ...

(1904–1905) *

Gottfried Hinze Gottfried Hinze (2 November 1873 – 23 August 1953) was a German businessman, athlete, and football administrator. He was President of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB) from 1905 to 1925. Hinze joined the ...

(1905–1925) * Felix Linnemann (1925–1940) *

(1950–1962) * Hermann Gösmann (1962–1975) *

(1975–1992) *

Egidius Braun Egidius Braun (27 February 1925 – 16 March 2022) was a German sports administrator who served as the eighth president of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB) from 1992 to 2001. Subsequently, he was appointed ...

(1992–2001) * Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder (2001–2004) * Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder and

Theo Zwanziger Theo Zwanziger (born 6 June 1945) is a German lawyer and sports official. He was the president of the German Football Association (DFB) from 2006 to 2012. For his contributions to German football, he received the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 2005. ...

(2004–2006) *

(2006–2012) * Wolfgang Niersbach (2012–2015) *''Acting'':

Rainer Koch Rainer Koch (born 18 December 1958) is a German jurist and football official. From November 2015 to April 2016, he was the acting president of the German Football Association along with Reinhard Rauball. Koch is a member of UEFA's Appeals Bod ...

and

Reinhard Rauball Reinhard Rauball (born 25 December 1946) is a German politician, member of the SPD, a trained lawyer, and football official. He is known for having served as president of football team Borussia Dortmund several times and also served very briefly ...

(2015–2016) *

Reinhard Grindel Reinhard Dieter Grindel (born 19 September 1961) is a German journalist, politician ( CDU) and football administrator. From 2002 to 2016 Grindel was member of the Bundestag (Lower Chamber of the German Parliament). On 15 April 2016, he was elec ...

(2016–2019) *''Acting'':

and

(2019) *

Fritz Keller Frédéric "Fritz" Keller (born Friedrich Keller, 21 August 1913 – 8 June 1985) was a German-born professional French footballer who played as a forward in the Première division for RC Strasbourg, and for the France national team. Club ca ...

(2019–2021) *''Acting'':

and

Peter Peters Peter Peters Greek: Πανούτας Πετερίδης) (born 10 June 1947) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, commentator and journalist. Playing career He was a first grade player for Parramatta (1967–68) and M ...

(2021–2022) *

Bernd Neuendorf Bernd Johannes Neuendorf (born 6 July 1961) is a German politician, journalist and football administrator who is currently serving as the president of the German Football Association (DFB). He had previously served as the president of the Middle ...

(2022–present)

Administration

DFB Administration is located in

Frankfurt (Main) Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. It is headed by Secretary General Friedrich Curtius and managing directors Heike Ullrich (Deputy Secretary General),

Oliver Bierhoff Oliver Bierhoff (born 1 May 1968) is a German football official and former player who played as a forward. He has previously served as the national team director of the German Football Association. A tall, strong and prolific goalscorer, Bierh ...

and Markus Holzherr.

Men's Honours

Major competitions

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

* Champions (4): 1954, 1974,

, 2014 * Runners-up (4): 1966, 1982,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, 2002 * Third place (4): 1934,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* Fourth place (1): 1958

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

* Champions (3):

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, 1980, 1996 * Runners-up (3):

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, 2008 * Third place (3): 1988,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2016

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

* Gold Medal (1):

* Silver Medal (2): 1980, 2016 * Bronze Medal (3): 1964,

, 1988 * Fourth place (1): 1952

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

* Champions (1): 2017 * Third place (1): 2005

Women's Honours

Major competitions

FIFA Women's World Cup * Champions (2): 2003, 2007 * Runners-up (1):

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

* Fourth place (2):

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Champions (8): 1989,

, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* Runners-up (1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

* Fourth place (1): 1993

* Gold Medal (1): 2016 * Bronze Medal (3):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, 2004, 2008

DFB Mascot

The official mascot is an eagle with black feathers and a yellow beak called ''"Paule"'' (since 26 March 2006).

Notes

References

External links

*
Germany
at FIFA site

at UEFA site {{Authority control

Futsal in Germany

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

1900 establishments in Germany Sports organizations established in 1900 Non-profit organisations based in Germany

History

1875 to 1900

1900 to 1933

1933 to 1945

1945 to 1963

1963 to present

Critics

Structure

Members

Regional and state associations

Southern Germany

Southwestern Germany

Western Germany

Northern Germany

Northeastern Germany

Presidents

Administration

Men's Honours

Major competitions

Women's Honours

Major competitions

DFB Mascot

See also

Notes

References

External links