The Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby is a German

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

from

Hennigsdorf Hennigsdorf () is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north-west of Berlin, just across the city border, which is formed mainly by the Havel river. History The municipality shared its borders with the form ...

, currently playing in the tier-four Regionalliga East B. The team is part of a larger club, the Stahl Hennigsdorf, which also offers other sports like

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

. The club, located in former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, was the most successful rugby team in the country, having won 27

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

from 1952 to 1990, when the last championship was held.Rugby in Hennigsdorf - Eine Chronologie
Stahl Hennigsdorf website - club history, accessed: 10 April 2010 The term '' Stahl'' is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

word for steel and refers to the club's connection to the local steelworks. The club is located in the

Oberhavel Oberhavel is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Its neighbouring districts are (clockwise from the north): Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the districts of Uckermark and Barnim, the ''Bunde ...

district, north west of Berlin. The district is home to two more rugby union clubs,

RU Hohen Neuendorf The RU Hohen Neuendorf is a German rugby union club from Hohen Neuendorf, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. The club is located in the Oberhavel district, north west of Berlin. The district is home to two more rugby union clubs, Stahl ...

and Veltener RC.

History

East Germany

The club was formed in 1948 when

Erwin Thiesies Erwin Thiesies (22 August 1908 – 18 February 1993) was a German international rugby union player, playing for the Berliner SV 92 Rugby and the German national rugby union team.Berliner SV Berliner SV 1892 is a German association football club from the district of Wilmersdorf, Berlin. ''BSV'' is one of the country's oldest clubs and was a founding member of the DFB (German Football Association) in 1900. The club also operates a r ...

, brought the game to Hennigsdorf. He tried to find a home for the sport in the ''BSG Motor Hennigsdorf'' but found the club uninterested. He was more successful when contacting ''BSG Stahl Hennigsdorf'' and a rugby department was formed. After originally playing sides from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, the club soon established contacts to teams in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. Erwin Thiesies, by being employed through the local steel works, became the full-time coach of ''Stahl'' and was able to travel abroad to watch games and improve his knowledge of the game. ''Stahl'' became the first East German rugby union champion in 1952 and defended this title the following year but then had to wait a number of years for another title. In this era, the club provided the core of the East German team, together with DHfK Leipzig and

ASK Vorwärts Berlin 1. FC Frankfurt is a German football club based in Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg. The club was founded as the army club SV VP Vorwärts Leipzig in Leipzig in East Germany in 1951. The club won six East German championships as ASK Vorwärts Berl ...

. ''Stahl'', until the German reunion, continued to provide the core of the national team. ''Stahl's'' most dominating time came from 1965 to 1977, when the club won the national title in every season but one, 1972, when Stahl Leegebruch took out the championship. In 1977, Erwin Thiesies finally retired as the club's coach and was replaced by Wolfgang Götsch, a 20-time GDR international with 700 games for ''Stahl'' to his name. Under him, the team was rejuvenated and three runners-up finishes from 1978 to 1980 were achieved. From 1981, ''Stahl'' returned to its old dominance, winning ten championships in a row, including the last one ever held in East Germany, in 1990. It bowed out of East German rugby history by winning the cup competition as well that year.

Germany

With the German reunion, the changes in society and the freedom of travel, the club experienced a substantial loss of players. In 1991, the club took part in the

Rugby-Bundesliga The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation. The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, t ...

qualification round, where, after a weak start, it succeeded by winning its last eight games. Additionally, the club's name was altered from ''BSG Stahl'' to ''SV Stahl''. It lasted for only one season at this level, being relegated to the

2nd Rugby-Bundesliga The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third ti ...

in 1992. A year later, on 18 February 1993, the club's founding father, Erwin Thiesies, died, aged 84. In 1998, after over 20 years as coach of ''Stahl'', Wolfgang Götsch resigned from his position due to illness, to be replaced by his assistant Udo Schimroszik. Two years later, in 2000, the club returned to the Rugby-Bundesliga. But again the club lasts for only one season, returning to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2001. ''Stahl'' remained in this league as a top of the table side in the coming years, despite suffering from a lack of players, especially in 2005-06. The club reached a low point after this season, for the first time in its history it was unable to field a side and did not take part in the German league system in 2006-07. The following season, it fielded a combined team, together with the reserve side of local rival

, in the lowest division, the tier-four Regionalliga East B. This partnership however lasted for only one season. The club fielded its own, independent team in the fourth division in 2008-09 and continues to do so in 2009-10. It won the league title in 2009 and played in the Regionalliga East in autumn 2009, where it finished sixth and had to play in the B division in spring 2010.

Club honours

East German rugby union championship The East German rugby union championship was a rugby union competition in the German Democratic Republic, commonly referred to as East Germany. The competition was first held in 1952 and had its last edition in 1990, being terminated by the events ...

** Champions: (27) 1952, 1953, 1960–62, 1965–71, 1973–77, 1981–90 ** Runners up: 1978-80

Recent seasons

Recent seasons of the club:RugbyWeb Ergebnisarchiv
rugbyweb.de - Results archive, accessed: 24 July 2012 * Until 2001, when the single-division Bundesliga was established, the season was divided in autumn and spring, a ''Vorrunde'' and ''Endrunde'', whereby the top teams of the Rugby-Bundesliga would play out the championship while the bottom teams together with the autumn 2nd Bundesliga champion would play for Bundesliga qualification. The remainder of the 2nd Bundesliga teams would play a spring round to determine the relegated clubs. Where two placing's are shown, the first is autumn, the second spring.

References

External links

*
Official website
*
Official website of the rugby department
*
Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby club info at totalrugby.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennigsdorf, Stahl Rugby German rugby union clubs East German rugby union clubs Rugby clubs established in 1948 Rugby union in Brandenburg 1948 establishments in Germany