Rhein-Neckar Löwen is a professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

club founded in 2002, based in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, 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 SAP Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Mannheim, Germany. It is primarily used for ice hockey and Team handball, handball, and is the home arena of the Adler Mannheim ice hockey club and the Rhein-Neckar Löwen handball club. Inaugurated in 2005, ...

, with a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 14,500. The club won the German championship twice under the leadership of

Nikolaj Jacobsen Nikolaj Bredahl Jacobsen (born 22 November 1971) is a Danish professional handball coach and former handball wing player and currently the coach of the Denmark men's national handball team, Danish national team. He was named World Coach of the Y ...

, in 2016 and in 2017.

History

On 1 July 2002, the club was founded, originally named SG Kronau/Östringen, following a merger between two clubs, TSG Kronau and TSV Baden Östringen. Their home ground was Rhein-Neckar-Halle. In their first season, 2002–03, the club succeeded to achieve promoting from the 2. Bundesliga to the top tier of the German handball, the

Handball-Bundesliga The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. From 2007 to 2012, the league was sponsored by Toyota and was officially called the ''Toyota Handball-Bundesliga''. In 2012 the Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) became t ...

. A season after, in 2003–04, they were relegated from the 16th position, but they returned again to the first Bundesliga in 2004–05 season, after finishing the season in the 2nd place of the 2. Bundesliga. In 2005–06 season, SG Kronau/Östringen home games were moved from the old Rhein-Neckar-Halle to the newly built

. In this season, they reached the final of DHB Cup. They lost 25–26 to HSV Hamburg, and finished 6th in the Handball-Bundesliga. In the following season, they lost again in DHB Cup final, with a 33–31 to THW Kiel, and finished 8th in the Handball-Bundesliga. In the beginning of 2007–08 season, the club's name renamed to Rhein-Neckar Löwen. This season, they lost in the final of EHF Cup Winners' Cup to MKB Veszprém. The Hungarians secured the title after a 60:65 win on aggregate over Rhein-Neckar Löwen. In this season, Löwen's youth team won the German championship for the first time in the history of the club. The 2008–09 season was Rhein-Neckar Löwen's best season by then, finishing 3rd in Bundesliga, and reaching the semi-final of

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

, in their first time in this competition. In 2009–10, Rhein-Neckar Löwen reached the German Cup final again. It was their third appearance in the cup final, but again they finished as runners-up, this time after a 33–34 loss to HSV Hamburg. The club won its first title on 19 May 2013, after beating HBC Nantes (26–24) in the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

of EHF Cup, on its first year as EHF Cup, a merge between EHF European Cup and EHF Cup Winners' Cup. In 2013–14, Rhein-Neckar Löwen reached the DHB Cup Final Four for the seventh time in its history, but defeated by SG Flensburg (26–30) in the semi-final. In the

, Löwen reached the quarterfinals, and won

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

(38–31) at home, but in Palau Blaugrana they lost, 24–31, and were eliminated from EHF Champions League because of the away goals. In the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, Löwen headed to the final game of the season as table leaders, with the same total of points like THW Kiel. Although they won VfL Gummersbach (40–35), they lost the championship to THW Kiel, who won Füchse Berlin, with a better result, 37–23. THW Kiel finished the season with a better goals difference and won the championship. Löwen finished only second. A season after, in 2014–15, Rhein-Neckar Löwen appointed

as their new head coach. He led Löwen again to the second place, and they finished as runners-up to THW Kiel for the second season in a row. But in 2015–16, Jacobsen was the first head coach to lead Löwen to a national championship, as they beat SG Flensburg by a one point. They also won the DHB-Supercup after a 27–24 win over SC Magdeburg. A season after, in 2016–17, they defended the title and achieved their second Bundesliga championship in their history.

Kits

Accomplishments

: **:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* DHB-Pokal: **:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* DHB-Supercup: **: 2016, 2017, 2018 * EHF Cup: **:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Team

:''Squad for the 2024–25 season'' ;Goalkeepers *1

Mikael Appelgren Kent Mikael Appelgren (born 15 October 1961 in Stockholm) is a Swedish former table tennis player. Table tennis career He was 4-times World Champion, 9-times European Champion, 2-times Europe Top-12 winner, and World Cup winner. He also won ...

* 29 David Späth ;Left wingers * 8 Tim Nothdurft * 15 David Móré ;Right wingers * 19 Cedric Mayer * 24 Patrick Groetzki * 26 Niklas Michalski ;Line players *9 Steven Plucnar Jacobsen * 34 Valentin Willner * 80 Jannik Kohlbacher ;Left backs * 13 Sebastian Heymann * 22 Gustav Davidsson * 45

Halil Jaganjac Halil Jaganjac (born 22 June 1998) is a Croatian handball player who plays for Rhein-Neckar Löwen and the Croatian national team. Career Jaganjac was born in Rijeka to Bosnian parents. His father hails from Bosanski Petrovac, and his mother h ...

;Central backs * 10 Juri Knorr * 25 Olle Forsell Schefvert ;Right backs * 5 Ivan Martinović * 42 Jon Lindenchrone

Transfers

:''Transfers for the 2025–26 season'' ; Joining * Robert Timmermeister (LB) ''(back from loan at HBW Balingen-Weilstetten)'' *

(LB) ''(from Industria Kielce)'' * Mathias Larson (CB) ''(from Elverum Håndball)'' * Haukur Þrastarson (CB) ''(from Dinamo București)'' * Dani Baijens (CB) ''(from

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

)'' * Edwin Aspenbäck (RB) ''(from TTH Holstebro)'' * Gino Steenaerts (RW) ''(from HC Kriens-Luzern)'' ; Leaving *

(LB) ''(end of loan Industria Kielce)'' * Gustav Davidsson (LB) ''(to Hammarby IF Handboll)'' * Juri Knorr (CB) ''(to Aalborg Håndbold)'' * Olle Forsell Schefvert (CB) ''(to MT Melsungen)'' * Jon Lindenchrone (RB) ''(to Skjern Håndbold)'' * Cedric Mayer (RW) ''(to HC Oppenweiler/Backnang)'' * Niklas Michalski (RW) ''(to HSG Krefeld)'' * Valentin Willner (P) ''(to TUSEM Essen)''

Notable former players

Notable former coaches

* Michael Roth * Christian Schwarzer * Frédéric Volle * Yuri Shevtsov * Ola Lindgren * Guðmundur Guðmundsson

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhein-Neckar Lowen Handball clubs in Germany Handball-Bundesliga Handball clubs established in 2002 2002 establishments in Germany Sport in Mannheim