Germany — Handball

Germany is one of the historic heartlands of handball, with the modern game having been developed and formalised in the country in the early 20th century. The Bundesliga, the Handball-Bundesliga, is widely regarded as the strongest club league in the world, featuring 133 clubs across 8 competitions.

Handball is among the most popular team sports in Germany, with packed arenas, strong television coverage, and a massive grassroots base. The Handball-Bundesliga attracts the world's best players, and German clubs have been among the most successful in European competition.

Germany is the birthplace of modern handball. The game's rules were formalised by Max Heiser in Berlin in 1917, and field handball was included at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Germany won gold. The German Handball Federation was founded in 1949.

Germany's indoor handball programme achieved its greatest triumph in 2007, when the national team won the World Championship on home soil in a tournament that captivated the nation. Germany also won the European Championship in 2016 in Poland, with a young and dynamic squad. The Handball-Bundesliga has been the world's premier club league for decades, with clubs like THW Kiel, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, and Rhein-Neckar Lowen attracting top global talent.

The German Handball Federation (Deutscher Handballbund, DHB) is the governing body for handball in Germany. Founded in 1949, it is the largest handball federation in the world with over 750,000 registered players. It is a member of the EHF and IHF.

The Handball-Bundesliga is the top division of men's handball in Germany and is widely considered the strongest club handball league in the world. The DHB-Pokal provides knockout cup competition. The Bundesliga features 18 teams and attracts massive attendance figures, with several clubs regularly drawing over 10,000 spectators.

Germany has won three World Championship titles (1938 field handball, 1978, and 2007) and the European Championship in 2016. The 2007 World Championship victory on home soil is considered one of the greatest moments in German sport. At the Olympics, Germany (and its predecessor states) won gold in field handball at the 1936 Berlin Games and has been a consistent contender in the indoor era. German clubs have won the EHF Champions League multiple times, with THW Kiel and SG Flensburg-Handewitt among the most successful clubs in European handball history.