This article covers sport in Hamburg, Germany — its history and role as part of the city's culture, both on a recreational and professional level. Over the last some 125 years, many international tournaments and championships were held here.
The main sports governing body in Hamburg, the Hamburg Sport Federation (Hamburger Sportbund, HSB) represents over 500,000 member in some 780 sport clubs. About 60 teams from Hamburg are playing in German first leagues (Bundesliga), the two best known clubs from Hamburg would be the Hamburger SV and the FC St. Pauli, both men's first teams playing in the German football leagues.
History Sport in Hamburg has a long and distinguished history. Hamburg sport clubs were instrumental in introducing British sports to Germany, or in some cases the continent as a whole. Next to ball and equestrian sports, water sports play an important role in Hamburg. Some of the founders of the German Football Association (DFB) came from Hamburg. One of the world's oldest rowing clubs is based in Hamburg.
The Vierländer Schützengesellschaft (approximate translation: Vierlande Shooting Club) is one of the oldest still existing organisation in Hamburg. It was established in 1592. In 1830 the Hamburg Chess Club (Hamburger Schachklub, HSK or HSK von 1830) was founded. Der Hamburger Ruder Club"Ruder(n)" is the German term for 'rowing' was founded in 1836, as one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world. In 1934 it was merged with the Germania Ruder Club (GRC), to form Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club (HGRC). The Germania Ruder Club's coxed fours won rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. On 20 January 1900, the FC Association 1893 Hamburg and FC Eintracht Altona were two of 86 founders of the German Football Association. As old as the history of sports clubs in Hamburg, as old is the history of competing and hosting tournaments. The 3rd Chess Olympiad organized by the German Chess Federation took place between 13 and 27 July 1930, in Hamburg. 12 players from the Hamburg Chess Club won the German Team Championship in 1956 and 1958. In 1987 the Hamburg Chess Club were German Cup winner (Pokalsieger).
For the 2006 World Cup the Volksparkstadion became a FIFA World Cup Stadium for five matches, among others the quarter-finals Italy vs. Ukraine on 30 June 2006. Boxing for international titles like the heavyweight championship of the International Boxing Federation in 2003 and 2008 between Tony Thompson and Wladimir Klitschko were held in Hamburg.
In July 2008 the Fourth World University Championship for beach volleyball was held in Hamburg. The Team Hamburg Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics consisted of 48 athletes. In 2010 the UEFA Cup final was held at the Volksparkstadion.Ahmed Bilal: 2010 Champions League Final in Madrid, 2010 UEFA Cup final in Hamburg 29 March 2008 www.soccerlens.com Accessed 11 August 2008 As of March 2015, Hamburg is in the process of submitting an application to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, a bid supported by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).
Professional sport Professional sport teams
About 60 teams were fighting in German first leagues (Bundesliga) in 2007.
Ball sports The association football men's team Hamburger SV (HSV), one of the most successful teams in Germany, is a football team in the 2. Bundesliga. HSV is a six time German champion, a three time German cup winner and triumphed in the European cup in 1977 and 1983 and has played in the group stages of the Champions League twice; in 2000–01 and in 2006–07. Additionally, FC St. Pauli is also a 2. Bundesliga football club. The HSV Handball represents Hamburg in the German handball league. Another first league team is NA. Hamburg Volleyball.
Hamburg Blue Devils was one of the prominent American football teams playing in German Football League before its exit in 2017.Hamburg Blue Devils ziehen sich zuruck GFL website, published: 18 January 2014, accessed: 14 May 2014 Hamburg Sea Devils is a team of European League of Football (ELF) which is a planned professional league, that is set to become the first league in Europe since the demise of NFL Europe. The Sea Devils will start playing games in June 2021.
The FC St. Pauli dominates women's Rugby in Germany. Hamburg is home to the Hamburg Dockers, an Australian rules football club.
There is a football club Polonia Hamburg for the Polish diaspora in the city.
Baseball and Softball The HSV Stealers play first division Baseball as well as the Hamburg Knights do so in Softball.
Basketball The BCJ Hamburg played in the Basketball Bundesliga from 1999 to 2001. Later, the Hamburg Towers became the city's prime team. The Towers promoted to Germany's top division in 2019. In 2022, they already reached the playoffs. The Towers play their home games at the Inselpark Arena in Wilhelmsburg.
Chess One of the world top chess players comes from the Hamburg Chess Club and is playing in the Chess Bundesliga, the Grand Master Jan Gustafsson was in the Top 100 Players list on rank 85 in April 2005.
Cricket and lacrosse There are also several minority sports clubs, surprisingly Hamburg has four cricket clubs, THCC Rot-Gelb (Alster CC), Pak Alemi CC, Hamburg International CC and HSV Cricket. HSV Cricket is playing in the league of the North German Cricket Federation and won several first places. There is also the lacrosse team Hamburg Warriors at the Harvestehuder Tennis- und Hockey-Club (HTHC).Ross Forman: Out lacrosse coach lands in Germany 10 June 2008 www.outsports.com Accessed 11 August 2008
Field hockey Hamburg is the nation's hockey capital and dominates the men's as well as the women's Bundesliga with teams like Der Club an der Alster, Großflottbeker THGC, Klipper THC, Hamburger Polo Club Harvestehuder THC or Uhlenhorster HC.
Icehockey The Hamburg Freezers represented Hamburg in the highest ice hockey league in Germany.
Polo The women team Polo Ladies from the Hamburg Polo Club plays also in one of the German first or second leagues. In 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 the men's team won the high goal class of the German Polo Championship.
Sport venues and facilities
The Centre Court of Tennis Stadium Am Rothenbaum has a capacity of 13,200 people and is the largest tennis venue in Germany.
Most of the sports stadiums can be used as music concert venues and for other events too. The FC St. Pauli play at the Millerntor-Stadion in the St. Pauli quarter near the infamous Reeperbahn. The Volksparkstadion,Former names include HSH Nordbank Arena or AOL Arena (seats 50,000 ) home to the Hamburger SV, was a venue for Bruce Springsteen's Magic Tour. Hamburg Freezers and HSV Handball play at O2 World, formerly known as Color Line Arena. The Alsterschwimmhalle is Hamburg's largest aquatic center, completed in 1973 and used for swimming events.
Venue Location Max. audience Volksparkstadion Bahrenfeld 57,300 Horn Racecourse (Rennbahn) Horn 50,000 Billtalstadion Bergedorf 30,000 Millerntor-Stadion St. Pauli 29,600 O2 World Bahrenfeld 13,800 Am Rothenbaum Rotherbaum 13,200 Stadion Hoheluft Eppendorf 11,000 Jahn-Arena (Kampfbahn) Winterhude 8,000 Adolf-Jäger-Arena (Kampfbahn) Ottensen 8,000 Sporthalle Winterhude 7,000 eVendi Arena Altona-Nord 6,100 Klein Flottbek Derby Park Nienstedten 4,500 Inselparkhalle Wilhelmsburg 3,400 Wolfgang-Meyer-Sportground (Sportanlage) Stellingen 2,400 Bahrenfeld Racecourse (Trabrennbahn) Bahrenfeld ? Stellingen Velodrome (Radrennbahn) Stellingen ? Volksbank Arena Bahrenfeld 900
Dulsberg is the location of one of Germany's largest Olympic Training Centers (Olympiastützpunkt or OSP), while there are also other training facilities in Allermöhe and the wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region.
Sport events Regular sport events
Hamburg hosts equestrian events at Klein Flottbek Derby Park (Deutsches Derby in jumping and dressage) and Horn Racecourse (Deutsches Derby in flat racing).Jack Shinar: Kamsin Easily Wins Deutsches Derby 9 July 2008 news.bloodhorse.com Accessed 11 August 2008 The Berenberg Polo Derby is medium goal polo tournament, hosted by the German Polo Federation. Since 1979 the derby is held almost annually at the Hamburger Polo Club in Klein Flottbek.
The Hamburg Marathon is Germany's largest marathon after Berlin. In 2008, 23,230 participants were registered.IAAF: Mandago, Timofeyeva impress at Hamburg Marathon 27 April 2008 http://www.iaaf.org/ www.iaaf.org] Accessed 11 August 2008
Worldcups in cycling, the UCI ProTour competition Vattenfall Cyclassics, and the ITU Triathlon Worldcup known as Hamburg City Man are also major events in Hamburg.Hamburger Abendblatt: Hamburg City Man 2006 als WM-Generalprobe 2 February 2008 www.abendblatt.de Accessed 11 August 2008 Both events have an all comers´ race.
Event Location Since Deutsches Derby Horn 1869 German Open Tennis Championships Rothenbaum 1892 Berenberg Polo Derby Klein Flottbek 1906 Deutsches Spring- und Dressurderby Klein Flottbek 1920 Hamburg Marathon throughout Hamburg 1986 Hamburg Half Marathon throughout Hamburg 1995 Vattenfall Cyclassics throughout Hamburg 1996 German Masters (curling) Curling Club Hamburg 2012
In 2008 the German Tennis Federation (DTB) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) were divided about the status of the Hamburg Masters tournament as part of the ATP Masters Series.Sophia Pearson: ATP Tour Wants to Monopolize Tennis, Lawyer Says 21 July 2008 www.bloomberg.com Accessed 11 August 2008http://www.dw-world.de: German Tennis Federation Suing to Prevent "Dead Tournament" 23 July 2008 Accessed 11 August 2008
The field hockey Hamburg Masters were held as a four-nation tournament.Official website Accessed 15 August 2008
Other national or international sport events Event Year European Figure Skating Championships 1891 German Gymnastics Festival 1898 German Athletics Championships 1898 German Athletics Championships 1900 German Athletics Championships 1901 German Athletics Championships 1902 German Athletics Championships 1903 World Shooting Championships 1909 German Athletics Championships 1921 Chess Olympiad 1930 Women's World Chess Championship 1930 German Gymnastics Festival 1953 German Athletics Championships 1954 German Badminton Championships 1958 German Athletics Championships 1962 European Karate Championships 1970 Event Year German Athletics Championships 1977 German Swimming Championships 1977 World Fencing Championships 1978 German Athletics Championships 1989 Men's European Volleyball Championship 1991 German Swimming Championships 1991 German Gymnastics Festival 1994 German Swimming Championships 1998 German Swimming Championships 2003 Triathlon World Championships 2007 European Polo Championships 2008 European Beach Volleyball Championships 2008 U17 World Basketball Championships 2010 World Rowing Cup (II) 2011 Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships 2013 Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships 2014
Non professional sport Non professional or recreational sports in clubs is represented by several associations. The Hamburg Sport Federation (Hamburger Sportbund, HSB) is the umbrella organisation for all sports clubs in Hamburg. Existing since 1945, in 2007 the HSB represented 502,571 member in 780 clubs with 53 sports associations. The Association for Gymnastics (Verband für Turnen und Freizeit (VTF) ) has more than 100,000 members, followed by the Association for Football (soccer) (Hamburger Fussballbund (HFB) ). Members of the HFB are among others the Hamburger SV with more than 40,000 and the FC St. Pauli with more than 6,000 members.
There is also a wide array of student and school sport.