The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL), currently known as Opel Handball-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, 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 the new sponsor. , the latest league sponsor is Daikin and the official name has consequently been changed to Daikin Handball-Bundesliga. The winners of the respective season are the official German handball champions. The HBL is headquartered in Dortmund.

History The Bundesliga was introduced with the 1966–67 season and initially operated with two regional sections, North and South. Since 1977 the Bundesliga has operated with a single section first division, currently composed of eighteen clubs. In 1981 a 2. Bundesliga was introduced as a new second division, supplanting the Regionalliga which became the third tier. The 2. Bundesliga used to consist of two (resp. three in the first two years after the German reunification) sections north and south for thirty years. Starting with the 2011–12 season the 2. Bundesliga is run in a single section consisting of twenty teams.

Season The season has 34 game days (or weeks) and is played as a round-robin tournament without playoffs or a final. The season starts in August or September and ends in May.

The first and second-placed teams are entitled to play in the EHF Champions League the following season. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth-placed teams additionally play in the EHF European League. The seedings are subject to change, in case a German team wins the Champions League, the EHF European League or the EHF Cup Winner's Cup because each winner of those tournaments is granted an automatic start in the next year's tournament without taking one of the league's spots. It also can change if the DHB-Pokal Champion takes one of the league spots for the Champions League or the EHF European League.

Relegation and promotion

Until 2011, the two last placed teams would be relegated to the 2. Handball-Bundesliga for the next season, either in its northern or the southern section. The sixteenth placed team used to play in a home and away decider against the winner of the decider between the two-second placed teams of the northern and the southern section of the 2. Bundesliga. The champions of the second divisions received a spot for the Bundesliga automatically.

Since the 2017–18 season, the bottom two teams of the Bundesliga will directly be relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, while the top two teams of the 2. Bundesliga will be directly promoted to the Bundesliga.

Clubs Members of the 2025–26 Handball-Bundesliga.

Team Location Arena Capacity Bergischer HC Wuppertal Uni-Halle 3,200 Füchse Berlin Berlin Max-Schmeling-Halle 9,000 ThSV Eisenach Eisenach Werner-Aßmann-Halle 3,100 HC Erlangen Nuremberg PSD Bank Nürnberg Arena 8,308 SG Flensburg-Handewitt Flensburg GP Joule Arena 6,300 Frisch Auf Göppingen Göppingen EWS Arena 5,600 VfL Gummersbach Gummersbach Schwalbe-Arena 4,132 HSV Hamburg Hamburg Alsterdorfer Sporthalle 7,000 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf Hannover ZAG-ArenaSwiss Life Hall 9,8504,460 THW Kiel Kiel Wunderino Arena 10,285 SC DHfK Leipzig Leipzig Quarterback Immobilien Arena 6,327 TBV Lemgo Lemgo Phoenix-Contact-Arena 4,520 SC Magdeburg Magdeburg GETEC Arena 6,600 MT Melsungen Kassel Rothenbach-Halle 4,500 GWD Minden Minden Kampa-Halle 4,059 Rhein-Neckar Löwen Mannheim SAP Arena 13,200 TVB Stuttgart Stuttgart Porsche-Arena 6,211 HSG Wetzlar Wetzlar Buderus Arena Wetzlar 4,421

Champions The complete list of the German handball champions since 1950.

Season Champion 1949–50 SV Polizei Hamburg 1950–51 SV Polizei Hamburg 1951–52 SV Polizei Hamburg 1952–53 SV Polizei Hamburg 1953–54 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1954–55 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1955–56 Berliner SV 1892 1956–57 THW Kiel 1957–58 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1958–59 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1959–60 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1960–61 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1961–62 THW Kiel 1962–63 THW Kiel 1963–64 Berliner SV 1892 1964–65 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1965–66 VfL Gummersbach 1966–67 VfL Gummersbach 1967–68 SG Leutershausen 1968–69 VfL Gummersbach 1969–70 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1970–71 Grün-Weiß Dankersen 1971–72 Frisch Auf Göppingen 1972–73 VfL Gummersbach 1973–74 VfL Gummersbach 1974–75 VfL Gummersbach 1975–76 VfL Gummersbach 1976–77 Grün-Weiß Dankersen 1977–78 TV Großwallstadt 1978–79 TV Großwallstadt 1979–80 TV Großwallstadt 1980–81 TV Großwallstadt 1981–82 VfL Gummersbach 1982–83 VfL Gummersbach 1983–84 TV Großwallstadt 1984–85 VfL Gummersbach 1985–86 TUSEM Essen 1986–87 TUSEM Essen 1987–88 VfL Gummersbach 1988–89 TUSEM Essen 1989–90 TV Großwallstadt 1990–91 VfL Gummersbach 1991–92 SG Wallau-Massenheim 1992–93 SG Wallau-Massenheim 1993–94 THW Kiel 1994–95 THW Kiel 1995–96 THW Kiel 1996–97 TBV Lemgo 1997–98 THW Kiel 1998–99 THW Kiel 1999–20 THW Kiel 2000–01 SC Magdeburg 2001–02 THW Kiel 2002–03 TBV Lemgo 2003–04 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 2004–05 THW Kiel 2005–06 THW Kiel 2006–07 THW Kiel 2007–08 THW Kiel 2008–09 THW Kiel 2009–10 THW Kiel 2010–11 HSV Hamburg 2011–12 THW Kiel 2012–13 THW Kiel 2013–14 THW Kiel 2014–15 THW Kiel 2015–16 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 2016–17 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 2017–18 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 2018–19 SG Flensburg-Handewitt 2019–20 THW Kiel 2020–21 THW Kiel 2021–22 SC Magdeburg 2022–23 THW Kiel 2023–24 SC Magdeburg 2024–25 Füchse Berlin 2025–26 SC Magdeburg

Total titles won Club Winners YearsTHW Kiel231957, 1962, 1963, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2023VfL Gummersbach121966, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1991Frisch Auf Göppingen91954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1972TV Großwallstadt61978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1990SV Polizei Hamburg41950, 1951, 1952, 1953SC Magdeburg42001, 2022, 2024, 2026SG Flensburg-Handewitt32004, 2018, 2019TUSEM Essen31986, 1987, 1989Rhein-Neckar Löwen22016, 2017TBV Lemgo21997, 2003SG Wallau-Massenheim21992, 1993GWD Minden21971, 1977Berliner SV 1892*21956, 1964HSV Hamburg12011SG Leutershausen11968Füchse Berlin12025

Statistics EHF coefficients

The following data indicates German coefficient rankings between European handball leagues.

Country ranking: EHF League Ranking for 2025/26 season:

1.  (1) Handball-Bundesliga (328.00) 2.  (2) Liga ASOBAL (273.33) 3.  (4) Orlen Superliga (212.66) 4.  (3) LNH Division 1 (206.33) 5.  (6) Herreligaen (202.33)

Club ranking: EHF Club Ranking as of 5 December 2025:

1. SC Magdeburg (708) 3. Füchse Berlin (627) 4. SG Flensburg-Handewitt (552) 7. THW KielSG Flensburg-Handewitt (526) 17. MT Melsungen (276)

See also DHB-Pokal DHB-Supercup Handball-Bundesliga (women) DHB-Pokal (women)

References

External links

Statistics of the HBL