KSV Hessen Kassel is a semi-professional German football club based in Kassel, Hesse. KSV competes in the German Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football. Nicknamed "Die Löwen" (the lions), the club was founded as FC Union 93 Kassel in 1893. A series of mergers, insolvency and re-starts led to the club known today being re-formed on 3 February 1998. The club's colours are red and white and their home ground since 1953 has been the Auestadion, located in the southwest of the city of Kassel next to the historic Karlsaue park.
History The club was founded as FC Union 93 Kassel in 1893 and just two years later joined FC Hassia 93 Cassel to form Casseler FV 95. In 1919, fusion with VfK Kassel created SV Kurhessen Kassel. It was as Kurhessen that the club joined the Gauliga Hessen, one of sixteen top flight divisions established in the re-organization of German football in 1933 under the Third Reich. They were relegated at the end of the 1935–36 season and made their way back in 1938, but continued to perform poorly, narrowly missing relegation in subsequent seasons. They earned their best result in 1942 in the newly formed Gauliga Kurhessen, finishing just two points shy of division winners 1. SV Borussia 04 Fulda. In 1944, they joined CSC 03 Kassel to form the combined wartime side KSG SV Kurhessen/CSC 03 Kassel and again finished two points behind the division leaders, this time in third place on goal difference. The Gauliga Kurhessen was re-organized into three groups for the following season, and the club was assigned to the Gruppe Kassel, but the region was overtaken by World War II, bringing a stop to league play.
After the war, SVKK was one of a number of clubs merged to form the Gründung der Sportgruppe Süd, an association active in a number of sports. This club became VfL Kassel in 1946, and finally, merged with Kasseler SV Kassel in November 1947 to become today's KSV Hessen Kassel.
Kassel quickly established themselves as a stolid, but largely unremarked, second-tier side. They played their way into what was at the time the first tier Oberliga Süd and then found themselves in the Regionalliga Süd (II) after the formation in 1963 of Germany's new premier level professional league, the Bundesliga. A first place Regionalliga finish in 1964 saw them compete unsuccessfully in the promotion rounds for the Bundesliga . The club continued to play tier II ball until the mid 70s when their performance dropped them to Amateur Oberliga Hessen (III) until the start of the next decade brought an advance to the 2. Bundesliga. Through the 80s, the team flirted with promotion to the senior circuit, but could never quite put themselves over the top. In 1985 the club just missed being promoted: a loss to Nurenburg (0–2) in the last game of the season against wins by three other clubs in the hunt saw Kassel left behind.
Those runs at the Bundesliga in the 80s, alongside an advance to the quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal in 1991, represent the apex of the team's achievement. The club was bankrupted in 1993 and the football side set off on its own as FC Hessen Kassel. They too had financial problems and in 1998 also found themselves bankrupt, but this time plunged all the way down to Kreisliga Hessen A (VIII). Kassel began their recovery by going unbeaten over the course of the next two seasons and advanced to the Oberliga Hessen (IV) which they won in 2005–06 to earn a promotion to the Regionalliga (III). In 2007–08, they failed to qualify for the new 3. Liga, remaining in the Regionaliga Süd, now tier four. They came close to promotion once more in 2010–11 but narrowly failed finishing third.
At the end of the 2011–12 season the club was grouped into the new Regionalliga Südwest, which replaced the Regionalliga Süd in the region. In 2012–13 the club won the inaugural championship of the new league and qualified for the promotion play-off to the 3. Liga.
Die Löwen lost their play-off tie for promotion to the 3. Liga over two legs to Holstein Kiel who finished the 2012–13 season as champions of Regionalliga Nord. Kassel lost the first game of the tie away at the Holstein-Stadion in Kiel 2–0. In the return leg in Kassel, the club lost 2–1 at the Auestadion in front of 17,000 fans. The following season the club was not able to challenge for the championship, only finishing 13th.
Players Current squad
Out on loan
Reserve team
The club's reserve team, KSV Hessen Kassel II, has played in the Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord since 2009. The team's greatest success has been to win the Hesse Cup in 1961 and finish runners-up in the Amateurliga Hessen in 1968.
International footballers Below is a list of former and current international footballers who have played at least 1 match for a FIFA recognised country at senior or U21 level while contracted to the club.
Player Country Caps Goals Active Gustav Hensel Germany 1 0 1908 Heinrich 'Heini' Weber Germany 12 0 1928–31 Karl-Heinz Metzner West Germany 2 0 1952–53 Dieter Hecking West Germany U21 12 8 1985–86 Harez Arian Habib Afghanistan 13 4 2007–12 Alban Meha Albania/Kosovo 9 2 2005–2024 Faton Xhemaili Albania U211 0 2018–present
Staff Current staff
For 2024/25 season Role Staff Head coach René Klingbeil Assistant coach Sebastian Busch Assistant coach Mirko Dickhaut Goalkeeper coach Christoph Wiegand Goalkeeper coach Michael Gibhardt Role Staff Director of football Jörg Müller Team manager Michael Voss Team official Alfred Gäßler Kit manager Uwe Heller Role Staff Club doctor Thomas Krause Club doctor Markus Schott Physiotherapist Christian Bielert Physiotherapist Nina Klaus
Club managers All managers of the club since 1946:KSV Hessen Kassel Trainer von A-Z weltfussball.de, accessed: 7 December 2011
Manager Term Fritz Kleim 1946–1947 Ernst Paulus 1947–1949 Karl Höger 1949–1950 Lothar Schröder 1950–1952 Rudi Gellesch 1952–1955 Walter Koch 1955–1956 Hans Carl 1956–1958 Jupp Kratz 1958–1960 Willibald Hahn 1960–1962 Walter Müller 1962–1964 Herbert Widmayer 1964–1966 Toni Hellwig 1966–1968 Willy Kurrat 1968–1969 Heinz Baas 1969–1971 Toni Hellwig 1971 Hans-Wilhelm Loßmann 1971–1972 Toni Hellwig 1972–1973 Heinz Baas 1973–1974 Klaus Kuhnert 1974 Robert Gebhardt 1974–1976 Manager Term Walter Müller 1976 Gyula Tóth 1976–1978 Rudi Kröner 1978–1982 Timo Konietzka 1982–1983 Jörg Berger 1983–1986 Rudi Kröner 1986 Jürgen Nehme 1986 Elmar Müller 1986 Werner Biskup 1987 Holger Brück 1987 Franz Brungs 1987–1989 Lorenz-Günther Köstner 1989–1990 Hans-Ulrich Thomale 1990–1992 Karl-Heinz Wolf 1992–1993 Franz Brungs 1993–1995 Holger Brück 1995–1996 Hans-Jürgen Gede 1996 Hans-Werner Moors 1997 Horst Schmidt 1997 Jörg Müller 1998–2000 Manager Term Holger Brück 2000–2001 Terry Scott 2001 Holger Brück 2001 Oliver Roggensack 2001–2003 Thomas Freudenstein 2003–2004 Hans-Ulrich Thomale 2004 Bernd Sturm 2004–2005 Matthias Hamann 2005–2008 Mirko Dickhaut 2008–2011 Christian Hock 2011 Holger Brück 2011 Uwe Wolf 2012–2013 Jörn Großkopf 2013 Sven Hoffmeister 2013 Matthias Mink 2014–2016 Tobias Cramer 2016–2019 Dietmar Hirsch 2019 Tobias Damm 2019–2023 Alexander Kiene 2023–2024 André Schubert 2024 René Klingbeil 2024–Present Notes:
Club identity Supporters
KSV Hessen Kassel has a number of organised and un-organised fan groups, ultras and blocks. Most notably, Block 30, Huddich Bande Ultras and Block 36.
Named after the block affiliated members meet and watch KSV in the Auestadion, Block 30 is organised and represents an array of different kinds of fans. Its purpose is to support KSV Hessen Kassel, promote German football supporter culture and connect with other supporter groups in Germany on important regional football issues. In March 2019 it joined with twelve other clubs ranging from 3.Liga (III) to Oberliga (V) level to establish a working group to determine a unified position and list of recommendations to take to the DFB on proposed reforms to the regional football structure in Germany.
Block 36 is a group of KSV Hessen Kassel fans and the group is not a formal organization hence it includes both members of established fan clubs and independent fans. The club is managed with transparency and a focus on mutual respect. The group's goal is for KSV Hessen Kassel to return to a professional league level in Germany while maintaining its identity as a regional football club.
Since 2008 there has been an unofficial friendship formed between Kassel's Block 30 and Huddich Bande Ultras and Holstein Kiel’s supporter group Block 501. In 2018, to celebrate ten years of friendship, the two sets of fans combined and attended one KSV Hessen Kassel match and one Holstein Kiel match together. They dubbed the weekend the brothers for life celebration.
Facilities
KSV Hessen Kassel's current home ground is the 18,737 capacity Auestadion. The stadium has predominantly been the club's home ground since being built in 1953. Hessen Kassel inaugurated Auestadion on the stadium's opening on 23 August 1953. KSV played a football match against Bavarian team Viktoria Aschaffenburg in front of 20,000 spectators. Kassel lost the match two goals to one. The Auestadion is a multi-purpose facility with a 106 × 65 m football pitch located in the middle of a full athletic running track. The stadium has 8,700 seats and terracing that can accommodate for a little over 10,000 spectators standing. Auestadion has had three major renovations since being built, the last being a new grandstand, forecourt and video wall constructed between 2009 and 2011. The ground is located in the Southwest of the city near the historic Karlsaue park and Eissporthalle Kassel ice sports stadium. It can be reached by both local and regional Kassel tram lines: 5, 6 and RT5.
KSV Hessen Kassel holds the attendance record for the Auestadion. The official record stands at 37,000 attendance at the 1964 Bundesliga promotion play-off match between KSV Hessen Kassel and Hannover 96. Kassel lost to the match 2–1. There was however a report of 40,000 people attending a DFB-Pokal match in January 1965 at the stadium. KSV played Bundesliga club Hamburger SV (HSV, Hamburg) and lost 2–0 with goals to Uwe Seeler (12th minute) and Charly Dörfel (57th minute). The official crowd number was 33,000 but Kassel police reported there was 40,000 spectators in attendance. The number of fans buckled the railings in the standing areas. Children were passed down onto the playing ground to ensure their safety. The right hand side gate of the grandstand was pushed down and fans flooded into the playing area. The stewards and the police were powerless, and spectators were standing all around the corner flags. The referee, Wilfried Hilker, delayed the start of the match so authorities could regain control and push the fans back from the edge of the field but eventually he got the match underway when it became apparent this was impossible to do.
Prior to the Auestadion construction in the 1950s, KSV played at the A-Platz. Known officially as the Kurhessen sports facility, the A-Platz was inaugurated in 1922 with a capacity of 16,000 spectators. The A-Platz was demolished after the completion of the Auestadion.
Following the club's insolvency in 1998 and relegation from the third division to the eighth division, KSV relocated to one of the outfields within the Auestadion precinct. The G-Platz had a capacity of 2,000 spectators and was affectionately known as the “lion cage” by the Hessen Kassel fans.
Other sporting departments