September 29, 1887 is a very special date for Hamburg sports. On that Thursday, SC Germania was founded in the Hanseatic city. Germania then merged with Hamburger FC and FC Falke in 1919 Hamburger SV.
This Saturday the “Rothosen” are facing a historic milestone: the home game against 1. FC Union Berlin (3:30 p.m./Dyn) will be the 1,887th. HSV’s game in the Bundesliga.
The Bundesliga numbers
Hamburger SV played its first Bundesliga game on August 24, 1963. Club icon Charly Dörfel saved a 1-1 draw at Preußen Münster with his goal in the 86th minute. A further 501 draws, 751 wins and 633 defeats followed.
The highest success came on February 12, 1966 with an 8-0 win against Karlsruher SC. The highest-scoring draws were 4:4 against Borussia Dortmund (January 15, 1977) and against VfL Wolfsburg (March 3 and September 23, 2000). The worst bankruptcies occurred in Munich. The score was 2:9 against TSV 1860 on March 7, 1964 and against FC Bayern on March 30, 2013. There were also two 0-8 defeats against the record champions (February 14, 2015 and February 25, 2017).
The longest series
In April and May 1979, seven victories in a row were celebrated. Fortuna Düsseldorf, Eintracht Braunschweig, Borussia Dortmund, MSV Duisburg, 1. FC Köln, Schalke 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt. Between December 2013 and mid-February 2014, there were seven bankruptcies in a row. 36 games with 20 wins and 16 draws marked the longest unbeaten streak between January 1982 and January 1983.
The ups and downs
HSV became German champions as a Bundesliga team three times – in 1979, 1982 and 1983. The remaining titles (1960, 1928 and 1923) were won before the upper house was founded. At the end of the 2017/18 season, the Hanseatic League became the last founding member of the Bundesliga to be relegated for the first time. After seven years in the second division, the longed-for promotion was achieved in 2025.
The Record Player
With 137 goals, club legend Uwe Seeler, who died in 2022, is HSV’s most successful Bundesliga goalscorer. Manfred Kaltz has made the most appearances in Germany’s top division. The now 73-year-old wore the jersey with the diamond on the chest in 581 first division games.
The favorite, fearful and permanent opponents
By far the most HSV wins were against VfB Stuttgart (45), followed by Eintracht Frankfurt (41) as well as Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (40 each). HSV suffered most of its defeats against FC Bayern (66). HSV most often drew against Werder Bremen. 35 duels with the northern rivals found no winner. Werder is also the most frequent Bundesliga opponent with 109 games so far.
The most common placement
After 1,886 Bundesliga matchdays, Hamburger SV has been in third place 160 times. After all, it was the league lead 115 times. The Hanseatic League was only at the bottom of the table 38 times.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:260214-930-685769/1
date: 2026-02-14 16:52:00
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