Hansa Rostock

Traditional club from the port city of Rostock in northeastern Germany, and one of the most popular teams in the former territory of East Germany. It was the only East German club to establish itself for consecutive seasons in the Bundesliga after the country's reunification.

History

Founded in 1965 as heir to BSG Empor Rostock, the club came to represent the Baltic Sea region during the East German period (GDR), becoming one of the most traditional teams in regional football. In 1991, Hansa Rostock was the last champion of the DDR-Oberliga, the former national championship of East Germany, shortly before German reunification and the merger of national championships. Now in reunified Germany, the club competed in the Bundesliga between the mid-1990s and 2005, a period in which it was, for many years, the only regular representative of East Germany in the elite of national football, highlighted by the runner-up finish in the German Cup in 2003. In the following decades, the club alternated between the 2. Bundesliga and the 3. Liga, maintaining one of the most fervent fan bases in German football, with the Ostseestadion frequently packed even in lower divisions of national football.