Holstein Kiel

Holstein Kiel is a German club founded in 1900, based in Kiel, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Dominant in northern Germany in the 1910s and 1920s, it reached the Bundesliga for the first time in its history in the 2024-25 season.

History

Holstein Kiel resulted from the merger, on June 7, 1917, between Kieler Fußball-Verein von 1900 and Kieler Fußball-Club Holstein, both already active since the early twentieth century in the port city of Kiel. In the 1910s and 1920s, the club was a dominant force in northern German football, winning several regional titles. The highlight of that era came in the German championship playoffs: in 1926 the club reached the national semifinal, losing to SpVgg Greuther Fürth, and in 1930 reached the final, lost 5-4 to Hertha Berlin, one of the most remembered matches in the club's history. With the creation of the Bundesliga in 1963, Holstein Kiel was placed in the second regional division (Regionalliga Nord) and spent decades competing in the lower tiers of German football, without returning to the national elite. On May 11, 2024, after a 1-1 draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf, the club secured, for the first time in more than a century of existence, promotion to the Bundesliga. The stay in the elite lasted only one season: Holstein Kiel finished the 2024-25 Bundesliga in 17th and last place, with 25 points, being relegated back to 2. Bundesliga on May 10, 2025.