Bundesliga club-by-club historical guide: Hoffenheim
From Dietmar Hopp's stewardship to Julian Nagelsmann's tactical innovations and beyond, Hoffenheim have become a Bundesliga force since racing up the division to win promotion in 2008.
bundesliga.com is taking you through all the teams to have graced Germany’s first division over the last 60 years – based on the number of seasons they’ve played up to and including 2023/24.
TSG Hoffenheim 1899
Years in Bundesliga: 16 (2008-present)
Most appearances: Oliver Baumann (296)
Most goals: Andrej Kramaric (100)
Youngest player: Tom Bischof (16 years, eight months, 19 days)
Like many modern football clubs in Germany, Hoffenheim were created as a gymnastics club - a Turnverein - in 1899 in the eponymous district of the city of Sinsheim. Football became a part of life later on and TSG were at the very bottom of the pyramid after World War II. Things changed at the club after relegation to the eighth tier in 1989 when local business man and former striker for the team Dietmar Hopp decided to invest. Four promotions followed up to 2000 when former Bayern Munich and Cologne midfielder Hansi Flick was appointed as coach after promotion to the fourth-tier Oberliga. He guided them to a second successive promotion up to the Regionalliga and would establish the side there over the next four-and-a-half years.
The next big moment in Hoffenheim’s history was the 2006 appointment of ex-VfB Stuttgart, Hannover and Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick. He secured promotion from the third tier at the first attempt and, with a team led by African strike duo Demba Ba and Chinedu Obasi, made it back-to-back promotions as TSG reached the Bundesliga in 2008 after only one year in the second division. The rise didn't stop there, as the top-flight newcomers shocked the Bundesliga by claiming top spot at the midpoint of their maiden campaign. Germany coach Joachim Löw was so impressed that he made defender Marvin Compper the first Hoffenheim player ever to represent the national team in November 2008.
The Sinsheimers have since established themselves as a Bundesliga side and a club built on innovation and bold decisions. Hopp's position as the founder of software company SAP meant technological advances were commonplace at the club's training ground, such as with the Footbonaut and giant screens to allow quick analysis of training. The 2016 appointment of Julian Nagelsmann - the youngest permanent head coach in Bundesliga history at 28 - also proved a masterstroke, taking the side from relegation strugglers to European qualifiers with fourth and third-place finishes in his first two full seasons.
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Sinsheim may be the smallest city to play host to Bundesliga football, but Hoffenheim has put it on the domestic and European footballing map. The club is also a founder of 'Sports for Future', which promotes the battle against climate change within sport. It's PreZero Arena home, first opened in 2009, has been at the heart of the club's sustainability campaigns, with the ground becoming the first stadium in Europe to receive bronze zero-waste status from TÜV Süd.
