Rugby union in Germany
Rugby union in Germany is a minor sport, but one with a surprisingly long pedigree, as German rugby predates most other international teams.
History
Rugby union reached Germany through affluent British students, who attended renowned private grammar schools in the German Confederation or studied in Heidelberg, others completed their military service in Hanover and played rugby in their spare time. This has influenced German rugby to this day: Heidelberg and Hanover are the centres of the sport in Germany.
The first German rugby team existed at Neuenheim College - now called Heidelberg College - in Heidelberg. Around 1850, the game started to attract the attention of the students. Students under the guidance of the teacher Edward Hill Ullrich were the ones who then founded the Heidelberger Ruderklub von 1872 (HRK 1872) in 1872, which is today the oldest German rugby club.
The German Rugby Federation was set up in 1900. Germany was Olympic silver medallist in rugby union in 1900 and beat France twice in the 1930s.
The Nazis barely tolerated rugby as it was too English a sport [citation needed]. As a result it lost its financial support and much of the popularity it had gained in the western and northern cities of Heidelberg, Hanover and Frankfurt. The sport was decimated by World War II as most of the players were killed.
After the Second World War, the DRV was restored on May 14 1950 in West Germany. But even rugby was not immune to the Cold War split, one Burt Weiss, an East German rugby player escaped to West Berlin using a snorkel.[1]
Governing body
The German Rugby Federation (German: Deutscher Rugby-Verband or DRV) is the governing body for rugby union in Germany. There are 12 regional unions (Landesverbände).
The DRV is foundation member of FIRA - Association of European Rugby (1934), and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1999. Moreover, it is member of the German Olympic Sport Federation (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund).
National team
The Germany national rugby union team is a third-tier rugby union team. They first played in 1927 and have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
After the partition East and West Germany fielded separate teams. Naturally, this ended when the two states unified.
National League
There are currently eight teams in Rugby-Bundesliga, the national league, these are:
- Berliner RC
- Heidelberger RK
- RG Heidelberg
- DRC Hannover
- RK Heusenstamm
- SC Neuenheim
- TSV Handschuhsheim
- SC Frankfurt
Popularity
There are 99 rugby union clubs and about 10,000 players in Germany,
Rugby union has a small but dedicated following in several university cities.
German players occasionally break through into French or English clubs, such as Robert Mohr at La Rochelle or Sacha Fischer at Perigueux.