How many teams from below the Bundesliga have competed in Europe?
If Arminia Bielefeld had won the DFB Cup final against VfB Stuttgart, the champions of the 3. Liga would have secured a place in the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League. This possibility raises an interesting question: how many other German clubs from outside the top flight have previously participated in European tournaments?
In Germany, qualification for the main stage of the following season`s Europa League is typically granted to the winner of the domestic cup competition, the DFB Cup, provided they haven`t already qualified through their performance in the league.
Since neither of the finalists in the 2024/25 DFB Cup finished in the top five of the Bundesliga, Arminia Bielefeld would have qualified for Europe by winning the final. However, the match ended with VfB Stuttgart securing their place in the Europa League with a 4-2 victory.
A victory for Arminia would not only have been a historic national trophy for the club but also their first-ever qualification for European competition, culminating a season where they achieved promotion back to Bundesliga 2 as 3. Liga champions. Furthermore, it would have made them just the fifth German club from outside the Bundesliga to play on the European stage.
Let`s take a look at this exclusive group of German clubs from lower divisions who have qualified for European tournaments:
1) Hannover – 1992/93
Hannover was the first German club from a lower league to enter European competition. They achieved this unique feat by becoming the first (and to date, only) team from outside the top flight to win the DFB Cup. Their memorable penalty shootout victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1991/92 final secured their place in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners` Cup, sparking hopes of exciting international fixtures.
However, their European journey proved brief and stayed remarkably local. Hannover was drawn against fellow German side Werder Bremen, who were the competition`s holders. Traveling just over 100 kilometers, Hannover lost the first leg 3-1 to Bremen.
Despite winning the return leg 2-1, it wasn`t sufficient to overturn the deficit. The second-division side`s European dream ended quickly, marked only by a relatively short trip up the autobahn.
2) Kaiserslautern – 1996/97
Kaiserslautern became the next lower-league team to qualify for Europe a few years later, in the 1996/97 season. Unlike the potential jubilation for Bielefeld, their qualification came under mixed circumstances. Lautern won their second DFB Cup thanks to Martin Wagner`s decisive free-kick against Karlsruhe, but were simultaneously relegated from the Bundesliga that same season.
Consequently, the Red Devils entered the 1997/98 UEFA Cup Winners` Cup as a Bundesliga 2 team. Coach Otto Rehhagel faced the immediate challenge of managing European demands alongside a second-division budget. Their draw against Red Star Belgrade, the first Eastern European winners of the European Cup just six years prior, presented a formidable early test.
Initially, they performed well. A 1-0 home victory in the first leg at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion offered hope of advancing. However, in the return leg in Belgrade, Dejan Stanković`s goal shortly after halftime forced the match into extra time. Three additional goals by the Serbian side before the final whistle ended Kaiserslautern`s European aspirations.
Looking back, the early European exit wasn`t entirely negative. Being able to concentrate on their league campaign, Rehhagel`s team dominated Bundesliga 2 and incredibly went on to win the Bundesliga title in 1997/98 during their first season back in the top flight – a unique achievement as the only promoted team ever to become German champions.
3) Union Berlin – 2001/02
Union Berlin continued this trend five seasons after Kaiserslautern. The capital club reached the DFB Cup final in the same season they were promoted to Bundesliga 2 as champions of the Regionalliga Nord. Despite losing the final 2-0 to Schalke, Schalke had already secured a spot in the UEFA Champions League with a dramatic second-place finish in the Bundesliga. According to the rules then, the spot in the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) passed to the cup runners-up.
Union progressed further than the previous two teams, securing a 4-1 aggregate victory over Finnish club Haka in the first round, highlighted by a 3-0 home win in Berlin. However, their run ended in the second round. Bulgarian side Litex Lovech defeated them 2-0 in Berlin in the first leg, and a 0-0 draw in the return leg in Bulgaria extinguished Union`s European adventure for that season.
Since then, `Die Eisernen` (The Iron Ones) have frequently returned to European competition following their promotion to the Bundesliga in 2019/20, featuring in the UEFA Conference League, Europa League, and even the Champions League.
4) Alemannia Aachen – 2004/05
Finally, Alemannia Aachen qualified for the UEFA Cup in the 2004/05 season as DFB Cup runners-up from 2003/04 (as winners Werder Bremen were in the Champions League). They played the most European matches of any lower-league German club, partly due to the format change introducing a group stage. Then a Bundesliga 2 team coached by Dieter Hecking, Aachen represented Germany admirably.
A convincing 5-1 aggregate victory over Icelandic side FH (5-1 away, 0-0 home) sent Aachen to the group stage. There, they achieved notable results: a 1-0 win against Lille, a 2-0 loss away to eventual winners Sevilla, a 2-0 win in Greece against AEK Athens, and a 2-2 home draw with Zenit St. Petersburg. Finishing third in the group, they advanced to the Round of 32 to face Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.
After a 0-0 draw in the home first leg, Aachen were well-placed for a place in the Round of 16 when Dutch forward Erik Meijer gave them the lead in the first half of the away leg. However, Alkmaar equalized, and then, after Aachen right-back Thomas Stehle received a second yellow card, Alkmaar scored the winning goal, ending Alemannia`s European run.
While their European efforts impacted their domestic results somewhat, Hecking and his team recovered the following season (2005/06), securing second place in Bundesliga 2. This earned the club promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history – their only top-flight season to date.
