10 Biggest Rivalries In German Football
5. Karlsruher vs Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg Derby)
The Baden-Württemberg-Derby between VfB Stuttgart and Karlsruher SC is the biggest game for both clubs. In this derby, old Badenese-Württembergian animosities are played out.
The rivalry between Karlsruhe and Stuttgart is location-specific, both cities separate almost 75km, in the middle of the two cities is Pforzheim, a city in which there are fans of both teams.
4. FC Koln (Cologne) vs Borussia Monchengladbach (Rhine derby)
Rhine derby took a little while to get going but, once lit, it has since burned as hot as any in Germany. While Cologne were cruising to the inaugural Bundesliga title, one of the club’s favourite sons, Hennes Weisweiler, took charge of second-division Gladbach.
The former Cologne player and coach, for whom their famous goat mascot Hennes VIII is named, guided his new club into the Bundesliga, where they experienced great success and built the foundation of what grew into one of Germany’s premier clubs.
Meanwhile, the Billy Goats stagnated and failed to live up to the expectation of dominating the region as the big-city club. By the time player-coach Günter Netzer scored the game-winning goal for Gladbach against Cologne in the 1973 DFB Cup final, the animus between the two sets of fans had become a permanent fixture of any meeting between them.
3. Hamburger vs Werder Bremen (Nord derby)
The Nordderby is the rivalry between Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen, the two most successful and popular clubs in Northern Germany. Beyond football, there is also a rivalry between the cities of Hamburg and Bremen, which are only separated by a hundred kilometres and they are also the two biggest metropolises in this part of the country.
Since their first meeting in a preliminary round of the North German championship, these teams have played 154 competitive matches. HSV has 53 of those matches, while Werder Bremen has won 58. It is undoubtedly, one of the biggest rivalries in German football.