Altonaer FC von 1893
"Altona" is one of Germany's oldest football clubs: they were part of the Altona-Hamburg football league formed in 1894, as well as one of the founding clubs of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund or German Football Association) at Leipzig in 1900. In 1903 at their home ground, they hosted the first-ever German national championship final played between "VfB Leipzig" and "DFC Prague". The match was refereed by "AFC" player Franz Behr, who also served as the vice-chairman of the newly formed DFB until 1904. The club rescued the match by providing a new ball when the original one proved to be unsuitable for play. The hosts of the country's first title match never won or even played in a national final, being able to advance only as far as the semi-finals in 1903 and 1909, and the quarter-finals in 1914.
SC Germania Hamburg
The northern German associations joined to form the Northern German Football Association, the "Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband" in 1905. In that period many players left Germania, which forthwith was in decline and eventually was relegated in 1912. After the outbreak of World War I Germania, like all other clubs, had a shortage of players and in order to be able to field teams entered into temporary associations with "SV Uhlenhorst-Hertha" and SC Concordia.
After the end of the war the club could not revive its fortunes and merged on 2 June 1919 with "Hamburger SV von 1888", Northern German champions of that year, to form today's Hamburger SV, seven times German champions and European Cup of Champions' winner of 1982. Hamburger SV carries 1887 as its official year of foundation. The club colours were the Hanseatic red and white in honour of the City of Hamburg, with the blue and black of the oldest of the founding clubs, Germania, being used on the team badge. It is through Germania that HSV can lay a claim to being the German football club tracing back the furthest.