BFC Germania 1888
BFC Germania 1888 was part of the country's first football league, the BDF (Bund Deutscher Fußballspieler or Federation of German Football Players) which was formed in November 1890 and was active until February 1892. The league was made up of the Berlin-based clubs BFC Vorwärts 1890, BFC Askania 1890, BFC Borussia 1890, BFC Concordia 1890, BFC Hellas 1890, BFC Tasmania 1890 and BFC Teutonia 1891. Germania emerged the winner in a tournament staged by the league, and as the DBF was the only football league in the country at the time, can lay claim to being Germany's first champion. Club records indicate that "BFC" then defended their title, but no supporting evidence has been found.
History of German football
Since the launch of the Bundesliga on 24 August 1963 fifty-five clubs have played in the league ranks. To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the league, two clubs with distinguished Bundesliga histories met in a game on 24 August 2003: Hamburger SV, once known as the "dinosaur" for being the only club which has played in every season of the league's existence until relegation in 2018, and Bayern Munich, the most successful side in German football, which had just won their seventeenth Bundesliga title.