BFC Germania 1888
Other teams which were formed before Germania including Berliner Cricket-Club 1883, BFC Frankfurt 1885, and SC Germania zu Hamburg 1887 (one of the predecessor sides which formed SV Hamburg in 1919) were also first organized to play other sports – cricket, rugby, and athletics respectively. Of these three clubs only "Hamburg" is still playing.BFC Germania 1888 has a rich sporting heritage and played an important role in the early development of football in Germany.
Hamburger SV
Soon after, Germany's first professional football league, the Bundesliga, was formed, with HSV one of 16 clubs invited to join that first season. Hamburger SV held the distinction of being the only original Bundesliga side to have played continuously in the top flight – without ever having been relegated – from when the league was formed in 1963, until they were relegated in the 2017–18 season, finishing in 17th place. They had shared that special status with Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern until 1996, and with 1. FC Köln until 1998. Altogether, 49 other sides have come and gone since the league's inception. The Bundesliga celebrated its 40th anniversary on 24 August 2004 with a match between "The Dinosaur", as the club has been affectionately nicknamed due to its old age, and Bayern Munich, the league's most successful side.