SportinGermany is an important part ofGerman culture and their society.In 2006 about 28 million people were members of the more than 87.000sport clubs in Germany. Almost all sports clubs are represented by theGerman Olympic Sports Federation.
In several sports, both individual and team,Germany has good representation and many success stories. The most popular sport in Germany isfootball.[1] Germany'snational football team is one of the world's most successful teams with fourFIFA World Cup victories (1954,1974,1990 and2014) and threeUEFA Euro victories (1972,1980 and1996).[2] German clubs have won 32 major European trophies, making Germany thefourth most successful country in European football. Germany's top-flight club football league is namedBundesliga and is followed by millions of fans around the world.[3]
Other popular team sports in Germany includebasketball,tennis,motorsport andhandball.[4] Germany'smale andfemale national handball teams are often featured among the world's best, while theHandball-Bundesliga is seen as one of the elite leagues of Europe.[5][6][7][8] TheGerman national basketball team's best results were gold in1993, silver in2005, and bronze in2022. Germany have made seven appearances at theFIBA World Cup, winning gold in2023, and bronze in2002. At theOlympic Games, in Germany's seven appearances, their top performance is their fourth place finish in2024. TheBasketball Bundesliga is widely considered one of the most competitive in Europe.[9]
Germany has a long and successful tradition in individual sports as well.Tennis has a long history in the country with a German,Gottfried von Cramm, being the first non American, British, Australian or FrenchGrand Slam tournament singles winner,[10] along withfencing,shooting andboxing.Winter sports are also widespread in Germany, and the country is a popular international skiing destination, known for its ski resorts.[11] German skiers achieved good results inWinter Olympic Games andAlpine Ski World Cup, while German athletes won the most gold medals at the Olympics inBiathlon.Motorsports is also extremely popular in Germany with racing teams likeMercedes andAudi and race drivers likeMichael Schumacher andSebastian Vettel.
Historically, Germany has been very successful in theOlympic Games, taking part from thefirst Olympiad and most Games out of 48.[12]German athletes have won 1,419 medals at theSummer Olympic Games, and another 435 at theWinter Olympic Games, for a combined total of 1,854 medals, which makes them thesecond most successful nation in Olympic history for total medals. The country hosted one Winter Olympics, in1936, and two Summer Olympics, in1936 and1972.
This list was published byGerman Olympic Sports Confederation in 2023.[13]
| # | Sport | Participants | National teams | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Football (includingfutsal) | 7,364,775 | Germany national football team Germany women's national football team Futsal | Football in Germany |
| 2 | Gymnastics (includingphysical education) | 4,785,707 | ||
| 3 | Tennis | 1,475,131 | Davis Cup team Fed Cup team | Tennis in Germany |
| 4 | German Alpine Club | 1,406,952 | ||
| 5 | German Shooting and Archery Federation | 1,319,794 | ||
| 6 | German Athletics Association (includingroad running) | 775,733 | Athletics in Germany | |
| 7 | German Handball Association | 736,736 | Germany men's national handball team Germany women's national handball team | Handball in Germany |
| 8 | Golf | 682,942 | ||
| 9 | German Equestrian Federation | 663,145 | ||
| 10 | German Life Saving Association | 578,834 |
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn known asTurnvater Jahn (father of gymnastics) was born in 1778 and worked as an assistant teacher in Berlin. At Berlin's Hasenheide Friedrich Ludwig Jahn opened the first German gymnastics field ('Turnplatz'), or open-air gymnasium, in spring 1811. His activities were particularly pointed at the youth, with whom he went to the gym field in free afternoons. The German gymnastics, understood by Jahn as a whole of the physical exercises.
Jahn developed well-known gymnastic equipment, invented also new apparatuses. Jahn invented theparallel bars,rings,high bar, thepommel horse and thevault horse. Particularly by his main writing "Die Deutsche Turnkunst" (1816) the apparatus gymnastics developed to an independent kind of sport, and so the gym activities were not only limited to simple physical exercises, which he quoted as following: "Going, running, jumping, throwing, carrying are free exercises, everywhere applicable, as free as fresh air."
Jahn'sTurners movement, first realized atVolkspark Hasenheide in Berlin in 1811, was the origin of the modernsports clubs.[14]
With the national gymnastics festivals in Coburg in 1860, in Berlin in 1861 and in Leipzig in 1863, the memory of Jahn's ideas returned into the people's consciousness. The inscription at the gable of his house "Frisch, Fromm, Fröhlich, Frei", translated as 'fresh, pious, cheerful, free", which originated in Jahn's time, became the basic idea of the German gymnastics movement.
In 1934, the Nazi government founded theDeutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, later theNationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, as the official sports governing body of the Third Reich. All other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were coopted into it. The organization was disbanded in 1945 by the American military government.
In theall-time Olympic Games medal count through 2022 Germany ranks fourth,East Germany fifteenth andWest Germany twenty-third. If all the medals are combined Germany ranks second.If only winter olympic medals count, from all German states (East, West, united team and united Germany), it is the nation with the most medals.
Germany has hosted theSummer Olympic Games twice, in Berlin in1936 and inMunich in1972. Germany hosted theWinter Olympic Games in1936 when they were staged in theBavarian twin towns ofGarmisch andPartenkirchen.
Germany claimed the most, if not, gold medals and the most total medals during the 1992, 1998, 2002 and2006 Winter Olympics inTurin.East Germany claimed the most gold medals at1984 Winter Olympics.
Association football is the most popular sport in Germany.[15] With a total of 26,000 clubs and 178,000 teams, German football is financed by means of state funding and state contributions, voluntary service, private sponsors and membership fees.
TheDresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany and probably the first in continental Europe.[16][17] Germany's top flight in football is theBundesliga, which has the highestaverage attendances of any soccer league in the world; among all professional sports leagues, its average attendance is second only toAmerican football'sNFL. German clubs have won 32 major European trophies, making Germany thefourth most successful country in European football. As of the 2023-24 season, the Bundesliga is placed fourth inUEFArankings, which are based on the performance of clubs in theUEFA Champions League and theUEFA Europa League.[18][19]
Like in most European countries, football in Germany is the number one attended and practised sport. Besides the national league system, theFIFA World Cup andUEFA European Championship have much attention among its population.
FC Bayern Munich (German:FC Bayern München) is the most successful German football club, with 30 national championships, 20DFB-Pokals, and 6 European championships (threeEuropean Cups and three Champions Leagues) to its credit, as well as oneUEFA Cup, oneEuropean Cup Winners' Cup, twoUEFA Super Cups, twoFIFA Club World Cups and twoIntercontinental Cups, making itone of the most successful European clubs internationally.
TheGermany national soccer team is one of the traditional powers of international football. It won theFIFA World Cup in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014, being the joint-second most successful nation in the tournament only surpassed byBrazil, and theUEFA European Championship in 1972 and 1980 as West Germany hosted theUEFA Euro 1988 and in 1996 as Germany, a record (tied withSpain). The country will also host the upcomingUEFA Euro 2024. They also won theFIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.Miroslav Klose is the leading goal scorer for the national team with 71 goals and in the world cup with 16, but his fame is eclipsed by that ofFranz Beckenbauer who is one of the few men in the world who have won the World Cup both as a coach and a player. Other famous German players includeFritz Walter,Gerd Müller,Rudi Völler,Jürgen Klinsmann,Oliver Kahn,Bastian Schweinsteiger,Philipp Lahm,Manuel Neuer andThomas Müller. Germany also hosted the World Cup in1974, which they won, and2006, finishing third in 2006 after losing a close semi-final contest to eventual winnersItaly. East Germany won gold at the1976 Summer Olympics.
Thewomen's national team is also a world power, with its wins of theFIFA Women's World Cup in 2003 and 2007 and a record eightUEFA European Women's Championships (1989,1991,1995,1997,2001,2005,2009,2013), as well as a gold medal in theSummer Olympics in2016. They also hosted the1989,1995 and2001 UEFA European Women's Championship, and the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Germany is the only nation to win both the men's and women's competitions in the World Cups, European titles and Olympic Games gold.[20] No country has more combined men's and women's World Cup championships, and only theUnited States has won more combined men's and women's regional/continental championships (United States 12 in CONCACAF, Germany 11 in UEFA).
Germany is among the most successful nations at theEuropean Athletics Championships, theWorld Athletics Championships and at theAthletics at the Summer Olympics.
Among the most successful athletes areMalaika Mihambo,Franka Dietzsch,Robert Harting,Lars Riedel andArmin Hary.
Germany leads the medal tables of theOlympic Games, theFEI World Equestrian Games,European Dressage Championships and theEuropean Show Jumping Championships.
Among the most successful athletes areIsabell Werth,Reiner Klimke andHans Günter Winkler.
The CHIO Aachen is the biggest Equestrian sporting event in the world.[21]
Germany together withDenmark is regarded as the birthplace ofhandball. The first match of the modern era was officially recorded on 29 October 1917 in Berlin, Germany.Carl Schelenz is credited developing most rules of modern handball. Outdoor Handball had its only Olympic Games appearance in the1936 Berlin Olympics. The first international match recorded was played on 3 September 1925 between Germany and Austria.
Handball is widely regarded to be the second most popular team sport in Germany and when a study conducted by Repucom asked people which sport besides football they preferred a total of 33% voted handball, while basketball came in second with 25% of the votes, ice hockey got 24%, and volleyball got 11%. It is also the second-most played team sport in Germany with approximately 750,000 active registered players around the country as of 2016.
The German men's national team have won theIHF World Men's Handball Championship three times, the very first world cup in1938, the West Germany team won it in1978 and the united German team won it at home in2007. They also have been crowned European champions twice first in2004 and then in the2016 rendition of the tournament. In the Olympic Games their efforts have resulted in one gold medal (1936), two silver medals (1984 and2004) and one Bronze medal (2016).
The GermanHandball Bundesliga is considered to be the most competitive professional league in the world and several teams have won theEHF Champions League. A total of 19 times have a team from Germany won the Champions League as of 2017 which is the most out of any nation. The most successful team in Germany is by farTHW Kiel which have won 23 German titles as well as 4 Champions League titles. They are the only team in German sport history to have managed to go a whole season without losing any points, this feat was achieved during the2011–2012 season. Traditionally the teams in the league have been situated in smaller cities where the competition from football have not been so tough (Kiel andFlensburg for example), but during the 21st century more teams from larger cities have emerged such asHSV Hamburg,TSV Hannover-Burgdorf,TVB Stuttgart,SC DHfK Leipzig andFüchse Berlin.Uwe Gensheimer is a popular German handball player.
The sport attracts large television viewership; around 16 million TV viewers watched as Germany beat Poland in the 2007 World Cup as well as 13 million during the 2016 European Cup final. During the2014–15 HBL season the game between theRhein-Neckar Löwen andHSV Hamburg broke the world record for most spectators in a handball game with 44,189 spectators in theCommerzbank-Arena inFrankfurt beating the previous record of 36,651 spectators during the 2011Danish league final betweenAG København andBjerringbro-Silkeborg.
Hockey is one of Germany's most popular sports, although considering its importance and spectator popularity in the nation it is ranked far behind football. There are many leagues but the top one is the 14 teamDeutsche Eishockey Liga. TheGermany men's national ice hockey team has featured several prominent current and formerNHL players, includingHart Trophy winnerLeon Draisaitl, who is considered one of the best players in the world,JJ Peterka,Tim Stützle,Moritz Seider,Dominik Kahun,Christian Ehrhoff,Jochen Hecht,Dennis Seidenberg,Thomas Greiss,Marcel Goc,Philipp Grubauer andMarco Sturm and NHL prospects likeAlexander Sulzer,Philip Gogulla,Lukas Reichel andMarcel Müller. The men's national team is currently ranked 8th in the world.
In 2010,Mannheim andCologne co-hosted theIce Hockey World Championships. Germany defeated the US in theopening game in front of a record breaking crowd of 77,803 inGelsenkirchen'sVeltins-Arena. Germany finished the tournament in fourth place, the nation's best finish since 1953. German goaltenderDennis Endras was named the tournament's top goaltender by theIIHF directors and the top goaltender and most valuable player by the media.[22]
Together with football, hockey and handball, basketball in Germany is among the most popular spectator sports.[citation needed]. TheBasketball Bundesliga is thehighest levelleague ofprofessionalclubbasketball inGermany.
One of the most popular non-football athletes to come out of Germany isDirk Nowitzki, who played as power forward for theDallas Mavericks in his 21-year career in theNBA. He was a 14-timeNBA All-star and was a part of 12All-NBA teams. In2007, he became the first player trained totally outside the U.S. to be namedleague MVP, and in2011 led the Mavericks to their first NBA title and earned aFinals MVP doing so.
TheGermany national basketball team's biggest successes are the victory in theEuropean Championship of 1993 at home in Germany, the silver medal in the2005 European Championships, thebronze medal in the2002 FIBA World Championship and thegold medal in the2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Germany is one of the leading motorsports countries in the world. While countless race winning cars have come from Germany, onlyMichael Schumacher,Sebastian Vettel andNico Rosberg have been Formula One world champions (they have won 12 titles combined) andWalter Röhrl being the soleWorld Rally Champion from Germany (he won two titles).Jochen Rindt, who was F1 world champion in 1970, was born in Germany but raced with an Austrian licence for his whole career. One other German driver came close to winning the title:Wolfgang von Trips. He died in a crash in the last race of the season atMonza in 1961, giving the championship to hisFerrari teammatePhil Hill.[citation needed]
Schumacher is tied withLewis Hamilton for the mostFormula One Drivers championships with 7. In 2003, Schumacher set a new record for driver's championships when he surpassedJuan Manuel Fangio's total of 5 championships, a record that had stood for 46 years since 1957. He was also the highest paid athlete in sports history, with an annual salary of some U.S. $70 million from the Ferrari team, and an estimated $25–30 million more coming from endorsements. In 2005, he became the world's first billionaire athlete, according to Eurobusiness magazine. He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time; when he first retired at the end of the 2006 season, he held 7 championships and every significant F1 record. He returned to F1 in 2010, celebrated his completion of 20 years in F1 in August 2011, and retired for a second time at the end of the 2012 season.
In 2010, Vettel became the youngest driver ever to win the world championship, he also successfully defended the title in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Before winning his first F1 drivers' championship, Vettel had already been the youngest ever to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, earn F1 world championship points, start from pole position in an F1 race, and finish as runner-up for the drivers' championship.
In 2016,Nico Rosberg became the third German driver to win the Formula One World Championship.
TheDTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) is the national touring car series. It is considered one of the best touring car series in the world. Many Formula 1 drivers have made the switch to the series, including,Mika Häkkinen,Jean Alesi and others. From 1995, only Germanmarques of cars are allowed to compete in the series. Currently onlyAudi,BMW andMercedes-Benz compete, butOpel andAlfa Romeo have a history in the sport. The races are held mainly in Germany, but some races occur elsewhere in Europe. The races draw monster crowds and television ratings and many celebrities have attended race days.
The former race trackAVUS in Berlin was the first automobile-only road.[23] Situated in Germany is theNürburgring with its historical Nordschleife course. Since 1970 it is host to the annual24 Hours Nürburgring endurance race, one of the biggest motorsports events in the world with over 200 participating teams and over 800 drivers, many of them touring car legends and veterans, among hundreds of thousands of live spectators camping along the race track.
In sports car racing,Stefan Bellof andHans-Joachim Stuck won theWorld Sportscar Championship in1984 and1985, whilst more recentlyAndré Lotterer,Timo Bernhard andMarc Lieb won theWorld Endurance Championship in2012,2015 and2016 respectively.
The24 Hours of Le Mans is a prestigious annual race held in France.Porsche has won the race 16 times, far more than any other constructor. Second on the list isAudi, who have dominated the race in recent years, scoring 11 wins since their first in the year 2000. Audi driverFrank Biela was one of the most successful drivers in touring and sports cars in the 1990s and 2000s, winning theFIA World Touring Car Cup in 1995 and theGuia Race in 1996, as well as the German, French and British Touring Car titles, before winning the Le Mans 24 Hours five times and the12 Hours of Sebring four times.
Germany is one of the most successful winter sport nations. Its dominance insledding disciplines can be attributed to it being the only country in the world to have four bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton tracks. These tracks are located inAltenberg,Königssee,Oberhof, andWinterberg.
Germany has long been dominant in the sport ofBobsledding having won more medals in theWinter Olympics than any other nation except Switzerland. However, if medal wins by East Germany and West Germany from 1949 through 1990 are combined, Germany's medal count is nearly double that of Switzerland. At the2006 Winter Olympics in Turin,André Lange piloted both the two-man and four-man sleds to gold, sweeping the men's bobsledding events.
Inluge, Germany is dominant like no other nation, stretching from luge's foundation in the early 20th century with dominance in theEuropean championships to theWinter Olympics. Noted lugers includeGeorg Hackl,Klaus Bonsack,Margit Schumann,David Möller,Felix Loch,Silke Kraushaar-Pielach,Sylke Otto,Tatjana Hüfner andNatalie Geisenberger. Since the 1964 Olympic Games Germany has won 87 of 153 medals. German athletes even won 38 of 51 Olympic gold medals (75%).
Inskeleton, Germany has been dominant with the likes ofKerstin Jürgens andAnja Huber.
Biathlon has become one of the most popular winter sports in Germany in recent years,[24] and enjoys some of the highest TV ratings in Germany for any sport aside from association football.[25] Germany has won 59 Olympic medals in biathlon, more than any other nation, and is the joint most successful nation in terms of Olympic golds won, with Germany and Russia having won 20 golds each. Some of Germany's most successful biathletes includeFrank-Peter Roetsch,Michael Greis,Sven Fischer,Ricco Groß andFrank Luck among the men andUschi Disl,Andrea Henkel,Kati Wilhelm,Magdalena Neuner andLaura Dahlmeier among the women.
Tobias Angerer has enjoyed success incross-country skiing, winning consecutive overallFIS Cross-Country World Cups in 2005/06 and2006/07. Other notable cross-country skiers includePeter Schlickenrieder,Axel Teichmann andJens Filbrich.
Along with biathlon,ski jumping is the most popular winter sport in Germany, with TV broadcasts regularly attracting five million viewers,[26] and the country has produced a number of top jumpers.Jens Weißflog is Germany's most successful ski jumper and was one of the top competitors in the world from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Other notable athletes includeHans-Georg Aschenbach,Sven Hannawald,Martin Schmitt andSeverin Freund. Two of the four rounds of the prestigiousFour Hills Tournament are held on German hills, atOberstdorf andGarmisch-Partenkirchen.
German athletes have been competitive inNordic combined. Title-winning competitors includeGeorg Thoma,Ulrich Wehling,Hermann Weinbuch,Ronny Ackermann andEric Frenzel.
Germany has enjoyed great success inalpine skiing, where the most successful German alpine skiers have tended to be female. One notable male alpine skier wasMarkus Wasmeier.Felix Neureuther is Germany's most successful male skier in terms of World Cup race wins with 13.[27]Rosi Mittermaier,Katja Seizinger andMaria Höfl-Riesch have won multiple world-level titles on the women's circuit.
Inspeed skating Germany has been a major power, particularly in women's competition. Four of the five most prolific winners in the women'sISU Speed Skating World Cup are German –Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann,Jenny Wolf,Anni Friesinger-Postma andMonique Garbrecht-Enfeldt.Claudia Pechstein won nine Olympic medals inlong track speed skating, more than any other skater, male or female. Successful male German speed skaters have includedErhard Keller andUwe-Jens Mey. Success inshort track speed skating has been harder to come by, howeverTyson Heung did win the overallISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in2006/07.
Germany has a heritage infigure skating extending to the early days of international competition –Oskar Uhlig won the inauguralEuropean Figure Skating Championships in1891, while the first male and pairs World Champions wereGilbert Fuchs in1896 and the pairing ofAnna Hübler andHeinrich Burger in1908 (Hübler and Burger were also the first Olympic gold medalists in pairs competition at the1908 Games). Germany's best-known figure skater isKatarina Witt, a double Olympic gold medalist in the 1980s. Other notable German competitors includeManfred Schnelldorfer,Jan Hoffmann,Gabriele Seyfert,Anett Pötzsch and the pairings ofRia Baran andPaul Falk,Marika Kilius andHans-Jürgen Bäumler, andAliona Savchenko andRobin Szolkowy.
Germany has been a regular competitor in OlympicCurling since the sport was reintroduced at the1998 Winter Olympics. The German men's and women's teams both wonWorld Curling Championships in 1992 and 1994. A related sport, known asEisstockschiessen or ice stock sport, is played in southern Germany.
While a minor sport in the country,Germany national bandy team has qualified for Division A of the2017 Bandy World Championship. In terms of licensed athletes,bandy is the second biggest winter sport in the world.[28]
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Germany won the5th most Single Grand Slam titles and is among the10 most successful nations regarding all Grand Slam titles combined(singles, doubles and mixed). German female tennis players won the 2nd most single titles on theWTA Tour while German male tennis players have won the 7nd most singles titles on theATP Tour.[30][31]
The two most successful German tennis players of all time areSteffi Graf andBoris Becker.
Becker became the youngest champion in the history of the men's singles at Wimbledon, won six-time Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal together withMichael Stich.
Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players. In 1988, she became the first and only tennis player (male or female) to achieve the Calendar Year Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year.
TheGerman Open Hamburg was part of theGrand Prix Super Series from 1978 to 1989, and theATP Masters Series from 1990 to 2008, whereas theEurocard Open was part of the ATP Masters Series from 1995 to 2001. The German Open Hamburg is anATP World Tour 500 since 2009, and theHalle Open was upgraded to that category in 2015. Also, theATP Tour World Championships andGrand Slam Cup were played in Germany from 1990 to 1999. Meanwhile, theWomen's German Open in Berlin is one of the oldest tournaments for women and was a Tier I tournament from 1988 to 2008 and is aWTA 500 tournament since 2021, with theWomen's Stuttgart Open a WTA Tier II / Premier tournament since 1990.
Cycling is a popular sport in Germany, with Germany being one of the most successful cycling nations[32] and one of the greatest riders of recent timesJan Ullrich dominated theTour de France in 1997. He finished a full 9 minutes in front of second place rider Richard Virenque. Jan was regarded asLance Armstrong's only consistent rival, finishing second to him several times in theTour de France. RecentlyTony Martin has emerged as one of the topIndividual time trial specialists in the world, winning the time trial at theUCI Road World Championships in2011,2012,2013 and2016.André Greipel has been one of the most prolific winners amongroad sprinters since his breakthrough in the late 2000s, while fellow sprintersMarcel Kittel andJohn Degenkolb have also enjoyed major success from the early 2010s. In the three-year period from 2014 to 2016, Germany took more stage wins than any other nation in the Tour de France.[33] Germany also topped the medal table at the 2016 UCI Road World Championships.[34] In 2017 Germany hosted the start of the Tour de France for the fourth time, and for the first time since the race started inWest Berlin in1987, with the first two stages starting inDüsseldorf.[33]
Chess is a popular sport in Germany. There are about 84Grandmasters and 242International Masters in Germany.Emanuel Lasker was a famous German chess player who wasWorld Chess Champion for 27 years.
Germany's national card game isSkat, played by an estimated 20 to 25 million Germans – more than play football – according to theGerman Skat Association.[35]David Parlett describes it as "a national institution".[36] Another leading game isDoppelkopf, the most popular traditional four-player game in the north and west of Germany which is regulated by theGerman Doppelkopf Association and has 69 affiliated clubs.[37] InBavaria, the "supreme discipline" of Bavarian card games and the "mother of all trump games" isSchafkopf, played by an estimated 2½ million people in south Germany.[38]Apart from international games likeContract Bridge andPoker, other popular card games include66,Watten andRommé as well as children's games such asPochen, a relative ofPope Joan,Schwimmen, andMau Mau, possibly the ancestor ofCrazy Eights.
In addition to games played with thestandard 52-card pack of theEnglish pattern, several German regions play games with traditionalGerman-suited cards, including those of theBavarian,East German,Franconian,Saxon andWürttemberg pattern.
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1812 saw the start ofTurnverein byFriedrich Ludwig Jahn, which started the tradition of muscle building in Germany focused around the gymnasium.[39] At least 1,500 gymnasiums existed in Germany by the 1870s with muscle mass building a component of what took place in them.[40]Eugen Sandow, "father of modern bodybuilding".,[41] organised what is believed to be the world's first major bodybuilding competition, set in London'sRoyal Albert Hall.
In 2003, theGerman National Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation was founded by Berend Breitenstein.[42] In 2003, the German National Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation became affiliated with theWorld Natural Bodybuilding Federation.[42] Frank Guenther won the men's world championship in 2003.[42] In 2004, the German National Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation organized theGerman National Bodybuilding Championships.[42] Frank Kaeger won the men's world championship in 2007.[42] In 2009, German competitor Sabine Streubel won the WNBF Pro World Championships in the women's category.[42] In 2012, the German National Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation became affiliated with the Drug Free Athletes Coalition and severed its relationship with the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation.[42] Germany is among the most successful countries at theList of World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships medalistsWorld Amateur Bodybuilding Championships.
Combined Germany is the7th most successful country at the Olympics. Boxing is among the most watched TV sports in Germany with both male and female fights enjoying regular spots on national television.Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are among the two most popular boxers in Germany. German television network RTL has listed the Klitschko brothers as their most important asset next to football.[43] In recent years Germany has become a hub for boxing, the Vegas of Europe, and many international fighters travel to fight out of the country.[22][44][45]Henry Maske is a successful recent German box champion.
Max Schmeling washeavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights withJoe Louis in the late 1930s transcended boxing, and became worldwide social events because of their national associations. He was ranked 55 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.Regina Halmich is a German former professionalboxer. She is among the most successful female boxers of all time and helped popularise female boxing in Europe. She was voted the 2nd best female boxer in history.[46]
Combat sports are participated and followed sports. There are many national and international events every year.
As recently as2007, Germany hosted three events ongolf'sEuropean Tour—theDeutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, theMercedes-Benz Championship and theBMW International Open. However, since2010, the only European Tour event in Germany has been the BMW International Open. The Players Championship was scrapped after 2007; the Mercedes-Benz Championship was not held in2008, resumed in2009, and dropped again in 2010. In 2015, theEuropean Open was revived as a German tournament.
TheSolheim Cup, the women's counterpart to theRyder Cup, was hosted by Germany in2015.
Two-timeMasters championBernhard Langer is the first German to have won amajor championship and is a formerWorld No. 1. Since turning 50 in 2007, he has played mainly on the U.S. senior circuit,PGA Tour Champions; he has led that tour in prize money in 10 of his 11 full seasons, and has won a record 10senior majors in his career (The Tradition in 2016 and 2017; theSenior PGA Championship in 2017; theU.S. Senior Open in 2010; theSenior Players Championship in 2014, 2015, and 2016; andThe Senior Open Championship in 2010, 2014, and 2017). Langer is also the only golfer to have won all five of the current senior majors.Martin Kaymer became the second German to win a major championship by winning the2010 PGA Championship inWisconsin, and in 2011 rose to World No. 1. In 2014 he also won the U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst No. 2, North Carolina.
TheGermany men's national field hockey team is one of the most successful sides in the world, winning gold at theSummer Olympics four times (including once asWest Germany), theHockey World Cup 3 times, theEuroHockey Nations Championship eight times (including twice as West Germany) and theHockey Champions Trophy nine times (including three times as West Germany).
TheGermany women's national field hockey team won theWorld Cup andEuropean Championships 2 times and is the3rd most successful nation at the olympics.
Germany has sent national teams to theUnder-19 World Lacrosse Championships.[48]
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With Germany being one of the most successfulWater sports nations[49]sailing,rowing,swimming,wind- andkitesurfing,wakeboarding,underwater diving,fishing,powerboating water aerobics andyachting are popular in Germany, especially with large annual events such asKiel Week orHanse Sail inRostock.
Germany is among the most successful nations at theLEN European Aquatics Championships,World Aquatics Championships and in theswimming events at the Summer Olympics.
Among the most well known athletes areFranziska van Almsick,Britta Steffen,Michael Gross,Peter Nocke,Paul Biedermann andHeike Friedrich.
The Avus is regarded as the world's first automobile-only road and, for a long time, also has been deemed to be the fastest race track in the world on which countless records were set.
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