German Handball Association

German Handball Association
German: Deutscher Handballbund
DHB
IOC nationFederal Republic of Germany (GER)
National flagGermany
SportHandball
Other sports
Official websitewww.dhb.de
HISTORY
Year of formation1 October 1949; 77 years ago (1949-10-01)
DEMOGRAPHICS
Number of Handball clubs3,720 (as of 2026)
Membership size765,368 (as of 2026)
AFFILIATIONS
International federationInternational Handball Federation (IHF)
IHF member since1950; 76 years ago (1950)
Continental associationEuropean Handball Federation
National Olympic CommitteeGerman Olympic Sports Confederation
GOVERNING BODY
PresidentAndreas Michelmann Germany
HEADQUARTERS
Address
CountryGermany
Secretary GeneralMark Schober Germany
FINANCE
SponsorsPuma ®
Harting [de]
Walbusch Walter Busch [de]
DB
Mitsubishi Motors
Deutsche Kreditbank
Atlas [de]
Hella [de]
Alsco
Lidl
Gerflor

The German Handball Association (German: Deutscher Handballbund) (DHB) is the national handball association of Germany. DHB organizes team handball within Germany and represents German handball internationally. The DHB headquarters are in Dortmund.

With around 700,000 individual members and 3,700 clubs, it is the largest handball federation in the world.

History

It was founded on the 1st of October 1949. The association has been a member of the International Handball Federation (IHF) since 1950 and the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1991, just after the country's re-unification.

Prior to 1991 handball in East Germany was governed by the Deutscher Handballverband [de], founded in 1958. In 1991 the two organizations were merged, and at the 1993 World Women's Handball Championship, the organization won their first title as a unified country.

Presidents

Period Head President
1949–1955Germany Willi Daume
1955–1966Germany Ernst Feick
1966–1972Germany Otto Seeber
1972–1989Germany Bernhard Thiele
1989–1993Germany Hans-Jürgen Hinrichs
1993–1998Germany Bernd Steinhauser
1998–2013Germany Ulrich Strombach
2013–Germany Bernhard Bauer

Competitions

Men's Senior Competitions

Women's Senior Competitions

References

  1. ↑ "Geschäftsstelle des Deutschen Handballbundes" (in German). DHB. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "Bestandserhebung 2024 - Stichtag der Erfassung: 1. Januar 2024" (PDF; 971 kB). cdn.dosb.de (in German). Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund e. V. 2025-02-28. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  3. 1 2 "Geschichte des Deutschen Handballbundes: Meilensteine und Erfolge im Handball in Deutschland" (in German). German Handball Federation. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
  4. ↑ "German Handball Federation celebrates 75th anniversary". IHF. 1 October 1949. Retrieved 18 November 2024.