The German Football Association is the governing body of football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League, organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world.
The Oberliga is the fifth tier of the German football league system. Before the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008, it was the fourth tier. At the end of the 2011–12 season the number of Oberligas was increased from eleven to fourteen.
A Regionalliga is a regional league in numerous sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues.
The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 teams, in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation.
The Verbandsliga is the tier-six football league in the German football league system, covering the area of a Bundesland or a regional part of such Bundesland.
The Under 19 Bundesliga is the highest level in German Under 19 football. It was created in 2003 and is divided in three divisions with 14 teams each. The winner of each divisions and the second-placed team from the Süd/Südwest division join the play-offs for the German U19 champions.
The Verbandsliga Südwest is a German amateur football division administered by the Southwest German Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Southwestern state association, the Verbandsliga is a level 6 division of the German football league system.
The Sachsenliga, formerly referred to as Landesliga Sachsen, is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Saxony. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier.
The Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier.
Germany's federal system comprises 16 state parliaments, each including directly elected representatives.
The Frauen-Regionalliga is the third tier of German women's association football. The Frauen-Regionalliga is made up of five separate leagues. Until 2017, the champion of each league was promoted to the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga for the next season, so were the winners of two promotion groups in 2018. From 2021 to 2024, the Regionalliga Süd champion and two winners of promotion play-offs have qualified for next season's 2. Bundesliga. All five league champions will earn promotion in 2025, with the play-offs expected to return in 2026.
The Under 17 Bundesliga is the highest level of play in German football for male juniors between the ages of 15 and 17. It was formed in 2007 and operates in three regional divisions with 14 clubs each. At the end of season, the three division champions and one of the runners-up determine the German champions for this age group.
The Rugby Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. It is set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and is organised in eight regional divisions.
The Länderpokal is the oldest cup competition of the German Football Association. It came into existence as the Kronprinzenpokal but has changed its name various times since. The cup is held annually at the Sportschule Duisburg-Wedau. Contestants in the cup are teams of the 21 regional football associations, composed of youth players from that area. Also guest teams are invited each year since 2005, which play in the competition but will not be awarded a place in the final standings.
A Naturschutzgebiet is a category of protected area within Germany's Federal Nature Conservation Act . Although often translated as 'Nature Reserve' in English, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) refers to them as 'Nature Conservation Areas'. It meets the criteria of an IUCN Category IV Habitat and Species Management Area.
A Bergamt or mining office is a mining supervisory authority in German-speaking countries below the level of the state. It exercises immediate supervision of all activities, facilities and equipment associated with mining within a mining district. This includes the promotion and monitoring of operational safety and workplace safety.
The 1994–95 Regionalliga season was the first year of the Regionalliga as the third tier of German football. There were four regional sections, Nord, Nordost, West-Südwest and Süd, each with eighteen teams. Most teams qualified from the Oberliga, which dropped to become a fourth-tier league, while five teams were relegated from the previous year's 2. Bundesliga. In the Nord section, four teams were promoted from the formerly fourth-tier Verbandsliga.
A Verbandspokal is a regional men's association football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following season's DFB-Pokal, the premier German Cup competition. Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs are not permitted to enter as they are already directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
The list of German municipal flags lists the flags of municipalities of Germany. Most municipalities of Germany have unique flags.
