Karlsruher SC

Two other threads in the evolution of KSC were the formation of FC Mühlburg in 1905 out of 1. FV Sport Mühlburg (founded in 1890) and Viktoria Mühlburg (founded in 1892), and the merger of FC Germania (founded in 1898) and FC Weststadt (founded in 1902) to form VfB Karlsruhe in 1911. FC Mühlburg and VfB Karlsruhe would, in turn, merge to form VfB Mühlburg in 1933. The group of clubs which came together to form VfB Mühlburg were an undistinguished lot, sharing just one season of upper-league play between them. The new side, however, started to compete in the first-division Gauliga Baden immediately after the league was established in 1933.

A lower-table side through the 1930s, VfB's performance improved considerably in the following decade. As war overtook the country, the Gauliga Baden was sub-divided at various times into a number of more local city-based circuits, and the team was able to earn three second-place finishes in divisional play. The Gauliga Baden collapsed in 1944–45 after playing a significantly reduced schedule in which many teams, including Mühlburg, were unable to compete. After the war the club slipped from top-flight competition until earning promotion to the

KFC Phoenix and VfB Mühlburg united to form the Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., on 16 October 1952 and the new team earned good results throughout the remainder of the decade. In 1955, they beat Schalke 04 3–2 to win the DFB-Pokal, and repeated the success next year with a 3–1 win over Hamburger SV. That season, they also made an appearance in the national final, where they lost 2–4 to Borussia Dortmund. KSC was Oberliga Süd champion in 1956, 1958 and 1960, as well as runner-up in the DFB-Pokal in 1960, when they lost the final match 2–3 to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Their record earned them admission as one of sixteen founding clubs into Germany's new professional football league, the Bundesliga, when it began play in 1963.

Karlsruhe struggled in the top flight, never managing better than a 13th-place finish over five seasons before finally being demoted to the second-division

KSC finished fifth in their first season in the 2. Bundesliga after relegation, only two points behind third-place SSV Ulm 1846 which was promoted to the Bundesliga. However, a last place finish in a terrible 1999–2000 season played under dire financial circumstances dropped them down to the Regionalliga Süd (III). The club rebounded and on the strength of a first-place result in the Regionalliga made a prompt return to second division play. After four seasons of mediocre play that saw KSC narrowly avoid being sent further down, the team turned in a much-improved performance and earned a sixth-place result in 2005–06.

KSC secured the 2007 2. Bundesliga title with three games left in the season by way of a 1–0 victory over SpVgg Unterhaching on 29 April, combined with a draw by second-placed Hansa Rostock on 30 April.^[2] KSC maintained its dominance over the course of the season, playing 14 matches (nine wins, five draws) before suffering their first loss of the campaign at the hands of Erzgebirge Aue. They became the first team in the history of the single-division 2. Bundesliga to occupy the top spot throughout the whole season.

In their return season to the Bundesliga in 2007–08 they finished 11th, fading in the second half of the year after a strong start that saw them positioned in the qualifying places for

The club successfully bounced back in 2012–13 when it won a championship in the 3. Liga and earned promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga.

2014–15 would see the club come close to a return to the Bundesliga, a third-place finish would see them play a promotion play-off against Hamburg, and after a 1–1 draw in Hamburg in the first leg, KSC were seconds away from promotion, only for Hamburg to score an equaliser in the 90th minute to force extra time, where they would score a winning away goal late in the second half to secure their Bundesliga status for another season.^[3]

In 2019, Karlsruhe won 4–1 against Preußen Münster on matchday 31,^[4] therefore returning to the 2. Bundesliga after a hiatus of two years.

The Karlsruher SC II, historically also referred to as Karlsruher SC Amateure, is a successful side in its own right, playing for many years as high up as the Regionalliga Süd. At the end of the 2011–12 season, the team was forcefully relegated to the Oberliga because of the relegation of the first team to the 3. Liga as reserve teams of 3. Liga clubs are not permitted in the Regionalliga anymore from 2012. The team had suffered a similar fate in 2000, when the first team was relegated to the Regionalliga Süd and the reserve team therefore had to leave this league despite finishing above the relegation ranks.

Between 1991 and 2000, the team also won the

After many restrained years, in which the targeted promotion was clearly missed, the already greatly reduced second team was discontinued for financial reasons at the end of the 2017–18 Oberliga season.[6] However, KSC reopened its second team as a fans' team for the 2019–20 season and entered the Kreisklasse C, the lowest level of league football in Karlsruhe and North Baden.^[7]

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The club's honours:

• All pre-1952 titles listed here were won by Phönix Karlsruhe

As of 3 February 2025^[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Max Weiß 2 DF  GER Sebastian Jung 4 DF  GER Marcel Beifus 5 MF  GER Robin Heußer 6 MF  GER Leon Jensen 7 MF  BIH Dženis Burnić 9 FW  SUI Andrin Hunziker (on loan from Basel) 10 MF  GER Marvin Wanitzek (captain) 14 FW  DEN Mikkel Kaufmann (on loan from 1. FC Heidenheim) 16 FW  GER Luca Pfeiffer (on loan from VfB Stuttgart) 17 MF  GER Nicolai Rapp 18 GK  GER Aki Koch 19 MF  TUN Louey Ben Farhat 20 DF  GER David Herold

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  GER Meiko Wäschenbach 22 DF  AUT Christoph Kobald 24 FW  GER Fabian Schleusener 25 MF  GER Lilian Egloff 26 DF  GER Benedikt Bauer 27 MF  TUR Ali-Eren Ersungur 28 DF  GER Marcel Franke 29 FW  GER Lasse Günther (on loan from Augsburg) 30 GK  GER Robin Himmelmann 31 FW  GER Bambasé Conté (on loan from TSG Hoffenheim) 32 DF  GER Robin Bormuth 33 GK  KOS Mustafë Abdullahu (on loan from Tirana) 38 MF  TUR Efe-Kaan Sihlaroglu

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 8 MF  SUI Noah Rupp (at Stade Lausanne Ouchy until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  TUR Eren Öztürk (at VSG Altglienicke until 30 June 2025)

Position	Name
Head coach	Christian Eichner
Assistant head coach	Zlatan Bajramović
Assistant coach	Sirus Motekallemi
Goalkeeper coach	Markus Miller
Fitness coach	Florian Böckler
Rehab coach	Wendelin Wäcker
Team Doctor	Dr. Marcus Schweizer
Physiotherapist	Matteo Poppert Kevin Benz
Kit man	Torsten Merkel Cafer Aydogan
Laundry	Gloria Schorb
Bus Driver	Thomas Laschuk Andreas Heinrich
Technical Director	Necat Aygün
Youth Chief Scout	Sebastian Freis
Team Manager	Burkhard Reich Sarah Saliba

Coaches of the club since 1952:^[9]

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:^[10][11]

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• With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. In 2012, the number of Regionalligas was increased from three to five with all Regionalliga Süd clubs except the Bavarian ones entering the new Regionalliga Südwest.^{[citation needed]}

Key

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karlsruher SC.

• Official website
• Karlsruher SC at Weltfussball
• Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv – historical German domestic league tables (in German)