The city of Hamburg has seen significant regeneration in the past decade. In an effort to rid the city of its faintly sleazy reputation, as home of the Reeperbahn and the stag do delights it contains, a whole new district – HafenCity – was established with plans for modern shops, homes and entertainment venues. The most prominent of the latter was the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, an extraordinary structure that cost €789m, more than three times its initial budget.
But as new buildings rise around town, the solid old pillars of their football club crumble. For the first time since the Bundesliga was established in 1963, Hamburger SV have been relegated to the second tier. Hamburg were the only side to stay in the division for that whole time, earning them the nickname Der Dino: not even Bayern Munich, who came up in 1965, had boasted such a lengthy continuous run among the German elite. A clock at their Volksparkstadion home proudly displayed exactly how long they had been in the top flight: that will be reset.
The club that nurtured Uwe Seeler, of Manny Kaltz and Rafa van der Vaart and Kevin Keegan, European champions in 1983 under Ernst Happel and a stalwart of German football, will play in Bundesliga II for the first time. On Saturday they needed to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach and hope for a favour from already relegated Köln, who needed to beat Wolfsburg.
However, the promise from Hamburg fans to send barrels of beer to Köln if they pulled it off did not quite work: Wolfsburg won 4-1, helped by a goal from the Liverpool loanee Divock Origi, rendering Hamburg’s 2-1 win over Mönchengladbach irrelevant. Wolfsburg are not yet safe: they face a play-off against Holstein Kiel, the third-placed team in Bundesliga II.
In truth, this has been coming. Hamburg stayed up on the final day last season (beating Wolfsburg to do so, as it happens), and survived in the relegation play-offs in 2015 and 2016, on the latter occasion after an equaliser in the first minute of added time. “Economically speaking, Hamburg is the worst investment decision of my life,” Klaus-Michael Kühne, the businessman who has pumped millions into the club, said this month.
This season has been more chaotic than most. Three managers sat in the dugout: Markus Gisdol was sacked in January after winning twice since August, Bernd Hollerbach lasted a winless two months, then the reserve coach Christian Titz was promoted for what looked like the last rites.
Most expected Titz to simply prepare the side for the second tier, to perhaps take them down with a little dignity. Maybe he could give some young players a bit of first‑team experience. But in the end he presided over a near miracle. On 1 April they were bottom, seven points off the last safe spot, and a defeat to Hoffenheim a few weeks later left them eight points adrift with four games remaining. But he reinvigorated the team, winning four of their last six, including an extraordinary 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg that gave them late hope. The 13 points gained in Titz’s eight games in charge represent more than a third of the season’s total.
Hamburg went out with a bang: in the last few minutes of the Mönchengladbach game fireworks and flares rained down from the stands, filling the stadium with smoke, either in frustration or protest from the fans. The last moments of Bundesliga football in Hamburg – for now, at least – included the pitch filled with police and the goalmouth on fire.
Hamburg are down, after nearly 55 years. Still, at least they have a nice place to watch opera.
