Hertha BSC, or the "Old Lady" as the Berliners are often called, was founded in 1892 by the brothers Fritz and Max Lindner, and Otto and Willi Lorenz. The name was not actually a human being, but a blue and white pleasure boat called "Hertha," which once sailed on the Spree and Havel rivers. On Saturday (April 12th, 1pm), the Lilies aim to give the Berlin boat a serious shake-up. We'll show you everything else there is to know about the third-oldest club in Bundesliga history here.
Since its founding, the Old Lady, like its hometown, has experienced a turbulent history. With the founding of the Bundesliga in 1963, Hertha initially belonged to the top flight, but was relegated to the Regionalliga in 1965. What followed were eventful decades of promotions and relegations – their greatest sporting success after the championship era was coming runners-up in 1975. In the 1999/2000 season, Hertha played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time, and the club also qualified for the European Cup several times in the 2010s. The Olympiastadion Berlin has been the home of the club since 1963, whose motto „The future belongs to Berlin“ clearly sets its sights on the future – toward new goals, sustained by a turbulent past.
| Top Scorers | Top Assists |
| Derry Scherhant – 7 Goals | Jonjoe Kenny – 7 Assists |
| Fabian Reese – 7 Goals | Derry Scherhant – 6 Assists |
| Michaël Cuisance – 6 Goals | Ibrahim Maza – 5 Assists |
| Ibrahim Maza – 5 Goals | Michaël Cuisance – 5 Assists |
| Florian Niederlechner – 5 Goals | Pascal Klemens – 3 Assists |
The youth word „bromance“ describes an intense, almost cinematic male friendship – two men who seem inseparable and trust each other blindly. Hertha coach Stefan Leitl and his assistant coach Andre Mijatović are the perfect example of such a connection. The two not only share the same ideas about football, but also an apartment. In Berlin, they live together in a shared apartment for men – and not purely because of a lack of housing.
They already lived together at their previous stints in Fürth and Hanover. What connects them is trust, humor – and a certain routine. Even if there is still room for improvement in the kitchen: „Andre didn’t cook well in Hanover. I guess I’ll have to take over now,“ jokes Leitl, referring to the shared apartment in Berlin.
Minor culinary differences aside, the collaboration on the pitch seems to be working even better: Since moving into their shared Berlin apartment near the Olympic Stadium, Hertha BSC has won all three of their matches – against Braunschweig, Karlsruhe, and Köln. The „Old Lady“ appears stable, eager to play, and back in rhythm.
Leitl and Mijatović came to Berlin with a clear goal: to bring stability in the short term and build on better times in the long term. And as long as their sporting bromance runs as smoothly as it currently does, there’s a good chance that Hertha will soon be sailing in calmer waters again.
„The trend is your friend“: In this case, especially the friend of the old lady. After seven games without a win, Leitl seems to have managed to flip the switch. The capital club has won three games in a row with a goal difference of 9:2. And not only that: Hertha is extremely strong at passing the ball directly from the wings into the danger zone. With 328 crosses from open play, they rank third in the 2. Bundesliga in this statistic, behind Karlsruhe and Paderborn.
Do you believe in love at first sight? For many, that’s the prerequisite for the perfect match. But sometimes it takes a second look – and a bit of patience. The best example: Fabian Reese and Hertha BSC. Initially, there wasn’t much of a spark between the attacking player and the „Old Lady.“
The year was 2015. On November 21, Reese made his professional debut for FC Schalke 04 at the Veltins Arena – against FC Bayern Munich, of all teams. Three minutes of playing time marked the start of a special career. After stints at Karlsruher SC and SpVgg Greuther Fürth, his path ultimately led him back home: to Holstein Kiel, the club of his birthplace.
Reese became a key player at the „Störchen.“ 119 games, 17 goals, 30 assists – figures that even attracted attention from Bundesliga clubs. Then, in January 2023, the big announcement came: Fabian Reese would be joining Hertha BSC in the summer. Finally, he thought, he’d made the step into the Bundesliga. But just a few months later, everything changed: Both Fredi Bobic and coach Sandro Schwarz – who had inspired him to join the „Big City Club“ project – were forced to leave, and Hertha was relegated.
„At first, I was sad that I was denied the opportunity. I was convinced that Hertha would stay in the league,“ Reese later said in an interview with kicker. „But life sometimes presents you with challenges you don’t expect.“
But the frustration didn’t last long. Today, it seems as if there couldn’t have been a better place for Reese. Hertha and him – it’s a perfect fit. Not just because of his striking appearance with painted fingernails, sweatbands, and various hairstyles. But above all because he’s leading the way athletically. In 48 games for the Berlin club so far, he’s delivered an impressive 20 goals and provided 18 assists – thus not only winning the hearts of the fans but also regularly making headlines in the transfer rumor mill.
„Kiel remains my hometown, but my home is Berlin,“ Reese said in an rbb interview – a sentence that shows how deeply he’s settled in the capital. He’s never lost sight of his dream of playing in the Bundesliga. And he would probably prefer to realize it exactly where he is happy right now: with Hertha BSC.
From the early 1980s, he was active in the service of SV Darmstadt 98 for almost four decades: We Lilies congratulate the former team doctor of SVD, Dr. Michael Weingart, most sincerely on his 75th birthday this Wednesday (April 15th)!
There are five games left in the season, meaning a total of 15 points are still up for grabs. But Darmstadt's focus is entirely on Sunday's match (April 19th, 1:30pm) against Greuther Fürth. From the media briefing with Fabian Nürnberger, from the hockey pitch to San Antonio: We report on all these topics and many more. As usual, you can find all the latest news from SV 98's club life here in our weekly column "Lilies Across the Board."
SV 98 mourns the loss of its former player Roger Prinzen, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Monday evening (April 13th) at the age of 57.
The long wait for a point is over! After four consecutive defeats, SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team finally secured some points. On their home turf, the young Lilies drew 1-1 against TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf last Saturday (April 11th). Looking at the league table, it was clear even before the match that it wouldn't be easy, as a full ten places separated the two teams in the LOTTO Hessenliga standings. However, the Lilies' U21 team remained evenly matched with the seventh-placed side and collected a crucial home point.
This match is a tradition – at least at the veterans' level: The SV Darmstadt 98 veterans team visited Real Madrid for the third time. The game was played last Thursday (April 9th) at the "Royal Whites'" training ground in the Valdebebas district of Madrid.
The season is drawing to a close, and SV Darmstadt 98's penultimate away match takes them to the Wildpark stadium. On Sunday (May 3rd, 1:30pm), SV 98 will be playing away against Karlsruher SC. We need a large turnout of Darmstadt fans to support them. Advance ticket sales for club members begin next Wednesday (April 15th) at noon. All ticket information can be found in this announcement.
It happened in their 15th home game of the season. Darmstadt lost on their own turf. Deservedly so. Although SV 98 tried everything against the visitors from Hannover until the final whistle, the Lower Saxons proved too strong on Saturday evening. In our analysis, we take another look at the match.
For the first time this season, SV Darmstadt 98 finished a match at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor without any points. The Lilies offered more resistance to Hannover 96's two goals in the second half. However, the pressure exerted by the South Hessians at the end proved fruitless. Read here what the players and both head coaches had to say about the defeat, which Darmstadt considered deserved overall.
Everything has to end and so the undefeated home record of SV 98 ended on Saturday night. Hannover 96 triumphed 2-0 (1-0) to hand the Lilies their first home loss of the season at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor.
Another top match at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. On matchday 29 (April 11th/8:30pm), Hannover 96 visits Darmstadt. For the clash with their direct league rivals, Florian Kohfeldt has made three changes to his starting eleven. The suspended Lidberg and Klefisch are replaced by Lakenmacher and Papela, and Niklas Schmidt comes in for Marco Richter. Bartosz Bialek returns to the Darmstadt 98 matchday squad for the first time this calendar year after recovering from injury.
Once again at 8:30pm, floodlights, top match, and at the Bölle! On Saturday (April 11th/8:30pm), Hannover 96 visits Darmstadt, and once again two teams from the top five meet at Nieder-Ramstädter-Straße. What do the two head coaches have to say before the match? Who will be the referee? And who will be the commentator? As usual, we've compiled all the important information about the game against the Lower Saxony side for you in "Matchday Compact."
