THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. The club competes in the Handball-Bundesliga and is the record champion with 23 titles.
2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed the treble, winning the domestic league, the domestic cup, and the EHF Champions League. In 2012, the team won every league game, a first in any top-flight German team sports.
They ended the 2019–20 season as winners of the EHF Champions League and champions of the Handball-Bundesliga.
Since then, they have secured additional league titles in 2021 and 2023, along with the DHB-Pokal in 2025.
They have the nickname 'the zebras' and have a rivalry with fellow Schleswig-Holstein team SG Flensburg-Handewitt.
Contents
History
The club was founded on 4 February 1904, as a gymnastics association. From the beginning it was only a men's club, but from 1907 women were included too.
The handball department was founded in summer 1923, initially focusing on field handball before transitioning to indoor handball.
The opening of the Ostseehalle in Kiel in 1951 provided a key venue for indoor handball, boosting the sport's popularity locally. THW Kiel achieved its first national indoor handball championship in 1957.
In 1992, the professional handball team became an independent entity as THW Kiel Handball-Bundesliga GmbH & Co. KG.
Crest, colours, supporters
Rivalries
The main rival of THW Kiel is SG Flensburg-Handewitt. The derby between them is called the "Nordderby" and have regularly and closely fought for national championships and in finals of the DHB-Pokal. As of March 2025, 114 matches have been contested between the two sides, with THW winning 67 and SG with 42 victories.
Accomplishments
Handball-Bundesliga: 23
Gold: 1957, 1962, 1963, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2023
Silver: 1953, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1983, 1985, 1989, 2004, 2011, 2019, 2022
DHB-Pokal: 13
Gold: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2025
Silver: 1979, 1990, 2005
DHB-Supercup: 13
Gold: 1995, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Silver: 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2025
EHF Champions League: 4
Gold: 2007, 2010, 2012, 2020
Silver: 2000, 2008, 2009, 2014
Bronze: 2022, 2024
EHF Cup / EHF European League: 4
Gold: 1998, 2002, 2004, 2019
Silver: 2026
Bronze: 2025
EHF Men's Champions Trophy: 1
Gold: 2007
Silver: 2004
Bronze: 2001, 2008
Team
Current squad
Squad for the 2026–27 season
Transfers
Transfers for the 2027–28 season
Staff
Staff for the 2026–27 season
Notable former coaches
Fritz Westheider (1930–1958)
Heinrich Dahlinger (1958–1972)
Kurt Bartels, Rolf Krabbenhöft, Bernd Struck (1972–1973)
Adolf Gabriel (1973–1975)
Werner Kirst (1975)
Gerd Welz (1975–1977)
Željko Seleš (1977–1978)
Werner Kirst (1978–1979)
Gerd Welz (1979–1980)
Marinko Andrić (1980–1981)
Herward Wieck (1981–1982)
Jóhann Ingi Gunnarsson (1983–1986)
Marek Panas (1987–1989)
Josip Milković (1989)
Holger Oertel (1989–1992)
Uwe Schwenker (1993)
Zvonimir Serdarušić (1993–2008)
Alfreð Gíslason (2008–2019)
Filip Jícha (2019–2026)