Handball: Eisenach and Dessau – promotion euphoria in the east

Status: 11:39 am| Reading time: 4 minutes

SThey are known for their good work with young people. The boarding school they run has produced one or two good handball players – and made sure that first-league handball is also possible in Eisenach. Now that eight years have passed since they last belonged to the elite class of German handball, they are about to return to the top floor at ThSV Eisenach.

But not only the Thuringians are knocking on the door to the “strongest league in the world” – with the Dessau-Roßlauer HV, a second traditional club from East Germany is about to jump into the Bundesliga.

The course can already be set for promotion to the first division. The second-placed team from Eisenach will play the leaders HBW Balingen-Weilstetten this Saturday (8 p.m.), who are practically through with six games to go with an eight-point lead. Dessau, currently third, expects pursuers TuS N-Lübbecke on Saturday (7:30 p.m.).

“If the opportunity arises, we will seize it”

It doesn’t matter which of the two clubs gets promoted at the end of the season on June 7th, another club from the region would be “mega” for Karsten Günther. This stimulates our handball location in the new federal states and is extremely important for our talents,” said the manager of SC DHfK Leipzig. For Eisenach’s sporting director Maik Nowak it is clear: “If the opportunity is there, then we will seize it. After Truth Week, we will most likely know who is stepping up.”

DRHV trainer Uwe Jungandreas sees the question of promotion as “very exciting to the end”. A year ago, the 61-year-old coach, who led Concordia Delitzsch to the first division in 2005, would not have thought of dealing with the topic of promotion to the Bundesliga again.

After reunification, Dessauer played under the predecessor club Dessauer SV ZAB in the 1991/1992 season in the Bundesliga. Due to financial problems, the club was re-established in 1996 as the Dessau handball club from 1996. After the cities were merged in 2006, both clubs merged to form DRHV.

Season budget for promotion – 1.5 million euros

In the lower house, the DRHV was a regular guest until 2011, when they were relegated to league three. Under Jungandreas, the Muldestädter made the leap into the second division in 2016 and also held on to the coach after relegation in 2019. After the return, the club developed from a relegation candidate in the past year to a promotion candidate.

“Even if we get promoted, we’ll keep our feet on the ground and won’t take any economic risks. Even if we sign four top-class players, that wouldn’t guarantee staying up in the league. The squad for the coming season is already in place, no matter what league we play in,” explained DRHV Managing Director Sebastian Glock and added: “The first league would be a reward for the players and the coaching team.” The budget would then be 1.5 million euros, a third higher than this game year.

New hall construction from 2026

For the people of Wartburgstadt, after eight years and the transition to the third division, a dry spell would end. At the same time, with the planned construction of a new hall in autumn 2026 in the listed building of the former automobile plant, there are signs of a more lucrative future. The traditional Werner Assmann Hall still has to hold its own. “With the license for the first division, we also received approval for the Werner Assmann Hall. This is an extremely important fact for us,” emphasized Nowak.

We have learned from the mistakes of the past. “Over the past three years we have agreed on irrefutable principles that form the pillars of our ‘Eisenach House’. Recruitment and development of potentially good young players, a rather unusual philosophy of the game, acting according to the feasible economic conditions and thus pursuing a special path in Eisenach,” explained the long-standing master coach from HC Leipzig (1995 to 2004).

These principles “and also the team will not change due to a changed league affiliation. The team that we are developing for the coming season has the task of playing for promotion in the second division or, if necessary, fighting for as many points as possible in the first division. ”For the Thuringians, the long term is more valuable than a short-term adventure . “The most important thing for us is the season after a possible first division year – no matter where we are then. When we rise, we should always keep in mind where we come from,” said Nowak.

The Swiss coach Misha Kaufmann was also a guarantee for the upswing at ThSV, for whom “a childhood dream came true” when he was signed to a German Bundesliga club. He took over the team in October 2021 after a failed start to the season with 2:8 points and then led to third place. “Misha was in our focus and in talks with us for a long time before he came to Eisenach. It is an important component of our blue path. And he initially has a contract until 2024,” explained Nowak.