From 1974 to 2008 reserve teams were permitted to compete in the DFB-Pokal, the premier German Cup competition.
Arguably the greatest success of any reserve team has been the achievement of Hertha BSC Amateure which reached the German Cup final in 1992–93.
Additional achievements have been the eleven titles won by reserve teams in the now defunct German amateur football championship.
In the former East Germany, reserve teams were at times permitted to play at the second tier of league football, below the DDR-Oberliga, in the DDR-Liga, and have achieved division titles at this level.
Reserve teams in Germany are permitted to play at all league levels except the top two divisions.
[4] In post-Second World War West Germany and the Saarland, which joined the former in 1957, reserve teams of professional sides playing at Oberliga and 2.
Oberliga level, termed Vertragsspielervereine (English: Clubs with contracted players), were granted permission by the DFB in 1951 to field an amateur reserve team within the league system.
[5] Reserve teams started earning promotion to the third tier, the highest level they were permitted to play, in the late 1950s.
[8] From the late 1950s reserve teams started to win league titles in their respective Amateurligas.
[6][7] The DDR-Liga was established as the second tier of the league system in 1950 and did not initially include any reserve teams.
Reserve teams returned to the league for the 1967–68 season, now played in the autumn-spring format again and in two regional divisions, when F.C.
The league was expanded in 1971 to five regional divisions and BFC Dynamo II became the first reserve team to win a division in 1971–72, repeating this success the following season with Dynamo Dresden II also taking out a league title.
[6] No reserve team ever reached the final of the FDGB-Pokal, the premier East German cup competition.
From 2005 onwards reserve teams of professional sides in the two Bundesligas were rebranded to the Roman numeral II behind the club name instead of the designation Amateure.
Additionally, the number of reserve teams per Regionalliga division was capped at seven but with the possibility of exceptions being granted.
[2] This trend continued at the end of the 2014–15 season when both Dynamo Dresden and Chemnitzer FC withdrew their reserve teams, instead favouring a competition of friendly matches that could include other reserve teams from the region as well as the Czech Republic.
Liga, for example, reserve teams have generally taken up the bottom spots in the spectator tables of the league, the exception being Borussia Dortmund II which fared slightly better.
The down side of this expanded interest has been the need for heavy police presence to control the rival fan groups.
[18][19][20] The greatest success of any reserve team in the German Cup has been the 1993 finals appearance of Hertha BSC Amateure, where it lost 1–0 to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
[24] After the latest instance, a rule change was implemented that prevent first and reserve teams being drawn against each other unless it was the final.
VfB Stuttgart Amateure, in 2000–01, is the only other reserve team to have finished on a promotion rank in the Regionalliga area, alongside Bayern.