An amateur league, it was founded in 1988 by the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB, Deutscher Eishockey Bund).

Previously, the national championship took the form of a tournament featuring the best teams from the various regional federations.

ECDC Memmingen were the regular season champions; the team featured both the league’s top scorer, American forward Theresa Knutson, and best goaltender, Emma Schweiger.

[3] The top four teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs, which were played on a best-of-five tournament schedule.

[7][8] Beginning in the 2001–02 season, the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) organized an annual tournament called the DEB Women's Cup (German: DEB-Pokal der Frauen), which would be played over several days at the end of the DFEL season.