Contestants in the cup are teams of the 21 regional football associations, composed of youth players from that area.

Also guest teams are invited each year since 2005, which play in the competition but will not be awarded a place in the final standings.

[1] The trophy had an inscription engraved which it still bears today: "Seine Kaiserliche und Königliche Hoheit Wilhelm, Kronprinz des Deutschen Reiches und von Preußen stiftete im Jahre 1908 diesen Pokal als Wanderpreis für Fußball-Wettspiele zwischen den repräsentativen Mannschaften der Landesverbände des Deutschen Fußball-Bundes""His Imperial and Royal Highness William, Crown Prince of the German Empire and Prussia donated this trophy in 1908 as a reward for football competitions between the teams of the regional associations of the German Football Association"The Kronprinzenpokal was initially contested by only seven teams, the selections of the seven regional German football associations, North, South, West, Brandenburg, Central, South East and Baltic.

The competition was interrupted by the First World War and was not held in 1915 and 1916: The competition continued in its previous form after the end of the monarchy, in the new German Republic, now renamed Federal Cup: In 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, the old regional football federations were abolished, football in Germany was centralized and the Gauligas were introduced, 16 regional first divisions.

A new competition to replace the Bundespokal was introduced in 1935, now contested by selections from the Gaue, the new administrative subdivisions of Germany.