Hans Nobiling [de], a player of Germania, emigrated in the late 19th century to Brazil where he was in 1899 instrumental in founding two of the four oldest football clubs of the country, SC Internacional (SP) which became in 1938 part of São Paulo FC, three times world cup winner, and SC Germánia of São Paulo, which today as EC Pinheiros is considered as one of the biggest general sports clubs of the southern hemisphere.

In the beginning the newly formed SC Germania remained focused on track and field and reportedly achieved some notoriety.

In 1891, after a number of expatriate Englishmen joined the club, Germania incorporated the increasingly fashionable sport of association football in its activities.

The team of SC Germania, dominated by foreigners, mostly Britons, secured itself in 1896 and 1897 the first two championships of the association - undefeated on both occasions.

In that period the Heiligengeistfeld and the Exerzierweide in Altona, the latter was also venue of the first national German championship final in 1903, found use as homegrounds.

SC Germania, like Hamburger FC 1888 were amongst the 86 clubs who founded on 28 January 1900 the national German football association Deutscher Fussball-Bund.

After the outbreak of World War I Germania, like all other clubs, had a shortage of players and in order to be able to field teams entered into temporary associations with SV Uhlenhorst-Hertha and SC Concordia.

Also in 1899, on 7 September, Nobiling founded SC Germânia of São Paulo, which was part of the first official football match in the history of Brasil and went on to win State Championships in 1906 and 1915.