In Europe, KSC won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1996, which remains the club's last major honor.

They quickly became a strong regional side, playing in the Südkreis-Liga, and won the national title in 1909, defeating defending champions Viktoria 89 Berlin 4–2 in the championship final that season.

It was as Phönix Karlsruhe that the club joined the Gauliga Baden, one of 16 top-flight divisions created in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich.

After World War II in 1946, Phönix re-emerged to compete in the newly formed first division Oberliga Süd, finishing 15th in their first season there.

As war overtook the country, the Gauliga Baden was sub-divided at various times into a number of more local city-based circuits, and the team was able to earn three second-place finishes in divisional play.

The Gauliga Baden collapsed in 1944–45 after playing a significantly reduced schedule in which many teams, including Mühlburg, were unable to compete.

After the war the club slipped[vague] from top-flight competition until earning promotion to the Oberliga Süd in 1947.

performance in 1951 when they narrowly missed an advance to the national championship rounds after earning a third-place result just a single point behind SpVgg Fürth.

KFC Phoenix and VfB Mühlburg united to form the Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., on 16 October 1952 and the new team earned good[according to whom?]

KSC was Oberliga Süd champion in 1956, 1958 and 1960, as well as runner-up in the DFB-Pokal in 1960, when they lost the final match 2–3 to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Their record earned them admission as one of sixteen founding clubs into Germany's new professional football league, the Bundesliga, when it began play in 1963.

Karlsruhe struggled in the top flight, never managing better than a 13th-place finish over five seasons before finally being demoted to the second-division Regionalliga Süd.

run in the UEFA Cup, going out in the semi-finals on away goals to Austria Salzburg after beating, in turn, PSV, Valencia, Bordeaux and Boavista.

Their[vague] stunning[tone] 7–0 second-round victory over Valencia, a top team in the Spanish La Liga at the time and in historical terms as well,[according to whom?]

[citation needed] In 1995, KSC won the DFB-Hallenpokal, an indoor football tournament that was traditionally held during winter breaks of the Bundesliga seasons.

At the league winter break the club sat outside the relegation ranks, but a series of negative results pushed them down to 15th place until the second-last matchday of the season.

The club needed an away draw against Hansa Rostock on the final day of the season to avoid relegation but lost the match 2–4 while Borussia Mönchengladbach beat VfL Wolfsburg 2–0 to overtake KSC and finish 15th on goal difference.

The club rebounded[vague] and on the strength of a first-place result in the Regionalliga made a prompt[tone] return to second division play.

[2] KSC maintained its dominance over the course of the season, playing 14 matches (nine wins, five draws) before suffering[tone] their first loss of the campaign at the hands of Erzgebirge Aue.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.