1.FC Kaiserslautern 1. FC Kaiserslautern hold a record no other club in German football history has matched: in 1998, as a side newly promoted from the second division, they won the Bundesliga title outright. The achievement, led by veteran coach Otto Rehhagel, remains unique in the competition's history and is still cited whenever an underdog dreams big.
The club traces its roots to 1900, adopting its current name in 1933 after an earlier merger with SV Phönix. Its golden generation, however, belonged to the years around the Second World War's aftermath, when Kaiserslautern won the German championship in 1951 and again in 1953, built around Fritz Walter, who went on to captain West Germany to victory at the 1954 World Cup. A founding member of the Bundesliga in 1963, the club added two more national titles decades later: the league in 1991, shortly before German reunification, and the sensational 1998 triumph. Kaiserslautern also lifted the DFB-Pokal twice, in 1990 and 1996, and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 1999.
Known as the Red Devils for their home colours, the team plays at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion, perched atop the Betzenberg hill overlooking the city and renamed in 1985 in honour of the club's most famous son. The 1998 title also marked the last time Kaiserslautern stood among Germany's elite for an extended period; the club has since experienced relegation as low as the third tier, though its passionate support and the roar of the Betzenberg remain a fixture of German football folklore.