When TSG Hoffenheim earned promotion to the Bundesliga in 2008, the story of a club from a village of 3,000 people reaching Germany's top flight captivated the football world. Next season, however, a new club will surpass even that remarkable achievement.

SV Elversberg sealed promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history on the final day of the second-division season, defeating Preussen Munster 3-0 to finish as runners-up in Bundesliga 2. Their home town of Spiesen-Elversberg has a population of just 13,000 — making it the smallest community ever to be represented in the Bundesliga.

A rise that echoes Hoffenheim — and then some

Hoffenheim's 2008 promotion was celebrated as one of German football's great fairy tales, though the club's ascent was significantly aided by billionaire backer Dietmar Hopp. The Saarland-based Elversberg's climb is no less striking: the club were still competing in Germany's regionalised fourth tier as recently as 2021/22 and had never previously played in Bundesliga 2 before the 2023/24 campaign.

Their Ursapharm-Arena an der Kaiserlinde holds 10,000 spectators — a figure that could accommodate the majority of Spiesen-Elversberg's entire population.

It is worth noting that while Hoffenheim are associated with their small village, the club's Rhein-Neckar-Arena is actually situated in nearby Sinsheim, which has a population of around 36,000. That distinction means Spiesen-Elversberg now holds the genuine claim to being the smallest community represented in Bundesliga history.

So close last season

Elversberg came agonisingly close to promotion 12 months earlier, finishing third in the table before losing 4-3 on aggregate to Heidenheim in the promotion/relegation play-off. That defeat prompted manager Horst Steffen to depart for Werder Bremen.

His replacement, little-known manager Vincent Wagner, oversaw a superb campaign in which Elversberg finished second behind Schalke, edging third-place Paderborn on goal difference to secure automatic promotion.

Not the smallest in European history

As remarkable as Elversberg's story is, they are not the smallest-town club to have featured in a major European league in recent memory. That distinction belongs to Guingamp, whose side played in France's Ligue 1 from 2013 to 2019 despite the town's population standing at just 7,000 people — less than half that of Spiesen-Elversberg.

Still, the arrival of SV Elversberg in the Bundesliga next season represents one of German football's most improbable promotions in years, and their supporters will surely savour every moment of life in the top flight.