# German women's ice hockey Bundesliga

The German Women's Ice Hockey League (German: Deutsche Fraueneishockey-Liga) or DFEL, also known as the German Women's Ice Hockey Bundesliga (German: Deutsche Fraueneishockey-Bundesliga, lit. 'German Women's Ice Hockey Confederated League'), is the top-tier women's ice hockey league in Germany. An amateur league, it was founded in 1988 by the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB, Deutscher Eishockey Bund).

## History

The German Women's Ice Hockey Bundesliga was created in 1988–89. Previously, the national championship took the form of a tournament featuring the best teams from the various regional federations. The Bundesliga was initially split into two divisions, North and South, with a final championship tournament at the end of the season, but in April 2006, the participating teams voted to have only a single division, starting from the 2006–07 season.

### 2022–23 season

Six teams participated in the 2022–23 DFEL season, following the withdrawal of Düsseldorfer EG after the 2019–20 season and the withdrawal of EC Köln ("Die Haie") after the 2021–22 season. The regular season began on 1 October 2022 and concluded on 19 February 2023. ECDC Memmingen were the regular season champions; the team featured both the league’s top scorer, American forward Theresa Knutson, and best goaltender, Emma Schweiger.
The top four teams from the regular season qualified for the playoffs, which were played on a best-of-five tournament schedule. In the semifinals, ECDC Memmingen swept ESC Planegg-Würmtal to take the series in three games and the Mad Dogs Mannheim bested ERC Ingolstadt in four games.
ECDC Memmingen did not slow down in the German Championship finals, sweeping Mad Dogs Mannheim in three games to claim the team’s fourth championship title.

### 2023–24 season

With the addition of the Amsterdam Tigers, seven teams participated in the 2023–24 DFEL season; the Amsterdam Tigers were the 2022–23 winners of the Netherlands' championship. The regular season began on 23 September 2023 and concluded on 25 February 2024. Each team played 24 games, facing every opponent twice at home and twice away.

## Teams
### 2024–25 season

| Team | Location | Founded | Home venue | Head coach |
| HK Budapest | Budapest | | Tüskesátor | Levente Szilágyi |
| EC Bergkamener Bären | Bergkamen | 1982 | Eissporthalle Bergkamen (500) | Miriam Thimm |
| Eisbären Juniors Berlin | Berlin | 2017 | Wellblechpalast (4,695) | Philipp Richter |
| ERC Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | 2012 | Saturn Arena (4,815) | Christian Sohlmann |
| Mad Dogs Mannheim | Mannheim | 2002 | SAP Arena (13,600) | Randall Karsten |
| ECDC Memmingen | Memmingen | 1989 | Eissporthalle Memmingen (3,850) | Waldemar Dietrich |

## Championship record

| Season | Champion | Second | Third |
| Fraueneishockey-Endrunde ||||
| 1983–84 | ESG Esslingen | EC Bergkamener Bären | ESV Kaufbeuren |
| 1984–85 | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | EV Füssen | ESG Esslingen |
| 1985–86 | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | EC Bergkamener Bären | EDM Köln |
| 1986–87 | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | ESG Esslingen | EV Füssen |
| 1987–88 | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | ESG Esslingen |
| DFEL ||||
| 1988–89 | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | ESG Esslingen |
| 1989–90 | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | OSC Berlin |
| 1990–91 | OSC Berlin | EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | Mannheimer ERC WildCats |
| 1991–92 | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | Neusser EC | EC Bergkamener Bären |
| 1992–93 | Neusser EC | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | TuS Geretsried |
| 1993–94 | TuS Geretsried | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | Neusser EC |
| 1994–95 | ESG Esslingen | DEC Tigers Königsbrunn | TuS Geretsried |
| 1995–96 | ESG Esslingen | TuS Wiehl | TuS Geretsried |
| 1996–97 | ESG Esslingen | TuS Wiehl | Grefrather EC |
| 1997–98 | ESG Esslingen | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | TuS Geretsried |
| 1998–99 | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | TuS Geretsried | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 1999–2000 | Mannheimer ERC WildCats | TuS Geretsried | TuS Wiehl |
| 2000–01 | TV Kornwestheim | TuS Geretsried | EC Bergkamener Bären |
| 2001–02 | TV Kornwestheim | SC Riessersee | OSC Berlin |
| 2002–03 | TV Kornwestheim | OSC Berlin | Mannheimer ERC WildCats |
| 2003–04 | TV Kornwestheim | OSC Berlin | SC Riessersee |
| 2004–05 | EC Bergkamener Bären | TV Kornwestheim | OSC Berlin |
| 2005–06 | OSC Berlin | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | TV Kornwestheim |
| 2006–07 | OSC Berlin | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | SC Riessersee |
| 2007–08 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | OSC Berlin | SC Riessersee |
| 2008–09 | OSC Berlin | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | EC Bergkamener Bären |
| 2009–10 | OSC Berlin | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | EC Bergkamener Bären |
| 2010–11 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | OSC Berlin | EC Bergkamener Bären |
| 2011–12 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ECDC Memmingen | EC Bergkamener Bären |
| 2012–13 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ECDC Memmingen | OSC Berlin |
| 2013–14 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | OSC Berlin | ECDC Memmingen |
| 2014–15 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ECDC Memmingen | ERC Ingolstadt |
| 2015–16 | ECDC Memmingen | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ERC Ingolstadt |
| 2016–17 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ERC Ingolstadt | ECDC Memmingen |
| 2017–18 | ECDC Memmingen | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ERC Ingolstadt |
| 2018–19 | ECDC Memmingen | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | bronze medal not contested |
| 2019–20 | Finals between ECDC Memmingen and ESC Planegg-Würmtal cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Finals between ECDC Memmingen and ESC Planegg-Würmtal cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | no bronze medal match |
| 2020–21 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | Eisbären Juniors Berlin | ERC Ingolstadt |
| 2021–22 | ERC Ingolstadt | ECDC Memmingen | bronze medal not contested |
| 2022–23 | ECDC Memmingen | Mad Dogs Mannheim | bronze medal not contested |
| 2023–24 | ECDC Memmingen | ERC Ingolstadt | bronze medal not contested |

### Medal table

| Team | | | | Total |
| ESC Planegg-Würmtal | 8 | 7 | 1 | 16 |
| OSC Berlin | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| ECDC Memmingen | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| Mannheimer ERC WildCats | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| ESG Esslingen | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| EHC Eisbären Düsseldorf | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| TV Kornwestheim | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| TuS Geretsried | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| EC Bergkamener Bären | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| ERC Ingolstadt | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Neusser EC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| TuS Wiehl | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| SC Riessersee | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| EV Füssen | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| DEC Tigers Königsbrunn | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eisbären Juniors Berlin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mad Dogs Mannheim | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| ESV Kaufbeuren | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kölner EC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Grefrather EC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

## German Women's Cup

Beginning in the 2001–02 season, the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) organized an annual tournament called the DEB Women's Cup (German: DEB-Pokal der Frauen), which would be played over several days at the end of the DFEL season. It featured the top four or six teams from the most recent DFEL season, divided into two groups of two or three teams each. The tournament has not been held since 2018.
Record :
| Season | Champion | Finalist |
| 2001–02 | Grefrather EC | EHC Memmingen |
| 2002–03 | WSV Braunlage | ERC Sonthofen |
| 2003–04 | Grefrather EC | ECDC Memmingen |
| 2004–05 | Grefrather EC | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 2005–06 | EC Bergkamener Bären | ECDC Memmingen |
| 2006–07 | EC Bergkamener Bären | ESC Planegg/Würmtal |
| 2007–08 | OSC Berlin | Hamburger SV |
| 2008–09 | OSC Berlin | ECDC Memmingen |
| 2009–10 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | OSC Berlin |
| 2010–11 | OSC Berlin | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 2011–12 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | OSC Berlin |
| 2012–13 | ECDC Memmingen | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 2013–14 | OSC Berlin | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 2014–15 | ESC Planegg-Würmtal | ERC Ingolstadt |
| 2015–16 | ECDC Memmingen | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 2016–17 | ECDC Memmingen | ESC Planegg-Würmtal |
| 2017–18 | ECDC Memmingen | ERC Ingolstadt |