TSV 1860 Rosenheim

The history of TSV goes back to before 1860 when young men trained in gymnastics in the courtyard of Weinwirt Fortner, then a popular wine bar in Rosenheim. On 20 October 1860 the local gymnasts organized themselves as Freiwillige Turnerfeuerwehr Rosenheim, a sports association and volunteer fire brigade. In 1865, the club took up sports education at the local primary school until 1868 when the city of Rosenheim provided a designated area on the Kaiser-Ellmaierstraße for the club's gymnasts to train. In 1870, the club had 35 members, of whom 24 served in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). Four club members lost their lives in the conflict.

In 1873, the voluntary fire brigade and the gymnastics club split into two separate entities, with the gymnasts becoming the Turnverein Rosenheim. The 40 member strong club became a registered sporting association in 1893. In 1895, they purchased a property on Wittelsbacherstraße to build a sports hall and sports ground. By the turn of the century in 1900, TV Rosenheim had over 200 members.

During World War I, club members again served in the armed forces with 40 of their number not returning from the battlefield. Despite these losses, the club formed a football department in 1919, with Georg Bayer as its first chairman. In these first years, the footballers moved home ground regularly until, in 1923, the ground at Jahnstraße became their permanent home.

Apart from the footballers, the club saw enlargement in many fields in those post-war years, forming a track & field and a swimming department as well.

In 1924, a separation of gymnastics and football clubs took place in across of Germany, as ordered by the Deutscher Turnerbund (German Gymnastics Federation). The footballers of the TVR became independent under the name of Spiel und Sportvereinigung Rosenheim. The TVR continued to grow and in 1933 the footballers re-joined their parent club. A new sports centrum was built, the Sportanlage an der Jahnstraße, at the footballers home ground. The new homeground was inaugurated in a match versus the club's name sake, TSV 1860 München, which ended in a surprising 4–3 victory for the locals in front of 3,000 spectators.

The Second World War again saw many of the club's members called to military service. Of the 170 that went, 60 did not return. The club suffered further when a 1944 air strike on Rosenheim virtually destroyed the sports ground and club house. Another air strike in April 1945 destroyed the tennis courts. Rosenheim was regarded as part of the Alpenfestung (Alpine Fortress) by the Allies and was also located on a major rail and road intersection.

The American occupation forces in Bavaria dissolved all sports clubs after the end of the war in 1945 and Rosenheim was no exception. A local sports club however quickly formed, uniting all of Rosenheims associations in the ASV Rosenheim in 1945. The ASV quickly initiated a rebuilding program and in 1946 and 1947 the sports grounds on Jahnstraße and the tennis grounds on Wittelsbacherstraße were rebuilt under the direction of August Rothmann and Hannes Heinritzi. The ASV spent two seasons in the Landesliga Bayern, then the second tier of the German league system. A second place in 1946–47 was followed by a ninth the season after and relegation due to the reduction of the number of Landesligas. The installations on Jahnstraße were finally reopened in 1948. With the liberalization of laws by the occupying forces, the ASV was permitted to return to its original name and the TSV 1860 Rosenheim was reborn in 1950.

The club formed a basketball department in 1960 and constructed a designated sports field for its players in the same year. Also, the club's home at Jahnstraße was overhauled that year. In the year of the one hundreds anniversary, the football department achieved its greatest success so far, promotion to the Amateurliga Bayern (III), the highest football league in the state. The club however only lasted one season in this league, finishing 14th and being relegated back to the 2nd Amateurliga. From 1963, the club spent most of its time in the Landesliga Bayern-Süd (IV), where it became something of a fixture, having spent more seasons on this level than any other club in any of the three Bavarian Landesligas. As of 2007, the club leads the all-time table for the Landesliga Süd by an incredible 400 points, ahead of second placed FC Gundelfingen.[3]

The club itself meanwhile formed a bobsleigh department, reflecting the fact of Rosenheims geographical position between the lowlands and the mountains.

The club renovated its stadium and reopened it on 8 September 1969 with a game against FC Bayern Munich who just won its second German championship this year. By 1970, the club had almost 1200 members but the football department found itself dropping to the Bezirksliga for two seasons, returning to the Landesliga in 1972. A new club home was built in 1972 and the town also saw the Olympic flame carried through Rosenheim by the club's athletes for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Six members of the club took part in the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, all in the bobsled competition. The 1980 Winter Olympics saw two members of the TSV compete.

In 1976, the TSV managed for a second time to win promotion to the Bayernliga, this time holding out for six seasons in the highest Bavarian league. A tenth place in 1979 remains the best ever result for the club. A grandstand was built on the northern side of the stadium in 1978, on the strength of Bayernliga membership.

In 1982, the football team was relegated back to the Landesliga. A year later, the under-19's side of the club gained promotion to the Bayernliga, competing with clubs like Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München in this league. The club's basketball department achieved similar success in 1994, gaining entry in the Oberliga Bayern.

The year 1995 saw the third promotion of the club's senior football team to the Bayernliga. again, they only lasted one year, bounced back straight away to find themselves relegated from the league once more in 1998. Since then, the TSV 1860 has remained in its, almost, permanent home Landesliga. Relegation pain was eased by the fact that the team reached the second round of the German cup (DFB Pokal) in 1999–2000, going out to FC St. Pauli 1–2 at home, after the club won the Bavarian Cup and once more qualified for the national cup competition, financially a major success for a small amateur site like the TSV 1860.

In 1999, a merger with local rival SB/DJK Rosenheim was discussed but failed. Instead, the stadium at Jahnstraße was once more renovated and in 2001 an astro turf field was installed next to the ice hockey stadium.

In 2008–09, the club returned to more successful ways, earning promotion back to the Bayernliga after winning another Landesliga title. In 2011–12 the club took out its first-ever Bayernliga championship and earned promotion to the Regionalliga.[4] In the 2012–13 the club finished on a mid-table spot in the league but won the Bavarian Cup for a second time in the club's history and qualified for the first round of the German Cup. The club finished 15th in the league in 2013–14 and had to defend its Regionalliga place in a play-off round with the Bayernliga runners-up where it survived the first round but was condemned to relegation by fellow Regionalliga club 1. FC Schweinfurt after two defeats.[5]

TSV 1860 offers eleven different sports, as diverse as fencing and triathlon. The club is part of a youth development program with the FC Bayern Munich, one of eleven clubs to currently do so. Bastian Schweinsteiger is currently the most well known player from the club, playing for the English side Manchester United and as the German national team's captain. Schweinsteiger's transfer from Munich to Manchester earned the club a solidarity contribution of €38.000 from Manchester United.[6]

A third-place finish in the Bayrnliga in 2015–16 qualified the club for the promotion round to the Regionalliga. A first-round defeat by FC Augsburg II was followed by victory over Viktoria Aschaffenburg and promotion back to the Regionalliga.

• Bavarian Under 15 championship
  • Runners-up: 2003