Heidelberger RK
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| Full name | Heidelberger Ruderklub 1872 e.V. |
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| Union | German Rugby Federation |
| Founded | 9 May 1872 |
| Location | Heidelberg, Germany |
| Ground(s) | Sportgelände an der Speyererstraße (Capacity: 1,500) |
| Chairman | Holger Xandry |
| Coach(es) | Kobus Potgieter |
| League(s) | Rugby-Bundesliga |
| 2015–16 | Rugby-Bundesliga South/West, 1st |
| Official website | |
| heidelberger-ruderklub |
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The Heidelberger Ruderklub (Heidelberger RK or HRK for short) is a German rowing club and rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga.
The club is one of only two professional rugby clubs in Germany, the other being SC 1880 Frankfurt. The turn to professionalism in a sport otherwise fully amateur in Germany was made possible through the support of Hans-Peter Wild, who owns a soft drink manufacturing business.
The club's origins date back to 1872, when, on 9 May, the Deutschen Flaggen-Club Heidelberg was formed, a rowing club. In the early days, several rowing clubs were formed in Heidelberg and disappeared again, but the remaining ones merged in 1875 to form the Heidelberger Ruderclub, under the leadership of the Flaggen-Club.
The game of rugby was introduced in the club in the early 1890s by Edward Hill Ullrich, who was partly of English descend and had a great love of "English" games, translating the rules of rugby into German. It is from this beginnings that the HRK claims to be the oldest rugby club in Germany. This is true in the sense that it is the oldest rugby-playing club in Germany but other clubs have an older rugby department.
The club had a golden era in the late 1920s, when it reached the German championship final three years in a row, winning the title in 1927 and 1928.
After years of stagnation and a lack of home ground, the HRK formed a youth department and moved to the Sportgelände an der Speyererstraße in 1961, which is still its current home. This development soon bore fruit and the club earned three championships in the 1970s, also qualifying for the new Rugby-Bundesliga in 1971. The club continued to be a force in German rugby well into the 80's, earning its last championship in 1986.
After a period of decline, it found itself in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, where it was promoted from back to the first division in 1997. After a short stint in this league, the team had to return to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2000, where it was to remain for the next couple of seasons.
The club dominated the 2nd Bundesliga South/West in 2004-05, winning all 16 regular season games, the largest win being a 146-5 victory over BSC Offenbach. In the final against the North/East champion DSV 78/08 Ricklingen, an 18-6 victory meant promotion back to the Bundesliga.
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