2. Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga ("Zweite Bundesliga", ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below the Bundesliga and above the 3. Liga in the German football league system. All of the 2. Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the annual German Cup competition. A total of 127 clubs have competed in the 2. Bundesliga since its foundation.

The decision to establish the league as the second level of football in West Germany was made in May 1973. The league started operating in August 1974, then with two divisions of 20 clubs. It was reduced to a single division in 1981. From the 1991–92 season onwards clubs from former East Germany started participating in the league, briefly expanding it to two divisions again. It returned to a single division format again at the end of that season and has had 18 clubs as its strength since 1994. Two clubs from the 2. Bundesliga are directly promoted to the Bundesliga, while a third promoted club is determined through play-offs, from 1974 to 1991 and again since 2008. Between 1991 and 2008 the third-placed club in the league was directly promoted. The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the third division; from 1974 to 1994 the Oberliga, from 1994 to 2008 the Regionalliga and since 2008 the 3. Liga. The number of relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years. Since 2008 two clubs are directly relegated while the third-last team has the opportunity to defend its league place in play-offs against the third placed team of the 3. Liga.

1. FC Nürnberg, SC Freiburg, 1. FC Köln, Arminia Bielefeld and VfL Bochum hold the record number of championships in the league with four each. Bielefeld also holds the record for number of promotions from the 2. Bundesliga to the Bundesliga, with eight.

For the 2018–19 season, an average of 19,128 spectators watched 2. Bundesliga matches, making the 2. Bundesliga the world's second most-watched secondary football league, after the EFL Championship in England.
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football in Germany
EVE
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Bundesliga
EVE
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Bundesliga
EVE
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3. Liga
ORG
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German football league system
Concept
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DFB-Pokal
EVE
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Oberliga
ORG
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Regionalliga
ORG
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1. FC Nürnberg
ORG
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SC Freiburg
ORG
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1. FC Köln
ORG
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Arminia Bielefeld
MEDIA
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VfL Bochum
ORG
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2018–19 season
EVE
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EFL Championship
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
Q152665
2. Bundesliga
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
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2. Bundesliga
ORG
1973-05-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
May 1973
DATE
1974-08-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
August 1974
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1981-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1981
DATE
1991-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1991
DATE
1994-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1994
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1974-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1974
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1991-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1991
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2008
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1991-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1991
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2008
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1974
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1994
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1994
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2008
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2008
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2018
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sports league level
league level above
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league level above
league system
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inception
inception
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