List of rugby union clubs in Germany

This is a List of rugby union clubs in Germany. It lists all rugby union clubs in Germany registered with the German Rugby Federation, the "DRV", or taking part in the German league system. As of April 2010, the International Rugby Board lists the number of clubs in Germany at 110.
Some of the clubs competing in the German league system are clubs of the US and British armed forces in Germany and therefore not necessarily members of the "DRV". Examples of US Army rugby clubs in Germany are the teams in Illesheim, Ramstein and Vilseck, while other clubs, like in the "RC Kaiserslautern", recruit some of their players from the US forces but have German players as well. Up to 32 US forces teams had been playing in Southern Germany at its peak, based in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, being organised in the "United States Forces Europe Rugby Union" (USFERU). Most disappeared with the withdrawal of US forces from Germany at the end of the Cold War. A number of clubs remained but have since dropped out of the German league system, like the "Bamberg RFC", "Darmstadt 233rd BSB RFC", "Hanau Hornets", "Schweinfurt RFC", "Spangdahlem RFC" and "Würzburg RFC", while a few, like the "Ramstein Rogues RFC", "Illesheim RFC" and "Baumholder RFC" still compete in 2009–10.
The "RC Mönchengladbach Rhinos" and the "Elmpt Falcons" are rugby teams of the British Army in Germany and still active.
The oldest rugby union club in Germany is the DSV 78 Hannover, formed in 1878 as "DFV Hannover", in a time when a differencation between rugby and football was not yet made in Germany. While there is older clubs in Germany then "DSV 78", like the Heidelberger TV which was formed in 1846, their rugby departments were established after "DSV's".
Clubs by state.
The German rugby clubs, listed by federal state, with the league their first men's and women's teams play in 2009–10, in as far as the clubs field a senior side at all:
Baden-Württemberg.
Rugby clubs in the state of Baden-Württemberg:
Bavaria.
Rugby clubs in the state of Bavaria:
Berlin.
Rugby clubs in the state of Berlin:
Brandenburg.
Rugby clubs in the state of Brandenburg:
Bremen.
Rugby clubs in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen:
Hamburg.
Rugby clubs in the state of Hamburg:
Hesse.
Rugby clubs in the state of Hesse:
Lower Saxony.
Rugby clubs in the state of Lower Saxony:
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Rugby clubs in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:
North Rhine-Westphalia.
Rugby clubs in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia:
Rhineland-Palatinate.
Rugby clubs in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate:
Saarland.
Rugby clubs in the state of Saarland:
Saxony.
Rugby clubs in the state of Saxony:
Saxony-Anhalt.
Rugby clubs in the state of Saxony-Anhalt:
Schleswig-Holstein.
Rugby clubs in the state of Schleswig-Holstein:
Thuringia.
Rugby clubs in the state of Thuringia:
Foreign clubs.
In the 2009–10 season, two clubs from outside the borders of Germany take part in German league competitions, one from Luxembourg and one from Austria:
Defunct clubs & teams.
Germany.
The following clubs have ceased to exist or stopped operating a rugby department:
East Germany.
The following clubs existed in the former country of East Germany. Some of them have ceased to exist or to operate a rugby department while others have changed their name:
Key.
Men:<br>
BL – Rugby-Bundesliga<br>
2BLN/E – 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East<br>
2BLS/W – 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West<br>
RLBW – Regionalliga Baden-Württemberg <br>
RLB – Regionalliga Bavaria <br>
RLEA – Regionalliga East – Division A <br>
RLEB – Regionalliga East – Division B <br>
RLH – Regionalliga Hesse <br>
RLLS – Regionalliga Lower Saxony <br>
RLN – Regionalliga North <br>
RLNW – Regionalliga North Rhine-Westphalia <br>
RLRP – Regionalliga Rhineland-Palatinate <br>
VLB – Verbandsliga Bavaria <br>
VLBW – Verbandsliga Baden-Württemberg <br>
VLN – Verbandsliga North <br>
VLNW – Verbandsliga North Rhine-Westphalia <br>
E7 – East 7s league 
Women:<br>
WBL – Women's Rugby Bundesliga <br>
W2BL – Women's 2nd Rugby Bundesliga <br>
WRLE – Women's Regionalliga East <br>
WRLN – Women's Regionalliga North <br>
WRLS – Women's Regionalliga South <br>
WRLW – Women's Regionalliga West
Notes.
A. Playing as "08 Ricklingen/Wunstorf", a partnership of SV 08 Ricklingen and TuS Wunstorf.
B. Playing as SG SV Odin/VfR Döhren, a partnership of SV Odin Hannover and VfR Döhren.
C. Playing as "SG Jesteburg/Geesthacht", a partnership of VfL Jesteburg and VfL Geesthacht Harlekins.
D. Playing as "SG 80 III/Babenhausen", a partnership of the third team of SC 1880 Frankfurt and CRC Babenhausen.
E. The "East 7s league", or "Mitteldeutsche Siebener Liga", is a development league for emerging rugby clubs in what was formerly East Germany.