Founding and early years (1905–1918) Arminia Bielefeld was founded on 3 May 1905 as
1. Bielefelder FC Arminia. The fourteen men who founded the club were from the local bourgeoisie. Arminia's name derives from the
Cheruscan chieftain
Arminius, who defeated a
Roman army in the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In 1907, local rivals
FC Siegfried joined Arminia, a move which strengthened Arminia's squad. Soon other clubs from Bielefeld joined League football. After playing on various grounds, Arminia moved to a new home at the Pottenau in 1910. Their first league championship came during the 1912–13 season, when they won the Westphalian championship beating
BV 04 Dortmund 5–1 in the final. The outbreak of World War I interrupted Arminia's rise, and between 1914 and 1918 the club played at the
district level.
West German Champions and "The Alm" (1918–1933) In 1919, Arminia merged with
Bielefelder Turngemeinde 1848 to form
TG Arminia Bielefeld. However, the two merged teams dissolved the merger in 1922 and both parent clubs were formed again. Arminia won the West German championship in 1922. Originally, they were level on points with
Kölner BC 01, but Köln fielded an ineligible player in one match. Arminia played for the first time in the German Championships, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 5–0 to
FC Wacker München. In 1923, Arminia won their second West German championship in a dramatic way. They trailed
TuRU Düsseldorf 3–1 at half time of the final, but came from behind to win 4–3 after extra time. Arminia faced
Union Oberschöneweide in the quarter-finals of the German championships. The match ended goalless, so a replay was held. Arminia led 1–0 and conceded the equalizer in injury time. The Berlin side won the match after extra time.
Walter Claus-Oehler became Arminia's first player to win a cap in the
German national team. Arminia won further Westphalian titles from 1924 to 1927, but were unable to repeat their success in the West German Championships. An away match against
SC Preußen Münster in November 1925, which Arminia won 5–0, was the first football match to be broadcast on German Radio. from which they were relegated after the inaugural season. Three attempts of gaining promotion failed before their return to the top flight was won in 1938. Their best performance in the Gauliga was the 1939–40 campaign, where Arminia finished second. Two years later, Arminia was one of only two teams to win a match at
Schalke 04. On 25 July 1943 Arminia merged with local rivals
VfB 03 Bielefeld. The merger finished the 1943–44 season in last place.
Post World War II years (1945–1962) After World War II, a new league with all teams who competed in the Gauliga Westfalen was formed. Arminia were relegated and were unable to win re-promotion. In 1947–48, Arminia were a third division side for the first time in their history. After a dominating season in the Bezirksklasse, Arminia was docked 14 points because they fielded an ineligible player. The next season was already under way when the Landesliga (II) was expanded by two teams. Arminia took their chance, won the league and gained promotion to the
Oberliga West. Arminia's time in the Oberliga lasted only one season. Arminia beat
Schalke 04 4–2 at home but finished only second from the bottom. In 1954, Arminia were even relegated to the third tier, the "Landesliga Westfalen, Gruppe Ostwestfalen", a league only covering the north-eastern part of Westphalia. In 1956, Arminia qualified for a new third tier, the "Verbandsliga Westfalen, Gruppe Ostwestfalen", which encompassed a slightly larger area.
Promotion to the Bundesliga (1962–1970) In 1962 Arminia become a second division side again (then: 2. Liga West, covering the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia). In 1962–63 they finished in seventh place to secure a spot in the newly formed
Regionalliga West, which was situated directly below the new Bundesliga. Arminia finished their first season in mid-table, but recorded a top-half finish in four of the following five seasons. In 1966, Arminia beat
Alemannia Aachen to win the West German Cup for the first time. The following year, the forward Ernst Kuster joined the team. He went on to become the club's all-time leading goalscorer, until
Fabian Klos beat his record more than half a century later. A 1–0 loss to
Wuppertaler SV on the last day of the 1966–67 season stopped Arminia entering the Bundesliga promotion play-offs. Arminia were runners-up in the 1969–70 season, and won their first promotion to the Bundesliga after a 2–0 win at
Tennis Borussia Berlin in the play-offs.
Bundesliga scandal and return (1970–1980) Halfway through their
first Bundesliga season, Arminia were in 17th place, a relegation position, but went on to finish the season in 14th. However, near the end of the season, the president of
Kickers Offenbach,
Horst-Gregorio Canellas, revealed that Arminia and several other clubs had engaged in match-fixing. Three of the ten Bundesliga games proven by the DFB to have been manipulated through bribery directly involved Arminia. Two players at the club were banned from football for life (
Waldemar Słomiany and Jürgen Neumann). Arminia participated in the
1971–72 Bundesliga season while the investigation was ongoing, and finished in last place, but were found guilty of match-fixing by the DFB and were denied a licence and forcibly relegated at the end of the season. Arminia finished mid-table in the following seasons, but did qualify for the newly formed
2. Bundesliga in 1974. After returning to the 2. Bundesliga in 1974, Arminia became
Herbstmeister during the
1976–77 2. Bundesliga season, but finished as runners-up behind
St. Pauli and faced
1860 Munich in a two-legged promotion play-off. Arminia won the first match at home 4–0, but lost the second leg in Munich, also 4–0. A third match had to be played in
Frankfurt, which Munich won 2–0. The team recovered to win promotion to the Bundesliga for the
1978–79 season. Under the management of
Otto Rehhagel, they won 4–0 at
Bayern Munich on 10 March 1979,
Werder Bremen's defender
Norbert Siegmann slashed Lienen's right
thigh in a tackle, exposing his muscles and femur. Attendances declined in the mid-1980s, increasing the club's financial problems. In
1984–85, Arminia finished third from bottom, and lost a relegation play-off against
1. FC Saarbrücken.
Decline to the Oberliga (1985–1994) By the autumn of 1987, Arminia had debts of 4.5 million
Marks. In
1987–88 they finished in last place in the 2. Bundesliga and were relegated into the
Oberliga Westfalen.
Ernst Middendorp became the new manager and assembled a young team for the next season. Arminia finished second in the Oberliga in 1988–89. They won the Oberliga a year later, but failed to advance after promotion play-offs against
VfB Oldenburg and
TSV Havelse. Four seasons of not qualifying for the 2. Bundesliga promotion play-offs followed, in which the team started well, but were unable to compete for the championship. In 1991, Arminia won the
Westphalian Cup, the regional qualification cup for the
DFB-Pokal, and beat
FSV Mainz 05 in the first round of the
1991–92 DFB-Pokal.
Resurgence and yo-yo era (1994–2004) In the spring of 1994, Arminia signed the veteran Bundesliga players
Thomas von Heesen,
Armin Eck and
Fritz Walter. Arminia struggled at first but went on to become champions of the newly formed
Regionalliga West/Südwest to end a run of seven seasons in local league football. However, after a poor run after the winter break, Arminia were relegated shortly after Brendesæter had left the club.
Bruno Labbadia became the league's top scorer with 28 goals during the
1998–99 season and the club immediately regained promotion to the Bundesliga by winning the 2. Bundesliga. The club entered the
1999–2000 season with a smaller budget due to financial problems and was subsequently relegated after becoming the third team in history to lose ten matches in a row. Arminia struggled against relegation again the next season but avoided dropping into the Regionalliga with a 13th-place finish. The following year, Arminia they won their sixth promotion to the Bundesliga in
2001–02 by finishing second behind
Hannover 96, with
Artur Wichniarek scoring 18 goals. Arminia were unable to avoid relegation the following season, earning only two points from the last six matches. Arminia's tendency to move frequently between divisions during and since this period has led to them being described as a
Fahrstuhlmannschaft, or yo-yo club.
Bundesliga reestablishment (2004–2009) The team earned promotion to the Bundesliga again in
2003–04, with the Ghanaian striker
Isaac Boakye scoring 14 goals in his debut season. They stayed in the top flight until 2009. In
2004–05,
Patrick Owomoyela became Arminia's most
capped German player with his third appearance for the
national team. Owomoyela went on to appear in six internationals while at Bielefeld, a club record. Owomoyela and
Delron Buckley, who scored of 15 Bundesliga goals during the 2004–05 season, left the club in 2005. Arminia reached the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal in both
2005 and
2006, losing to
Bayern Munich and
Eintracht Frankfurt respectively. The campaign "Aktion 5000 +" began to increase club membership beyond their 5,000th member, after reaching this milestone at the end of 2005. Arminia finished 13th in the Bundesliga in both
2004–05 and
2005–06. Players from this team subsequently left the club, including
Fatmir Vata and
Heiko Westermann in 2007, and
Mathias Hain,
Sibusiso Zuma and
Petr Gabriel in 2008. Under
Ernst Middendorp, Arminia avoided relegation during the
2006–07 season after winning four consecutive matches towards the end of the season. The 2007 demolition of the East Stand drew the attention of fans and the local media, with the club establishing a webcam to follow the project, as well as a daily attendance of roughly 300 fans to witness the works. The East Stand was notable at the time as being the last touchline terraced stand. The
2007–08 season began with three wins in the first five matches, but three matches later Arminia recorded their second largest Bundesliga defeat when they lost 8–1 away to
Werder Bremen. Relegation was avoided on the final day of the season as
1. FC Nürnberg lost at home while Arminia drew against
VfB Stuttgart. The financial situation worsened, especially as costs for constructing the East Stand had proven to be much higher than originally planned. The coach, the managing director and the president were replaced in the summer. The
2010–11 season started with Arminia in last place after 11 matches, with only four points. In November, their manager
Christian Ziege was replaced by
Ewald Lienen, the former Bielefeld player and member of the fan-voted "Best XI" of all time. However, Arminia picked up 16 points and won only four games all season, resulting in a last-place finish and relegation to the
3. Liga. in the 2013–14 season For the
2011–12 season, a new team was formed with players including
Patrick Platins,
Manuel Hornig,
Tom Schütz,
Sebastian Hille,
Thomas Hübener,
Patrick Schönfeld,
Johannes Rahn and
Fabian Klos.
Stefan Ortega Moreno joined from the club's youth team. After a poor start, they finished 13th but won the
Westphalia Cup, beating
Preußen Münster in the final. This qualified Arminia for the
2012–13 DFB-Pokal, where they beat the 2. Bundesliga team
SC Paderborn 07, but lost in the second round against
Bayer Leverkusen. On 11 May 2013, Bielefeld beat
VfL Osnabrück 1–0 to guarantee a top two finish and promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga for the
2013–14 season. In 2013–14, Arminia qualified for the second round of the
DFB-Pokal again, but declining league form led their coach
Stefan Krämer – the first manager to have held office for more than two years since 2004 – to depart. Under his successor,
Norbert Meier, Arminia finished 16th, and lost a relegation play-off against
SV Darmstadt 98 on away goals after a late extra-time goal. In the
2014–15 DFB-Pokal, as a
3. Liga club, Arminia defeated three
Bundesliga teams (
Hertha Berlin,
Werder Bremen and
Borussia Mönchengladbach) to reach the semi-finals, where they lost to
Wolfsburg. They also gained promotion back to the 2. Bundesliga after a 2–2 draw against
Jahn Regensburg and went on to secure the title in their last match.
Sporting and financial recovery (2015–2020) In
2015–16 Arminia lost in the first round of the
DFB-Pokal and recorded 18 draws in the league. Their 4–2 win over
Greuther Fürth, only their third win at home that season, ensured survival in a season when they finished 12th and drew away against the league's top three teams. After the season, the coach
Norbert Meier was bought by
SV Darmstadt 98. Two managers were sacked in the
2016–17 season but Arminia avoided relegation as they finished in 15th after a 6–0 win over promotion candidates
Eintracht Braunschweig and a 1–1 draw against
Dynamo Dresden in their last two matches. They reached the quarter-finals of the
DFB-Pokal where they lost to
Eintracht Frankfurt. The
2017–18 season turned out easier as Arminia finished fourth. The club also lowered its debts through an alliance of sponsors and
Fabian Klos replaced Ernst Kuster as the club's all-time top scorer. In November 2018, the club sold its stadium. In the
2018–19 season Arminia finished seventh in the league after their coach
Jeff Saibene was replaced by
Uwe Neuhaus, but lost 3–0 at home against
MSV Duisburg in the second round of the
DFB-Pokal. The
2019–20 season saw an improvement, as the club won the 2. Bundesliga and equalled the record for most promotions to the
Bundesliga with their eighth promotion, a record they hold jointly with
1. FC Nürnberg. An early-season 2–0 victory away against
Hannover 96 moved them to third in the table, and they occupied the second promotion place when they met
Schalke in the second round of the
DFB-Pokal in October 2019. After Schalke led by three goals, Arminia scored twice in the last twenty minutes and almost forced extra time but eventually lost 3–2. They moved top of the league in December, ahead of other promotion candidates including
Hamburger SV and
VfB Stuttgart. After Arminia's 1–1 draw in Stuttgart on 9 March 2020, the season was interrupted because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, but they finished as champions with 68 points, ten more than second-placed Stuttgart, having lost only two league matches all season.
Bundesliga return and double relegation (2020–present) In the
2020–21 season, Arminia were the team with the lowest budget in the Bundesliga. In March 2021, their manager
Uwe Neuhaus was replaced by
Frank Kramer. A 2–0 win over
VfB Stuttgart in the final match secured their spot in the
2021–22 Bundesliga, but they finished that season in 17th place and were relegated to the
2. Bundesliga. In the 2022–23 season, Arminia finished 16th and lost the relegation play-off to
Wehen Wiesbaden, recording consecutive relegations. In their fourth season in the 3. Liga in
2023–24, the captain
Fabian Klos announced his retirement from professional football to end his 13-year career with the club. In 2025, the team reached the final of the
DFB-Pokal for the first time after defeating the holders
Bayer Leverkusen 2–1. They were the first third division club to reach the final since 2001, and the first such team to knock out four higher ranked Bundesliga teams in one season. Their American captain
Mael Corboz in particular received international attention. In May 2025, Arminia secured the 3. Liga title by beating
Waldhof Mannheim 1–0 in their final fixture, but the following week they lost the
DFB-Pokal final 4–2 to Stuttgart. ==Colours and crest==