60 years of Bundesliga
Club-by-club historical guide: Ingolstadt
Young guns Ingolstadt set an away-day record when they became a Bundesliga team to be reckoned with back in 2015/16.
bundesliga.com is taking you through all the teams to have graced Germany’s first division over the last 60 years – based on the number of seasons they’ve played up to and including 2023/24.
>>> Discover many more memorable moments and records in the Bundesliga's 60-year history!
FC Ingolstadt 04
Years in Bundesliga: 2 (2015-17)
Most appearances: Marvin Matip (66)
Most goals: Moritz Hartmann (13)
Youngest player: Maurice Multhaup (18 years, 11 months, 27 days)
The city of Ingolstadt is best known as the home of carmaker Audi, as well as the founding location of the Illuminati in 1776. Although there have been football clubs there since the early 20th century, the club we now know as FC Ingolstadt was only formed in 2004, as a merger between ESV Ingolstadt and MTV 1881 Ingolstadt.
They began life down in the fourth-tier Bayernliga but were quickly up to Bundesliga 2 by 2008. Back-to-back relegations and promotions followed before Die Schanzer established themselves in the second division.
Having never even finished in the top half of the Bundesliga 2 table, they then shocked German football by topping the league under Ralph Hasenhüttl in 2014/15 to earn promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time ever. They became the first promoted side ever to win their first three away games and would finish in an impressive 11th place, never at risk of relegation.
There was no repeating the heroics in their second season as they went down in 17th, but did make their mark as the first team to inflict a Bundesliga defeat on RB Leipzig – coached by Hasenhüttel as of the start of the campaign – on Matchday 14.
It was one of only eight wins all season. As a result, it allowed Bayern Munich to retake top spot from newly promoted Leipzig. The champions later sent a “truckload of Weißwurst” to Ingolstadt as thanks to their Bavarian neighbours. Since 2017, Die Schanzer have flitted between Bundesliga 2 and the 3. Liga.
>>> Discover many more memorable moments and records in the Bundesliga's 60-year history!