Like many clubs in Germany, 1. FC Heidenheim is the product of many mergers, splits and comings together over the years. The forerunner club was originally founded in 1846 as a gymnastics and later general sports club. In the early years, the football team operated as just one of many divisions of the club. Indeed, it was not until 2007 that the footballers finally became fully independent, forming what is the current 1. FCH.

Throughout its history in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was a small, amateur club playing in local and regional leagues. 

In 2009, however, the club achieved promotion to the national third tier, the 3. Liga. Five years later, the club then achieved promotion to the second-tier 2. Bundesliga. In 2020, they just missed out on promotion to the top flight, losing the two-leg play-off game on the then still applicable away goals rule.

On the very last day of the 2022/23 season, however, 1. FCH won the 2. Bundesliga title and thus gained promotion to the top-tier Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history. And by the end of the 2023/24 season they had qualified for Europe.

For information on getting to the stadium, travel to and around Heidenheim, and places to eat, drink and stay, use the respective links above to the relevant pages on this site.

For more background history on the club and latest news, use the external links below.