Heidenheim, Hearts & history: Amazing rise from 7th tier, legendary coach, why they wanted trip to Tynecastle
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The name 1. Fußballclub Heidenheim 1846 e.V. means very little around Gorgie and Dalry. This small community football club from southern Germany arrive in Edinburgh in less than 48 hours as Hearts' latest UEFA Conference League opponents. Their history may not be too widespread in British football but delve into the Heidenheim annals and you will find yourself both fascinated and encapsulated.
Just 25 years ago, they were an amateur side in the Landesliga - the seventh tier 'State League' of German football. Bonnyrigg Rose and Spartans boast amazing stories from their own respective rises in Scotland, but nothing on this scale. Heidenheim didn't emerge from their own local parent association, Heidenheimer Sportbund, to stand as an independent club until 2007. They appointed Frank Schmidt head coach the same year, and lift-off was initiated.
Schmidt is still manager to this day at the age of 50. He is a local legend, Heidenheim born-and-bred, much like chief executive Holger Sanwald, who played for the club in those amateur days. Along with a few players and many staff, Sanwald has been party to a meteoric rise through six tiers of German football to reach the Bundesliga in 2023. "All the people in Germany said: 'They won't have any chance to stay in the Bundesliga.' Then we finished eighth and reached the Conference League. It's unbelievable," he says.
Heidenheim's backstory is the proverbial football fairytale. Hearts first came to Sanwald's attention in the 1980s during his student days, but more of that later. For now, he is engrossed in relaying his club's extraordinary history with an impressive command of English and a rapid speech rate. He is rather proud, excited even, to let people know every minute detail. His comments could easily fill a four-page newspaper pullout.
"Thank you so much for your interest. This is a very big thing for us," he says with great humility. "When I first started, I never expected to be playing European football in Heidenheim. I am from here, I grew up here. I played in our youth team, our second team and then our first team in the seventh league - the Landesliga. I became responsible for the football department at Heidenheim 29 years ago when I was 27. We were a big sports club with basketball, handball and so on.
"I grew up with this club. It's the club of my youth and I have never been anywhere else. When I started running the football side, I was completely on my own. Just me, nobody else. We had some volunteers who helped me on a matchday. They were my friends and we didn't get any money. It was just a hobby. We just did it because we liked football, like millions of other people worldwide. Step-by-step, we got more professional. I tried to convince more people to get involved with our club and build professional structures.
"When I first started, we wanted to reach the Oberliga, the fifth division in Germany. That was our objective. We needed 10 years to get there. I signed Frank Schmidt as a player in the sixth division. I convinced him to come back here and that's when our promotions started. Within four years we got to the Regionalliga. One year later we made the 3.Liga, and that was the first time we played nationwide matches.
"We got to the second Bundesliga in 2014 and played nine years at that level. You could say we were established. We did not have more money than the other teams. We just tried to do the best job every day - every person, every player, every coach. We waited for a perfect season. There are very big clubs in the second Bundesliga like Hamburg, Hannover, Nurnberg, Fortuna Dusseldorf and so on.
"It was very difficult for us to stay in the second Bundesliga, but we always dreamed of a perfect season. 'Maybe, in one year, with a perfect season, we can do this.' It happened one and a half years ago when we were promoted to the first Bundesliga. All the people in Germany said: 'They won't have any chance to stay in the Bundesliga.' That's what we expected as well, but in the end we finished in eighth place and qualified for the Conference League play-offs. It is unbelievable for us."
Victories over established giants like Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen underpinned a historic campaign. This season was always likely to be more challenging after some key players were sold. "It will still be very difficult for us to stay in the Bundesliga this year," acknowledges Sanwald. "We have finished eighth only once. We have never been there before but, on the last matchday last season, the referee ended the game and we were there. We couldn't believe it. It was just a dream, just a wonder. Now we are facing reality. We sold [left-back] Jan-Niklas Beste to Benfica [for €8m], we sold [striker] Tim Kleindienst to Borussia Moenchengradbach [for €7m], so now we are grounded."
Heidenheim's primary focus is retaining top-flight status in Germany. The financial rewards for doing so far outweigh any run to the latter stages of the Conference League. Perhaps that could work to Hearts' advantage. Neil Critchley is a newcomer at Tynecastle Park following his appointment as head coach last month. He must ensure Hearts overcome Heidenheim's togetherness and united spirit forged over three decades if he wants a result on Thursday.
"It is not easy for us to do everything every day to stay in the Bundesliga and also to play internationally in European competition, but this is like a gift for us to have this game in Edinburgh," says Sanwald. "Our head of communications, Markus Gamm, started as a student with us 12 years ago and he is still here. Alexander Raaf, our team manager, has been here more than 20 years. Our goalkeeper coach, Bernd Weng, has been here more than 30 years.
"Lots of people have developed step-by-step with the club. We worked very hard but we are like a big family and we are all friends. It's a special culture in our club. You can't compare it to the other big German teams. We can compete with the biggest teams because we are a team. We are not big stars."
Neither are Hearts in a European context. That said, they boast a 100 per cent record from two Conference League ties so far this season just like Heidenheim. With the right approach, the appropriate energy and a raucous crowd behind them, they could achieve one of their most memorable European results this Thursday. One to rival a certain night in Gorgie in February 1989 when Iain Ferguson's 30-yard screamer left the mighty Bayern Munich dumbstruck.
"I remember Heart of Midlothian playing Bayern Munich when I was a student," recalls Sanwald. "I was thinking: 'I like Scotland very much, I like Scottish football and Scottish people. Maybe I will travel to Edinburgh to see Bayern Munich.' In the end, it was too far for me and too much money as a student. I decided to stay because I couldn't afford it. I went to the [return] game in Munich and I remember Bayern winning.
"Now, we are playing with our club in European competition at Tynecastle. I never thought this would be possible. I don't know too much about Hearts right now. Before, we didn't look too much at international football, we just focused on how we could stay in the Bundesliga. Of course, now we are drawn to play Heart of Midlothian and we have been searching for information.
"We know that you have a very nice stadium, very good fans and a new coach. We know that the team is very much better since the new coach arrived. The two strikers are national team players with their countries. It will be typical British football where you fight for 90 minutes, so we know what to expect. The atmosphere in Tynecastle is very good so we are looking forward to this experience."
No-one more so than Schmidt, apparently. Sanwald reveals how the head coach hankered after a trip to Scotland and got his wish. "Before I went to Monaco for the Conference League draw, I asked Frank Schmidt what teams he wanted," explains Sanwald. "In Germany, when we have a cup draw he always says it doesn't matter and he will take what we get. Before I flew to Monaco, he said to me: 'It would be a dream for me to play in Scotland against Heart of Midlothian because of the special atmosphere.' Then we were drawn to play Hearts and Chelsea. It was a very good draw for us.
"Scotland has a very good image as a country here in Germany. There will be about 1,000 people from Heidenheim travelling to Edinburgh, which is a very good number for a small club. I was in Munich for Germany against Scotland at the Euros in June. It was not a good result for you but, when you play against Scottish teams, fans always support, they are not violent, and that's why your image is so good here."
Hearts will welcome Thursday's guests with the usual courtesy and then aim to take another German scalp at Tynecastle. Perhaps not one traditionally as big as Bayern, but Heidenheim know the reputation they carry as a Bundesliga side - regardless of that engrossing backstory.
