Cult is back

It took two days for the frowns to turn into smiles. Kaiserslautern failed to secure promotion on Friday against lowly Rostock, but the deal was done on Sunday when third-placed Augsburg only drew.

There was a touch of the inevitable about the four-time German champions going back to the top flight - they've led the second division since the seventh round of play.

One of the team's biggest fan clubs celebrated promotion by publishing an "Open Letter to the Second Division."

"You taught us one thing: Be yourself," wrote the authors. "We need team performances. Players who hang out together and are friends off the pitch, who don't look down on fans and can collectively up their games."

Augburg's draw also assured second-placed St. Pauli of at least a spot in the play-off against the team finishing third from bottom in the first division. And the Hamburg side need just a single victory in their final two matches to secure direct promotion.

If Pauli do go up, the first division will welcome the return of two sides that many fans feel are an intrinsic part of the Bundesliga - albeit for very different reasons.

Rise and fall and rise

Kaiserslautern were one of the original teams in the nationwide Bundesliga, which was formed in 1963 and despite their travails in recent years, they remain the eighth most successful team of all time in German football.

Their history could not be more unusual. After 32 straight seasons in the first division, the "Red Devils" or "The Indestructibles," as they are known, were relegated, only to get promoted the following season and go on to win the first division the year after that.

The architect of that unique triumph was coach Otto Rehhagel, who would go on to perform a similar miracle by leading Greece to the European Championship in 2004. Lautern's 1997-8 squad included a host of familiar names, from goal-getter Olaf Marschall, defender and World Cup hero Andy Brehme to a very, very young Michael Ballack.

But in subsequent years, the team overspent on washed-up stars in an attempt to stay at the top and were hit by an internal financing scandal. Lautern were relegated in 2006, after a draw against Wolfsburg on the final day of the season - in a match, in which they had jumped out to an early lead.

Many fans openly wept, suspecting that the cash-strapped club was unlikely to pull off another quick rise to the top flight - and they were right.

True-blue reds

Kaiserslautern fans proved exceedingly loyal despite the squad's downward spiral. In fact, the club gained more than a thousand new members in the months after its second relegation.

And they remained true, even as the once-proud Red Devils drifted into second division mediocrity and even flirted with relegation into Division Three.

That's in part because the city, with around 100,000 inhabitants, is one of the smallest places in Germany with a major football club. Ask ten Germans what pops to mind when they hear the word Kaiserslautern, and nine will probably say the soccer team.

Lautern has consistently produced big stars - Mario Basler and Miroslav Klose, to name just two - but has rarely had the financial muscle to keep them. This season's success, conversely, has been built on players discarded by bigger clubs.

Leading goalscorer Erik Jendrisek is a cast-off from Hanover, midfielder ace Sidney Sam came on loan from Hamburg, and defender Rodnei was borrowed from Hertha Berlin.

Whether those players will stay in Lautern, and if so, whether they will thrive in the top flight, are open questions. But for now no one is asking them. It's enough that the Red Devils are back where their supporters, and many German football fans, feel they belong.

Back in black

If Lautern are one of the Bundesliga's most storied teams, St. Pauli are without doubt the hippest. The club has only spent a total of five years in the first division and its greatest success was beating the then world club champions Bayern Munich, but results are not the source of its appeal.

The St.Pauli district of Hamburg is also home to the city’s red-light district and the main bar and club areas. The Millerntor Stadium, where the club plays, looks more like an air-raid bunker than a sporting arena, and the team takes to the field for its home games to the strains of AC/DC's Hell's Bells.

It's not uncommon to see people in St. Pauli T-shirts in cities hundreds of kilometers away from Hamburg, although the hardcore fans hail from that port city, where many consider "Pauli" to be the more genuine and entertaining alternative to the city's other, bigger club.

The club is celebrating its centenary this year - as the official website puts it, they've been "non-established since 1910." St. Pauli's rise this season is down in part to striker Marius Ebbers, a 32-year-old journeyman who's popped in 18 goals, earning him the nickname "Messi" among Pauli's wryly hysterical supporters.

And the team has definitely been fun to watch in recent months. With 67 goals scored, they've had by far and away the second division's most potent offense.

Pauli fans know there's still a bit of work left to done to get promoted. And even if the team does go up, no one's under any illusions that a team with limited financial means and a stadium that holds less than 20 thousand will find life easy in the top flight.

But one thing is guaranteed. Whatever happens, Pauli fans will do what they do best: party. And if they can be partying alongside Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga's first division, then all the better.

Author: Jefferson Chase
Editor: Rob Turner