2. Frauen-Bundesliga

The 2. Frauen-Bundesliga is Germany’s second-division women's football league. Founded in 2004 and run by the German Football Association (DFB), it sits below the Frauen-Bundesliga in the league pyramid, allowing for promotion to the top flight and relegation to the third division.

A total of 14 teams participate in the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga each season, with the campaign often running from August to May. Previously consisting of Nord and Süd divisions, the league now follows a double round-robin format, with all teams playing each other twice (home and away).

The team with the most points is crowned champion and earns automatic promotion to the Frauen-Bundesliga. The runner-up also gets promoted, while the bottom three teams are relegated to the Regionalliga, Germany's third division.

However, while the reserve teams of Frauen-Bundesliga clubs can compete in the second division and win the title, they cannot be promoted to the top flight. As a result, if a reserve team finishes in the top two, that promotion slot passes down to the next best non-reserve team in the standings. For example, in the 2019-20 season, VfL Wolfsburg II and Bayern Munich II finished in the top two, with the latter being crowned the champion. However, the teams in third and fourth (1. FC Köln and USV Jena, respectively) were promoted due to this rule.

FFC Brauweiler Pulheim won the inaugural 2. Frauen-Bundesliga title in 2004-05, defeating VfL Sindelfingen. Although Bayern Munich II claimed the championship in 2019-20, the first reserve team to win this division was Hamburger SV II in the 2010-11 season.