Paycheck
This is how much money German handball players earn from their clubs
At the European Handball Championships, the focus is on the DHB stars. If you win the tournament, you will receive an attractive bonus. How high are the salaries of German players?
Handball stars receive significantly lower salaries than professional footballers. That’s why many of them also complete training or studies alongside their sports career. Nevertheless, Wolff, Golla and Co. still earn significantly more at their clubs than the average citizen, as the DHB player payroll shows.
There are also various bonuses: For the overall victory at the current European Handball Championships in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, national coach Alfred Gislason’s team would receive 575,000 euros, the German Handball Federation (DHB) announced. “From 20 players on, this sum increases to a maximum of 600,000 euros,” it said. An additional incentive to give everything in the games.
Golla overtakes Wolff
Apart from playmaker Juri Knorr, who moved to Aalborg Håndbold in Denmark, all DHB players are under contract with clubs in the handball Bundesliga. The German upper house is considered the “best league in the world”. According to the editorial network Germany (RND), the top Hungarian club KC Veszprém pays the highest salaries in Europe, but in Germany the clubs also attract large sums of money.
German clubs have to pay more overall for their players compared to international competition, reports the RND. The reasons for this are the top tax rate of 42 percent, social security contributions and expenses for the professional association. Accordingly, player agents usually negotiate net salaries with the clubs, as they structure the gross salary differently. Some pay normal gross salaries, others offer handball players tax-free surcharges such as travel costs, Sunday, public holiday or night surcharges, it is said. Mini-jobs and trainer flat rates are also offered.
According to the report, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, 34, currently receives the highest gross salary in the DHB team at THW Kiel at around 50,000 euros per month. But national team captain Johannes Golla, 28, is expected to earn around 60,000 euros this summer after moving from SG Flensburg-Handewitt to MT Melsungen – and thus overtake Wolff. According to RND, Golla in Flensburg currently receives 48,000 euros.
The payroll of the German handball players
The remaining handball players in the DHB team don’t earn quite as much as Wolff and Golla. Your monthly gross salaries are still impressive. The overview:
- Marko Grgic (22, SG Flensburg-Handewitt): 40,000 euros
- Juri Knorr (25, Aalborg Handball): 36,000 Euro
- David Spaeth (23, Rhine-Neckar Löwen): 32,000 euros
- Jannik Kohlbacher (30, Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Renars Uskins (23, TSV Hannover-Burgdorf): 30,000 euros
- Julian Köster (25, VfL Gummersbach), Justus Fischer (22, TSV Hannover-Burgdorf): 28,000 euros
- Miro Schluroff (25, VfL Gummersbach): 25,000 euros
- Lukas Zerbe (30, THW Kiel): 22,000 Euro
- Rune Dahmke (32, Thw Kiel), Franz Semper (28/SC DHfK Leipzig), Tom Kiesler (24/VfL Gummersbach): 20,000 euros
- Luke Mertens (29, SC Magdeburg): 18.000 Euro
- Nils Lichtlein (23, Füchse Berlin): 16,000 euros
- Matthew Langhoff (23, Füchse Berlin): 12,000 euros
- Mathis Häseler (23, VfL Gummersbach): 10,000 euros
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the average gross salary of full-time employees in Germany was 4,784 euros in April 2025. DHB top earner Andreas Wolff will receive more than ten times as much, and Johannes Golla will soon receive more than twelve times as much. According to “Business Insider”, national coach Alfred Gislason earns around 20,000 euros a month.
Funds from sponsorship and advertising are not included. These sums usually vary greatly from player to player and are not publicly available, but are usually lower than in football. Some handball players have contracts with sports equipment companies, for example Andreas Wolff with Kempa.
Note: This article has been updated and added the new squad at the European Handball Championships.
