Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. [hamˈbʊʁɡɐ ˌʃpɔʁt fɛɐ̯ˈʔaɪ̯n], commonly known as Hamburger SV, Hamburg or HSV [haː ʔɛs ˈfaʊ̯], is a German sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department. Although the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three earlier clubs, it officially traces its origin to 29 September 1887 when the first of the predecessors, SC Germania, was founded. HSV's football team has the unique distinction of having played continuously in the top tier of the German football league system since the end of World War I. It is the only team that has played in every season of the Bundesliga since its foundation in 1963, at which time the team was led by German national captain Uwe Seeler.