Everything changed in 1989. The Cold War was over and billionaire Hopp decided to help the village club that had given him so many fine footballing memories. Hoffenheim were still stuck in the lower reaches of Baden-Württemberg amateur football. Hopp dropped by the little ground almost by chance and decided to get involved financially.\n\nMoney was no object.
His first coup was to appoint Erwin Rupp, former DFB-Pokal hero with VfB Eppingen, as coach. With Rupp and Hopp, promotion to the Bezirksliga followed in 1990/91, then the Landesliga in 1992, the Verbandsliga in 1996 and the Oberliga in 2000.