Wikipedia
The Verbandspokal (English: Association Cup) is a regional football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following seasons DFB-Pokal, the premier German Cup competition. While no Verbandspokal winner has ever gone on to win the German Cup two have reached the final. Hertha BSC Amateure won the Berlin Cup in 1992 and went on to lose the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Energie Cottbus won the 1996 Brandenburg Cup and went on to lose the 1996–97 DFB-Pokal final against VfB Stuttgart.
Apart from the 21 Verbandspokal champions three more teams are qualified from the regional football association to bring the number of clubs in the first round of the DFB-Pokal to 64. These three teams come from the three regional associations with the most amount of members, these currently being Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Westphalia.
The regional competitions, (plural:Verbandspokale) are generally open to all clubs in the 3. Liga and below, however regional rules vary between associations. 3. Liga clubs have a double chance to qualify for the first round of the DFB-Pokal, through the Verbandspokale and through finishing in the top four in their league. Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs are not permitted to enter as they are already directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
The finals of the competitions can attract large numbers of spectators, like the 2014 Lower Rhine Cup between MSV Duisburg and TV Jahn Hiesfeld did, which was watched by 24,000 in Duisburg.
As of 2013–14 the SV Werder Bremen II, reserve team of SV Werder Bremen, is the most successful team in any Verbandspokal competition, having won the Bremen Cup twenty times, followed by Tennis Borussia Berlin with sixteen Berlin Cup wins and Holstein Kiel with 15 Schleswig-Holstein Cup wins.