Katharina Filter: "I'm on the right path and I can inspire"

Germany has over 800,000 handball players registered, more than any other country in the world. But while the men’s national team has won plenty of silverware, most recently silver at the EHF EURO 2026, the medal collection of the women's team has been more modest for a long time, last taking an EHF EURO medal at the inaugural event on home soil in 1994.

But finally, that seems to be changing, after Germany finished as runners-up at the 2025 World Championship, earning their first medal since bronze at the 2007 edition. A key player in the final against Norway was goalkeeper Katharina Filter, a beach handball champion turned indoor star.

In 2017, Germany hosted the women’s World Championship, but went out as early as the Last 16 — and to make matters worse, there was no significant increase of girls joining handball clubs, one of the additional goals of hosting the tournament.

But as part of the “decade of handball” in Germany, which includes hosting the Men’s EHF EURO 2024, the 2027 Men’s World Championship and co-hosting the 2029 Men's World Championship with France, the German Federation had their next attempt to showcase women’s handball at the 2025 World Championship, co-hosted with the Netherlands. With the euphoria and the financial means provided by the Men's EHF EURO 2024, they did not only focus on sporting development, but the whole event was run in conjunction with the campaign “Hands up for more”. 

Visibility, equality and respect for women’s handball

This campaign was more than goals on the court, but included visibility, equality and respect for women’s sport in general, and specifically for women’s handball. The most visible sign of the campaign were the specially-designed pink shirts, worn by the women’s national team, which were sold out in the online shop after only a few days. In addition, there were free referee courses for women, special primary school events focusing on girls’ handball, and more.

“Hands up for more” was growing ahead of the tournament and ticket sales were strong, but ultimately the overall success still depended on the team's achievements. And they delivered, making it to their first semi-final at any major tournament since 2008, their first final of any kind since EHF EURO silver in 1994, and a first world final since gold in 1993. This time, they took home the silver medal after a 20:23 loss against Norway in the final in Rotterdam.

Winning the silver medal is "still unbelievable"

“When I look at the World Championship, it’s still unbelievable and somehow hard to put into words. That feeling that we were just in such a flow throughout the whole tournament. But slowly I realise that it’s real. Maybe not quite the full scale of it yet, but I know that we achieved something big,” Filter says.

Her first weeks right after the event were as thrilling as the World Championship itself: “They were definitely very exciting. I still had a few media appointments, so there wasn’t much time to really process everything properly. Between Christmas and New Year, I visited friends and family, and always had to show my medal. But then it all started again with Esbjerg. We went straight into the Danish cup final four. The league and the Champions League are back in full swing.” But where does she store her silver medal? “At the moment it’s on a shelf in the living room, so whenever I walk past it, I can take a look.”

In the previous three EHF EURO events, Filter and Germany finished seventh every time. There was always at least one setback at each tournament —including at the World Championship — that held them back from qualification to the semi-finals. Since the EHF EURO 2024, there was only one date in the minds of Filter and her teammates: 9 December, the day of the quarter-final in Westfallenhalle, Dortmund.

More than 10,000 fans stood and cheered as Germany finally passed the quarter-final test and made it to the last four, beating Brazil: “That was incredibly cool. We were ready and we went into that match with so much confidence. The six games we’d played beforehand really pushed us. That quarter-final was never a mental hurdle for us. We knew we were going to win that match because we’re such a good team. We didn’t underestimate anyone, but we simply knew that our journey wasn’t over yet. In previous tournaments, that sense of ease sometimes wasn’t there.”

"Our fans gave us an extra boost"

For Filter, there was not a single “click” during or before the World Championship, but many crucial factors: “The most important thing was having the home tournament with our fans. That gave us an extra boost, no question. We also used the year to focus solely on that goal. We could play training matches, didn’t have to play qualifiers, and at our core we were always together as a team. I think that’s when it really started. With the home fans, we really played ourselves into a flow. We played more confidently than in previous years. That’s why we were so self-assured and never had the feeling that we could lose.”

They knew beforehand that if they made it to this "magic" semi-final, they would lose home advantage, as the final weekend was carried out in Rotterdam — and there, they had to face France, a side which a German women’s team had not beaten in any official game since 2005. But the flow continued, as Filter underlines: “When we entered the bus to Rotterdam, we said: “Yes, we can do this.” We knew that if we win, we have a medal. And we won.”

Facing Norway in the final, Germany were the huge underdogs, but at 17:17, they were close to making history. In the end, it was a 20:23 defeat — which for Filter was both a loss and a win: “We did not lose gold, we won silver. Of course, in the seconds afterwards, you mourn the gold medal, especially because we played such a good match. Norway had an unbelievable tournament. And in the end, I’m so proud that we were the only team in the tournament to challenge Norway like that. That’s a huge achievement for us.”

And for the goalkeeper, this silver shines more than the various beach handball gold medals: “You have to separate beach handball and indoor handball. It was basically my first indoor medal with the women’s team. So personally, it has a lot of meaning.”

But the significance of the medal is even bigger for Filter, when you connect it to the “Hands up for more” campaign: “We wanted to show that the support we received was justified. We also wanted to give something back to all the fans who were there. And I’ve received so many messages from girls who either want to start playing handball or want to push themselves even more now because watching us sparked that extra ambition. I’m sure that in the future there will be even more girls walking around wearing our national team shirt."

When her match and training schedules at Esbjerg allowed, Katharina Filter supported the German men’s team at the EHF EURO in Herning.

"The media attention on us has grown. We’d never had that before"

In terms of men’s and women’s handball in Germany, she recognised a major change since the silver medal in December: "The media attention on us has grown. We’d never had that before. Normally, the tournament was over and the attention disappeared. That’s different now. We created huge excitement and were able to carry that through to the men’s EHF EURO. We’ve closed the gap to the men’s team a little. That makes me really happy and I think it’s important that we maintain this momentum — that we continue to show that we’re here, and that we keep using this platform for ourselves. For example, all of our players have a huge growth on their social media channels."

The next goal for Filter and her team is to qualify for the EHF EURO 2026, and now Filter believes somewhat that her side will be among the hunted, not the hunters: “The opponents will obviously be even more eager to beat us. Of course, the EHF EURO is a different tournament and it won’t be in Germany. Many things will be different. But the main thing is that we carry on exactly where we left off, take that self-confidence with us and continue to perform with our heads held high.”

Besides, she dreams of her first ever EHF FINAL4 in Budapest with Team Esbjerg, her third team away from Germany: “It was very important for me to go abroad. I realised that I’d reached a point where I wanted to try something new. For me as a North German, Copenhagen was actually closer to home than, for example, Bietigheim. In Copenhagen, in Brest and now in Esbjerg, I’ve developed both personally and as a handball player. I’m very happy that I took that step.”

Despite playing at Denmark, she still is a role model in Germany — and one little thing made her really happy: “I don’t assume that every girl who starts playing handball sees me as a role model. But when I notice it, it makes me very happy. At the Champions League match in Dortmund in January, there were lots of little girls wearing national team shirts with my name on it. That really means a lot to me. It reinforces what I’m doing, shows me that I’m on the right path and I can inspire young girls with what we do. That makes me feel incredibly happy.“

Main and feature photos © Sasa Pahic Szabo / kolektiff, Jozo Cabraja / kolektiff, Uros Hocevar / kolektiff