BERLIN — Hertha Berlin won promotion to the Bundesliga on Sunday after a season in the second division.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s 85th-minute goal gave Hertha a 1-0 win over struggling Sandhausen. That gave coach Jos Luhukay’s team an unassailable 14-point lead over third-placed Kaiserslautern with four games left to play.
Hertha is returning to the Bundesliga after twice being relegated from the top flight in the last three seasons.
German Football Federation president Wolfgang Niersbach congratulated Hertha on its promotion, which means that Berlin will no longer be the only major European capital without a top-flight team. The city’s other major club, Union Berlin, plays in the second division.
"It is good that our capital is now represented again in the Bundesliga," Niersbach said.
The second division’s top two teams win automatic promotion, while the club that finishes third plays off against the 16th-placed team in the 18-team Bundesliga.
Hertha now has 66 points. It looks likely to be joined in the Bundesliga by Eintracht Braunschweig, now on 62 points, which hasn’t played in the top flight since 1985.