Anika Bissel is a German handball player whose story connects competitive sport, fashion education, and family life. Also known as Anika Neuer following her marriage to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, she built her sporting career through HC Erlangen, SG H2Ku Herrenberg, and ESV 1927 Regensburg. Her biography includes the less glamorous realities of an athlete’s life: moving away from home, recovering from injury, returning after childbirth, and deciding when to step back. Understanding Anika Bissel means following that journey alongside the headlines about her marriage. The clearest picture comes from her documented club career and carefully attributed reporting about her personal life.
Anika Bissel’s Age, Birthday, and Early Life
Born on June 11, 2000, in Erlangen, Bavaria, Anika Bissel is 26 years old as of November 5, 2026. Her early years included several sporting interests before handball became her main competitive focus. Profiles describe her trying tennis, athletics, and equestrian vaulting, giving her a childhood that extended beyond one activity. She began playing handball at about ten years old, joining the youth setup at HC Erlangen. That starting point matters because her involvement in the sport stretches back well before her relationship attracted national attention. Anika Bissel’s early biography is therefore rooted in local sport and gradual development. In 2014, she helped the Ostbayern regional selection win a Bavarian championship.
A Family Closely Connected to Handball
Handball already had a strong place in the Bissel household. Anika Bissel’s older brother, Christopher Bissel, became a Bundesliga player with HC Erlangen, and contemporary reporting credits him with introducing her to the sport. Their father, Carsten Bissel, held a senior supervisory role at the club, while their mother, Ute Bissel, worked in its administration. These connections placed Anika Bissel close to the everyday workings of a sporting organization. They also help explain why handball became a familiar part of her upbringing. Her later progress, however, is best understood through her own team selections, appearances, and performances on the court.
From HC Erlangen to SG H2Ku Herrenberg
In 2019, Anika Bissel moved from HC Erlangen to SG H2Ku Herrenberg, entering Germany’s second division. The move also fitted her education plans in nearby Nagold, where she studied at the LDT academy. Local reporting in May 2020 described a promising young player settling into a new environment and earning a contract extension. Her coach highlighted an eight-goal performance against Wuppertal as evidence of her ability. This period gave Anika Bissel a sporting identity beyond her home club. Combining study with second-division handball also shows how closely her early adult life linked professional preparation, relocation, and a demanding team schedule. She scored 39 goals during the shortened 2019–20 season, according to the subsequent transfer announcement.
Anika Bissel’s Move to ESV 1927 Regensburg
The next major step came when Anika Bissel joined ESV 1927 Regensburg for the 2021–22 season. The team, widely known as the Bunkerladies, offered another chapter in second-division handball. The announcement of her arrival presented her as a promising young left winger with previous experience at Herrenberg. Her first Regensburg season, however, did not unfold as planned: a back operation prevented her from making competitive appearances. For Anika Bissel, joining the club therefore meant waiting before she could establish herself in matches. That interruption is an essential part of the timeline, especially when comparing her early seasons with her later contributions. The transfer followed two seasons with Herrenberg, maintaining her place within Germany’s competitive women’s handball structure.
Injury Recovery and Her Strong 2022–23 Season
After that difficult opening season, Anika Bissel became an important contributor during 2022–23. By March, she had scored 45 open-play goals in 18 appearances, placing fifth in the team’s scoring list at that point. The club also confirmed that she would stay for another season. She eventually finished the campaign with 71 open-play goals in 25 matches, as Regensburg achieved fourth place, its best league finish at that time. These records give her biography a clear sporting milestone. They show Anika Bissel returning to regular competition and contributing measurable results, while explaining why the club valued her continued involvement after the injury layoff. Regensburg’s sporting director Robert Torunsky had known her since her time in the Ostbayern selection.
Her Playing Position and Role on the Court
Anika Bissel played as a left winger, a position on the outside of the attacking formation. Reports also identify her as right-handed. In handball, wing players help stretch the defense, offer passing options near the touchline, and finish chances from difficult angles. They also have to react quickly when possession changes. This positional context helps readers understand Anika Bissel’s contribution beyond a goal total, although those general responsibilities should not be mistaken for a detailed assessment of every match she played. Regensburg’s staff praised her power and playing ability, while her recorded appearances and goals provide firmer evidence of her contribution. At Regensburg she wore number 3, a detail retained after she adopted her married surname.
Education, Fashion Management, and Work
Alongside her sporting commitments, Anika Bissel pursued an interest in fashion through the LDT academy in Nagold. Reporting from her student years described fashion as a longstanding interest and explained how the location allowed her to combine education with handball in Herrenberg. A later Südwest Presse profile reported that she completed her fashion management studies in August 2021 and subsequently worked with the traditional clothing label Kinga Mathe. These details add another dimension to Anika Bissel’s biography. Her working life has included preparation for opportunities outside sport, an important consideration in a career where injuries, travel demands, and family responsibilities can change plans. The same profile dated the start of her work for the label to April 2022.
Anika Bissel and Manuel Neuer’s Relationship
The relationship between Anika Bissel and Manuel Neuer became publicly known in 2020, bringing her to the attention of a much wider audience. Neuer’s football career meant that appearances together attracted coverage beyond the handball press. Nevertheless, the available reporting does not establish every detail of how they first met, so a precise romantic origin story would be speculative. Anika Bissel was already studying and playing competitive handball when the relationship made headlines. Keeping that sequence clear gives readers a fuller understanding of her background. Their shared connection with elite sport forms part of the story, alongside her separate education and playing career.
Marriage, Children, and Family Milestones
Anika Bissel and Manuel Neuer married in a civil ceremony in November 2023. German reporting later described a larger wedding celebration in South Tyrol in July 2025. Their first son, Luca, was born in March 2024, a milestone also mentioned in Regensburg’s official account of her playing career. In September 2026, BUNTE and other German outlets reported the arrival of a second child. That newer development should remain attributed to media reporting: contemporary coverage noted that the couple had not publicly confirmed the birth. Together, these milestones explain how family life increasingly shaped Anika Bissel’s decisions about sporting commitments and time.
Anika Bissel’s Handball Break and Pilates Reports
After returning for 2024–25, Anika Bissel faced the practical demands of combining motherhood with training and nationwide league travel. On May 7, 2025, Regensburg announced that she would take a break after the season. At that point, she had scored 84 goals in 27 league appearances, with three matches remaining. The club explained that journeys from the Tegernsee area required too much time, and she wanted more time with her son. Anika Bissel presented the decision as a pause rather than a final retirement. Later reporting, published in December 2025, described her teaching Reformer Pilates near Tegernsee. This suggests a developing working life outside league handball, although press accounts do not establish her complete current work schedule.
Public Attention, Privacy, and Financial Information
Much of the wider coverage of Anika Bissel focuses on her relationship, wedding, or appearances at football events. Her club announcements offer a different perspective, documenting the commitments and interruptions within her own sporting career. Reading both types of coverage helps build a more balanced profile. It also reveals the limits of public information: the sources reviewed for this biography do not establish Anika Bissel’s personal salary or a reliable individual net-worth figure. A spouse’s reported earnings cannot supply that missing information. Her documented education, team history, and later reported fitness work provide a clearer account of her activities than unsupported financial estimates.
Conclusion
Anika Bissel’s biography follows a clear path from youth handball in Erlangen to second-division competition, further education, and family life under growing public attention. Her career includes both setbacks and substantial contributions, with injury recovery and a return after childbirth forming important chapters. Known today as Anika Neuer, she has also explored work beyond competitive handball. The most useful way to understand Anika Bissel is to keep those connected parts of her life in view: athlete, fashion graduate, wife, and mother. As of November 2026, her recorded handball break remains central to the verified club account, while newer personal developments require careful attribution.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Anika Bissel in 2026?
Anika Bissel is 26 years old as of November 5, 2026. She was born on June 11, 2000, in Erlangen, Germany. Dates matter when reading older profiles because articles written before her birthday in a particular year will naturally list a different age. Her youth handball career began at about ten, and she moved into second-division competition with Herrenberg in 2019. These milestones help place her career in context: she was still a teenager when she combined advanced sporting commitments with further education. Anika Bissel’s age should therefore always be read alongside the publication date of the biography or player profile.
Are Anika Bissel and Anika Neuer the same person?
Yes. Anika Bissel and Anika Neuer are the same person. Bissel is her birth surname, while Neuer is the surname used following her marriage to Manuel Neuer. This explains why older player reports and newer club announcements appear under different names. Regensburg’s April 2024 announcement specifically identified her as Anika Neuer, born Bissel, and noted that she would continue wearing shirt number 3 with a new surname on the jersey. Readers researching Anika Bissel can use both names to follow the full career timeline. The change of name represents continuity in her biography rather than a separate player or a different sporting record.
Which handball clubs has Anika Bissel played for?
Anika Bissel’s documented club pathway runs through HC Erlangen, SG H2Ku Herrenberg, and ESV 1927 Regensburg. She began in Erlangen’s youth system, moved to Herrenberg in 2019, and joined Regensburg for 2021–22. This sequence is useful because brief celebrity profiles sometimes mention only her most recent club. It also shows that her second-division experience began before the Regensburg chapter. When reviewing Anika Bissel’s statistics, readers should distinguish a season of club membership from a season with competitive appearances: injury prevented her from playing matches during her first Regensburg campaign. Later seasons provide the clearer evidence of her contribution on the court.
Has Anika Bissel retired from professional handball?
The verified club announcement describes a break, rather than a permanent retirement. Regensburg said Anika Bissel would pause after the 2024–25 season, and her own explanation left open the possibility of playing again. The main stated issue was the time required for travel, training, and matches while raising her son. A later return would need its own confirmation; the announcement itself did not provide a comeback date. For that reason, describing Anika Bissel as having definitively ended her handball career would go further than the club’s statement. Her status is best explained with the date and wording of that documented decision.
What is known about Anika Bissel’s children?
Anika Bissel and Manuel Neuer’s first son, Luca, was born in March 2024. His birth appears in Regensburg’s official discussion of her maternity break and subsequent return to training. In September 2026, German media reported that the couple had welcomed another child, described in several reports as a second son. Contemporary coverage attributed that information to people close to the family and noted the absence of public confirmation from the couple. Accordingly, the second birth should be presented as a reported development. Anika Bissel’s family biography can explain these milestones without adding unverified names, birth dates, or details about the children’s routines.
What does Anika Bissel do outside handball?
Anika Bissel’s background outside handball includes fashion management education and reported work in the fashion and fitness sectors. She studied at the LDT academy in Nagold, and later coverage linked her professional experience to the Kinga Mathe clothing label. Reports from late 2025 also described her teaching Reformer Pilates in the Tegernsee area. These are different stages of her working life, so an older job reference should not automatically be treated as her current position. Anika Bissel’s complete present-day employment arrangements are not established by those articles. What they do show is a range of interests and experience extending beyond her competitive sporting career.
