The ranking of most appearances lists the 1,000 players with the most matches in the 1st Handball Bundesliga since its foundation in 1966. This ranking is led by Carsten Lichtlein, who played for TV Großwallstadt (2000–2005), TBV Lemgo (2005–2013), VfL Gummersbach (2013–2019), HC Erlangen (2019–2020) and GWD Minden (2020–2022).

Only appearances from the regular season are counted. Promotion and relegation rounds as well as other playoff games are not counted.