Schalke's Benedikt Höwedes (l.) and Kevin Volland of Hoffenheim are just two of the Bundesliga stars to have taken part in the Ice Bucket Challenge so far (Photos: Twitter/Instagram/Facebook)...
Schalke's Benedikt Höwedes (l.) and Kevin Volland of Hoffenheim are just two of the Bundesliga stars to have taken part in the Ice Bucket Challenge so far (Photos: Twitter/Instagram/Facebook)...

Bundesliga stars join the Ice Bucket Challenge

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Cologne - The Ice Bucket Challenge is a phenomenon that has taken social media by storm over the last few weeks, with participants required to throw a recipient freezing cold water over their heads in the name of a good cause.

The rules are pretty simple: Before getting drenched, new candidates are to be nominated and these must complete the task within 24 hours. The entire process is recorded on camera and subsequently put on the internet. The initiative was started by former American football player Steve Gleason, who suffers from the nerve disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), with the objective of raising awareness of the illness.

Household names across the globe have already taken part, including Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. With several Bundesliga stars getting involved too, bundesliga.com has rounded up the video highlights so far…

Marcel Schmelzer

Borussia Dortmund full-back Schmelzer donated 1,500 dollars to the charity, having been nominated by his BVB team-mate Oliver Kirch.

Manuel Neuer

The FC Bayern München stopper is one of the latest stars to have taken part in the challenge sweeping social media in the past 48 hours.

Sven Ulreich,Christian Gentnerand Fredi Bobic

After showering themselves in ice cold water, the VfB Stuttgart trio nominated Jens Lehmann, Mario Gomez and Jürgen Klinsmann.

John Anthony Brooks


Hertha Berlin defender Brooks nominated fellow USA international Julian Green after taking part in this latest social media trend himself.

FC Schalke 04 captain and FIFA World Cup hero for Germany Benedikt Höwedes was creative with his nominations: international team-mate Per Mertesacker and popular German DJ Paul Kalkbrenner.


Marcel Ndjeng of Hertha also enjoyed a cold shower, and nominated ex-Bundesliga striker Nando Rafael, as well as Elias Kachunga of former club SC Paderborn...

The Paderborn attacker duly accepted the challenge, who in turn named his club-mates Alban Meha and Mario Vrancic.


Top marks for a) the size of ice bucket and b) the calibre of nominations for Schalke's left-back Chistian Fuchs!

Bayer 04 Leverkusen duo Son and Calhanoglu, in action in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, were encouraged to get involved in the initiative by former team-mate at Hamburger SV Tolgay Arslan...


Arslan also made sure that HSV captain got wet...


Borussia Mönchengladbach's Kruse went above and beyond in responding to St. Pauli player Philipp Tschauner's nomination by making a splash in public...

Mats Hummels

The new Dortmund captain is gearing up to take part after Marco Reus (see below) nominated him. But first, he wants a few ideas...

Oliver Kirch

The Borussia Dortmund players are catching on quick! Kevin Trapp (below) played the role of instogator and if Kirch gets his way, Julian Schieber could follow close behind...


Wouldn't you know it? Hertha Berlin's Schieber was more than happy to oblige Oliver Kirch, after the BVB man nominated his former team-mate...

Kevin Volland

The TSG 1899 Hoffenheim star wasted little time in taking his ice cold shower and nominated, among others, his team-mate and club captain Andreas Beck.

Kevin Trapp

Frankfurt's No1 was one of the Bundesliga stars who got the ball rolling yesterday, but quite frankly his tiny bucket doesn't come close to matching some of the other contenders.


The Polish international was also one of the three nominated by team-mate Kirch, and he wasn't about to shirk away from a challenge for a good cause. After taking the plunge, he put forward the name of another Schwarz-Gelb star...


Mr. Borussia Dortmund was only too happy to get involved...

Kevin De Bruyne

Never one to shirk a challenge, VfL Wolfsburg's Kevin De Bruyne has been the next to tip a bucket full of ice cold water over his head. You could tell he regretted it from the moment it touched those strawberry ginger locks.

Sejad Salihovic

The Ice Bucket has made its way to Sinsheim after former Hertha Berlin midfielder Patrick Ebert issued the challenge to Bosnian international Salihovic, who in turn nominated 1899 Hoffenheim colleague Sven Schipplock and former team-mate Fabian Johnson.

Daniel Halfar

1. FC Köln's squad have been hit by the Ice Bucket Challenge bug after one of back-up goalkeeper Thomas Kessler's nominations took to the shower room to get dunked. Halfar may have had the greatest volume of water we've seen so far poured over his head, but he took it well before nominating Arne Feick and Dominic Maroh.

Marco Reus

In response to being challenged by former Borussia Dortmund team-mate Mario Götze, BVB star Reus acted as every good professional should and took a dousing for his troubles. Mats Hummels is now in the hotseat after being called out alongside German pop singer Helene Fischer and football commentator Wolff-Christoph Fuss.

Kevin-Prince Boateng

FC Schalke 04's midfield powerhouse had three people on hand to help him complete the challenge with Royal Blues team-mate given the honour of dousing him with two different containers of ice water. Not wanting the other league's to feel left out though, he nominated international stars Rio Ferdinand, Nigel de Jong and Thiago Silva.

Thomas Kessler

After being nominated by good friend Benedikt Pliquet, 1. FC Köln's back-up goalkeeper amped up the video production as slow-motion and rock music come together to complete the challenge in style. Kessler went on to nominate team-mate Daniel Halfar for whom he had a quick message: " Because you took part so well in Movember and, because your mustache looked so miserable, you now have a chance to redeem yourself".

There are several Bundesliga players who have been nominated but have not yet posted evidence of themselves taking on the Ice Bucket Challenge. We'll keep you updated as and when they do so!