Coach Juergen Klopp was hailed as a major reason by Germany counterpart Joachim Loew for Borussia Dortmund winning the Bundesliga title on Saturday.
Dortmund clinched its seventh league title in Klopp's 100th game in charge.
The club flirted with bankruptcy and relegation in the seasons after its last Bundesliga success in 2002, but its fortunes changed for the better when Klopp was appointed coach in 2008.
''Juergen Klopp had a big part to play in this championship. He got the most from the squad with relevant and innovative work,'' Loew said.
''I'm happy for him and the club, that he had the courage to play a lot of young players. The trust was repaid by hopes for the future like Mats Hummels and Mario Goetze.''
The club named after a local brewery, whose beer the founders enjoyed, took 47 years to win its first national title in 1956. Then Dortmund won it again the next season. It added the last German title before the Bundesliga was formed in 1963.
Its first notable European success arrived in 1966, when it beat Liverpool in extra time to win the European Cup Winners' Cup and becoming the first German club to claim European honors.
Dortmund's fortunes waned thereafter, culminating in relegation in 1972. It secured promotion back to the Bundesliga four years later, but had to wait until 1995 before winning it.
Led by European player of the year Matthias Sammer, Dortmund successfully defended the Bundesliga title in 1996, and beat Juventus in the 1997 Champions League final for its greatest success to date. It added the Intercontinental Cup by beating Brazilian club Cruzeiro that year.
Dortmund has also twice won the German Cup.
The club was dogged by financial problems from the early 1980s, and the debts continued to spiral despite success. The departure of coach Ottmar Hitzfeld and a host of important players who weren't adequately replaced didn't help either. Dortmund flirted with relegation in the 1999-2000 season.
After Dortmund became the only German club listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2000, the money it raised helped bring expensive stars to win the Bundesliga in 2002, when Sammer returned to coach the side.
Costs continued to spiral out of control, however, and failure to advance to the Champions League in 2003 held serious implications. The club was forced to sell its Westfalen Stadium - which it leases back - and it tottered on the brink of bankruptcy in 2005, when the value of its shares plummeted by more than 80 percent, forcing the club to cut players' wages.
The stadium's capacity was expanded to 80,720 for the 2006 World Cup, and Dortmund again faced relegation trouble the following season, when it dropped to one point above the relegation zone and appointed three coaches.
The following season was also disappointing for the club, but steady improvement coincided with the appointment of Klopp, culminating in the 2011 Bundesliga title.
''Dortmund have really earned this title,'' Loew said. ''Borussia was the most consistent team over the whole season, playing attractive football in many games while always remaining very disciplined tactically. A special compliment to my colleague Juergen Klopp.''
