Anika Bissel married Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in the courtyard of a South Tyrolean castle in July 2025, a month after her final professional handball game. She was 25. Five months later, she stood in front of a Pilates class at the Tegernsee and told the room she was still making mistakes. It was only her fourth session teaching. The class was full.
She grew up in Erlangen, in a family whose professional lives are built around handball, then spent six years as a left wing player in Germany’s second division, losing a full season to injury before scoring 45 goals in 18 games on her return. She has not given a public interview about any of it.
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Who Is Anika Bissel?
Anika Bissel is a German handball player born on June 11, 2000, in Erlangen, Bavaria. She played left wing in the 2. Bundesliga for ESV 1927 Regensburg before stepping back from professional sport in mid-2025. She is married to Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and has a son named Luca, born in March 2024. She lives near the Tegernsee in Bavaria, where she works as a Reformer Pilates instructor.
| Born | June 11, 2000, Erlangen, Bavaria |
| Height | 169 cm |
| Married name | Anika Neuer |
| Husband | Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich goalkeeper |
| Son | Luca, born March 2024 |
| Position | Left wing, 2. Bundesliga |
| Last club | ESV 1927 Regensburg (until June 2025) |
| Current work | Reformer Pilates instructor, Tegernsee |
A Handball Family from Erlangen
Bissel grew up in Erlangen, a Bavarian city roughly 20 kilometres from Nuremberg. Her father, Carsten Bissel, chairs the supervisory board at HC Erlangen. Her mother, Ute, works in the same club’s administrative office. Her older brother, Christopher Bissel, born in 1995, plays left wing for HC Erlangen in the Handball-Bundesliga and served as the club’s captain in 2023. He completed a doctorate at the University of Regensburg in 2025.
The two siblings joined HC Erlangen’s youth setup at age ten, five years apart. Both play left wing. Anika plays the position as a right-hander, which in handball creates a throwing angle that goalkeepers find harder to read.
Before committing to handball, she had also tried tennis, athletics, and vaulting. By 2015, at fourteen, she was part of the East Bavaria regional selection team that won the Bavarian Championship that year. Robert Torunsky, who later became her sporting director at ESV Regensburg, came across her during that tournament.
Anika Bissel’s Handball Career
In 2019, she left HC Erlangen’s setup and joined SG H2Ku Herrenberg in Baden-Wรผrttemberg, a second-division club. She scored 39 goals in her debut season and spent two years there.
In 2021, she transferred to ESV 1927 Regensburg, who had just earned promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. Injuries cancelled her entire first season. She did not play a single competitive match.
| Season | Club | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | SG H2Ku Herrenberg | Debut season | 39 |
| 2021/22 | ESV 1927 Regensburg | 0 (full season, injuries) | 0 |
| 2022/23 | ESV 1927 Regensburg | 18 of 20 | 45 |
In 2022/23, she played 18 of ESV’s 20 league games and scored 45 goals, placing fifth on the club’s internal scoring chart. She wore jersey number 3. Sporting director Robert Torunsky said at the time:
“Anika is playing a strong season and we are especially happy for her that she has taken off so well after her long period of suffering.”
She extended her contract in March 2023 and played through the 2023/24 season. In May 2025, she announced she was stepping back from professional handball. Her last match for Regensburg was in June 2025.
Her words on leaving, as reported by T-Online:
“I don’t see this pause as the end of my handball career. I just want more time for my son for now.”
Anika Bissel and Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper, is 15 years older than Bissel. They are reported to have met at an airport in 2019, and the relationship became public the following year.
From 2020 they appeared at sporting events together. She was in the stands at Euro 2021. In November 2023, they married in a civil ceremony in Munich.
Their son Luca was born in March 2024, with no public announcement from either side. Thomas Tuchel, then Bayern Munich’s manager, mentioned it at a press conference in spring 2024 before any official statement had been made. Around Easter that year, Neuer posted a photograph on Instagram of himself pushing a pram.
He spoke about fatherhood at a DFB press conference before Euro 2024:
“It’s a lot of fun as a father. I’m very happy and grateful.”
Bissel attended Germany’s opening Euro 2024 match against Scotland on June 14. Luca was three months old. She came alone.
The Wedding at Schloss Freudenstein
The full celebration took place over a weekend in July 2025 at Schloss Freudenstein, a historic castle set among vineyards near Bolzano in South Tyrol, northern Italy.
On Friday, guests gathered for a welcome party at a nearby estate. The ceremony and main reception followed on Saturday in the castle’s open inner courtyard, with vows exchanged at around 5pm. Approximately 150 guests attended. The decoration was entirely white, with three long table rows, rustic wooden chairs, and a terrace overlooking the surrounding mountains. A live band played through the evening, including Dean Martin’s “Mambo Italiano.” Female violinists also performed.
Melissa Deines, partner of Borussia Mรถnchengladbach player Robin Hack, described the event as feeling “like a dream.”
After the weekend, Neuer posted from the Amalfi Coast with the caption “Relaxed. Recovered. Ready.” Bissel, her Instagram still set to private, responded with a heart emoji.
What Is Anika Bissel Doing in 2026?
After her last match in June 2025, she began training as a Reformer Pilates instructor. By December 2025 she was running classes at a studio called Josef P., near the Tegernsee, roughly 50 kilometres south of Munich.
Four sessions in, she told her class:
“Sorry, I’m still making a lot of mistakes. This is only my fourth class.”
Her sessions filled quickly. Regular clients include Sophia Schneiderhan, Michael Ballack’s girlfriend, and Sarah Laimer, wife of Bayern Munich midfielder Konrad Laimer. She had been photographed doing Pilates with friends before the formal career move.
No credible German publication has reported a separation between Bissel and Neuer. She has been building her Pilates career at the Tegernsee, where she and Neuer live.
She told T-Online in May 2025 that the pause from handball is not permanent. Her father still chairs the supervisory board at HC Erlangen, and her brother still plays for the club in Germany’s top handball division. The Tegernsee studio is fully booked.
