After the war the club picked up play in the Stadtliga Hamburg before earning promotion to the first tier Oberliga Nord. Their best results were a pair of third-place finishes in 1954 and 1958, and semi-final appearances in the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) in 1955 and 1964. After the formation of the Bundesliga – Germany's new professional league – in 1963, "Altona" found itself in the second-tier Regionalliga Nord where they played until 1968. Between 1969 and 1981 "Altona" played third and fourth division ball before slipping to Landesliga Hamburg-Hammonia (V). They returned to using their old name, "Altona FC", in 1979.