Stefan Kuntz has been appointed as the new coach of Germany's under-21 team.
The German FA (DFB) announced that the former international, a 1996 European championship winner, will succeed Horst Hrubesch, who left after the Rio Olympics.
Kuntz, 53, returns to the coaching world almost 13 years after beginning a career as a football official in which his most recent post was as CEO of Kaiserslautern.
He said of his appointment: "I've been preparing a return to the touchline for a while.
"I was immediately excited by [DFB sporting director] Hansi Flick's philosophy, and I'm really looking forward to this new challenge."
Flick, who was assistant coach to national boss Joachim Low until after the 2014 World Cup, said: "The under-21s is very important for us, not least because it acts as a spring board to the first team."
Kuntz said he wanted to carry on Hrubesch's record of success, adding that his first big goal was to both qualify for and "play a big part" at the European Under-21 Championships in Poland in 2017.