The four-time German Cup champions Cologne came into the second-round match in Berlin in last place in the Bundesliga and without a pointin the Europa League - having scored just four goals in those 12games.
But the German Cup has been Cologne's one bright spot, where they won
their first - and only - match of the season on August 12, a 5-0 first round win over fifth division Leher.
Cologne worked their cup magic again on Thursday with a 3-1 victory in the German capital, snapping a 12-match streak without a win. Simon Zoller started the scoring for Cologne in the 35th minute, while Dominic Maroh doubled the advantage two minutes before the break.
Cologne added a third goal in the 64th minute through Christian Clemens, with the assist going to Zoller, who picked up a goal and assist in Cologne's first-round win over Leher.
Berlin pulled a goal back five minutes later on Niklas Stark's header to make it 3-1. But the hosts could not grab another goal.
In a battle of Bundesliga sides with one title to their names, the2015 winners Wolfsburg got the best of 1992 champs Hanover 1unau-0 at home.
Felix Uduokhai tallied the game-winner in the 49th minute, converting after Daniel Didavi's free kick was stopped.
The three-time winners VfB Stuttgart were another Bundesliga side to advance, beating second division Kaiserslautern 3-1 on the road. Lukas Spalvis pushed Kaiserslautern ahead in the seventh minute before Stuttgart equalized on Daniel Ginczek's penalty after 21 minutes.
The guests decided the game with two goals within five minutes, Chadroc Akolo scoring in the 66th minute and setting up Simon Terodde's tally for 3-1 in the 71st.
The four-time cup winners Nuremberg survived a battle with the third division cellar dwellers Osnabrueck, taking home a 3-2 away win. Osnabrueck jumped ahead after four minutes through Marcos Alvarez's penalty. Nuremberg fought themselves into the game and took the lead on goals by Mikael Ishak in the 38th minute and Tim Leibold in the 50th minute.
Osnabrueck equalized 2-2 after 64 minutes on Christian Gross's header Nuremberg reclaimed the lead 3-2 eight minutes later on Enrico Valentini's strike.
Osnabrueck went a man down in the 76th minute with Furkan Zorba seeing a red card for his professional tackle. The hosts could not come back and grab another upset, having taken down SV Hamburg in the first round.
The highlight of the German Cup second round will come later Wednesday with record champions Bayern Munich playing at RB Leipzig. The other later matches have Jahn Regensburg hosting Heidenheim; Hoffenheim a six-time champions Werder Bremen; and Freiburg welcoming Dynamo Dresden.
