Having come close to taking the lead with only four minutes on the clock when Marten Winkler won an aerial duel inside the area and sent his header just wide of the left post, the hosts thought they had hit the front just three minutes later.
A free-kick into the area found the head of Dawid Kawnicki, who didn’t quite connect with his effort but saw the ball fall kindly into the path of the unmarked Fabian Reese, who poked it over the line from a matter of yards. However, after a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
Freiburg began to work their way into the contest and came close to opening the scoring with 20 minutes played. A ball into the area was controlled by Derry Scherhant before the striker turned to create space and saw his close-range effort saved by the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.
Runners-up in the 2022 DFB-Pokal final, the Breisgau-Brasilianer were keen to move one step away from a return to the showpiece event, and they began to display their top-flight prowess as the first half wore on with Scherhant and Yuito Suzuki both going close just before half-time.
An action-packed first half provided plenty of promise for the second period, with both sides clearly intent on doing all they could to win the tie inside normal time. However, it took a while for the contest to spark back into life after the restart as the defences held sway for large periods.
Die Alte Dame had not recorded a home win in over two months, but they did well to limit the threat of a Freiburg side who had lost their mojo somewhat after a promising first-half display.
Six of the last seven H2H meetings between the sides had seen at least three goals scored, but this latest encounter didn’t look like providing similar entertainment as the tie headed to extra time.
It always felt like a mistake would be the likeliest cause of the opening goal, and this was exactly how it unfolded. An underweighted pass back to the goalkeeper from Linus Gechter was intercepted by Suzuki, who rounded Ernst before slotting the ball home from close range to send the travelling Freiburg supporters wild.
An equaliser appeared unlikely given the hosts’ struggles in front of goal; however, just before the break, a 25-yard piledriver from Reese flew past the despairing Florian Muller to bring the home side back level.
With both teams chasing a winning goal, the final opportunity fell to Hertha’s Michael Cuisance inside the area, but his effort flew agonisingly wide of the top left-hand corner as the contest headed to a penalty shoot-out.
Both sides got off to the perfect start but after Maximilian Eggestein made it 3-2 to Freiburg, it was the hosts who blinked first when Cuisance was denied by Muller.
Hertha needed Ernst to step up, and he duly did to thwart Johan Manzabi and allow Josip Brekalo to make it level pegging once more. Lucas Holer was successful from 12 yards to pile the pressure on Paul Seguin, but he made no mistake to send the shoot-out to sudden death.
His effort proved in vain, however, as after Suzuki made it 6-5, Pascal Klemens was denied by Muller, moving Freiburg into the last four.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Florian Muller (Freiburg)