Gauliga Schlesien

Last updated
Gauliga Schlesien
Gauligas Niederschlesien
Gauliga Oberschlesien
Gauligas 1933.png
Founded 1933
Folded 1945
Replaced by region became part of Poland
CountryFlag of Germany 1933.svg Nazi Germany
Provinces
Gau (from 1933)
Level on pyramid Level 1
Domestic cup(s) Tschammerpokal
Last champions

Gauliga Niederschlesien:
STC Hirschberg

Gauliga Oberschlesien:
Germania Königshütte
(1943-44)

The Gauliga Schlesien was the highest football league in the region of Silesia (German:Schlesien), which consisted of the Prussian provinces of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau Silesia, later subdivided into Gau Upper Silesia and Gau Lower Silesia, replaced the Prussian provinces.

Association football Team field sport

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport. The game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal.

Silesia Historical region

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is about 40,000 km2 (15,444 sq mi), and its population about 8,000,000. Silesia is located along the Oder River. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia.

Prussia state in Central Europe between 1525–1947

Prussia was a historically prominent German state that originated in 1525 with a duchy centred on the region of Prussia on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It was de facto dissolved by an emergency decree transferring powers of the Prussian government to German Chancellor Franz von Papen in 1932 and de jure by an Allied decree in 1947. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised and effective army. Prussia, with its capital in Königsberg and from 1701 in Berlin, decisively shaped the history of Germany.

Contents

After the Polish defeat in 1939, the parts of Upper Silesia awarded to Poland after the First World War were reoccupied by Nazi Germany and added to the Gau Oberschlesien.

Poland Republic in Central Europe

Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres (120,733 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With a population of approximately 38.5 million people, Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union. Poland's capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw. Other major cities include Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Szczecin.

From 1941, the Gauliga Schlesien was split into two separate leagues, the Gauliga Niederschlesien and the Gauliga Oberschlesien.

Overview

Gauliga Schlesien

The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the Oberliga as the highest level of play of the regional football competitions.

In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship. The bottom two teams were relegated. The league modus and strength did not change until 1939.

Because of the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups, one of five and one of seven clubs and the season start was delayed until early December 1939. [1] The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the Gauliga championship. For its last season, 1940–41, it returned to a single-division format, now with eleven clubs, some of them from the newly occupied regions formerly part of Poland. This last season was however not completed and with most teams having only one or two games to go, a winner was declared and the competition cancelled.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

After this, the league was split into two separate competitions.

Gauliga Niederschlesien

The league started with nine clubs in one single division, all from the region of the former Prussian province. It was increased to ten clubs for its second season, 1942-43.

The last completed season, 1943–44, the league was subdivided in three regions with all-up five divisions. the three regional champions then played out the Gauliga champion. All together, a record 33 clubs took part in this season.

The arrival of the war in the region made football impossible and, most likely, the last season, 1944–45, did not get underway at all anymore.

Gauliga Oberschlesien

The new Gauliga Oberschlesien compromised the pre-war area of Upper Silesia and the formerly Polish reoccupied parts of the region.

The league started out with ten clubs in one single division in 1941. It was reduced to nine clubs for its second season 1942-43 but returned to ten clubs in the next year.

In its last season, 1944–45, it was meant to have nine clubs again but the arrival of the war in Silesia meant an early cancellation of the competition.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist and Silesia became part of the Soviet occupation zone. In turn, the Soviets handed over the region to Poland as compensation for the territories they lost in their east. Only a very small part of Silesia, the area west of the river Neiße, remained with Germany, becoming part of the new East Germany.

Soviet Union 1922–1991 country in Europe and Asia

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometres north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

Lusatian Neisse river in Central Europe

The Lusatian Neisse, or Western Neisse, is a 252-kilometre (157 mi) long river in Central Europe. Its drainage basin area is 4,403 km2 (1,700 sq mi), of which 2,201 km2 (850 sq mi) in Poland. It rises in the Jizera Mountains near Nová Ves nad Nisou, Czech Republic, reaching the tripoint with Poland and Germany at Zittau after 54 kilometres (34 mi), and later forming the Polish-German border for a length of 197 kilometres (122 mi). The Lusatian Neisse is a left-bank tributary of the river Oder, into which it flows between Neißemünde-Ratzdorf and Kosarzyn north of the towns of Guben and Gubin.

East Germany Former communist country, 1949-1990

East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic, was a country that existed from 1949 to 1990, when the eastern portion of Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state", and the territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II — the Soviet Occupation Zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it; as a result, West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR.

The majority of Germans in the region were forced to leave Silesia and almost all German football clubs disbanded. The region became part of the Polish football league system.

The small remaining part of Silesia not awarded to Poland, mainly the former Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis, is now part of the German federal state of Saxony.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their league positions in 1932-33 were: [2]

Winners and runners-up of the league

The winners and runners-up of the league: [2]

Gauliga Schlesien

SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1933-34Beuthener SuSV 09SpVgg 02 Breslau
1934-35Vorwärts-Rasensport GleiwitzSC Vorwärts Breslau
1935-36Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz SC Preußen Hindenburg
1936-37Beuthener SuSV 09 Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz
1937-38Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz SpVgg 02 Breslau
1938-39Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz SC Preußen Hindenburg
1939-40Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz FV 06 Breslau
1940-41Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz *Germania Königshütte *

Gauliga Niederschlesien

SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1941-42SpVgg 02 Breslau LSV Reinecke Brieg
1942-43LSV Reinecke Brieg SpVgg 02 Breslau
1943-44STC HirschbergSpVgg 02 Breslau

Gauliga Oberschlesien

SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1941-42Germania KönigshütteBismarckhütter SV 99
1942-43Germania Königshütte TuS Lipine
1943-44Germania Königshütte TuS Lipine

Placings in the league 1933-44

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league: [2]

Gauliga Schlesien

Club 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941
Beuthener SuSV 09 1 3 31 10 3 8
SpVgg Breslau 02 2 7 5 3 2 4 4 5
Hertha Breslau 3 9 8 4 3 3 7
Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz 411 21111
Vorwärts Breslau 5 2 8 7 9 10
SpVgg Ratibor 03 6 4 7 10 6 6
SC Preußen Hindenburg 7 8 2 6 3 2 2 6
FV 06 Breslau 8 6 4 4 8 8 1 9
SV Hoyerswerda 9
STC Görlitz 10 8
Deichsel Hindenburg 5 9
Schlesien Haynau 10
VfB Gleiwitz 6 9
VfB Breslau 10 7
Reichsbahn Gleiwitz 5 6 5 5
SV Klettendorf 5 9 5
Sportfreunde Klausberg 7 7 4
1. FC Breslau 10 6
ATSV Liegnitz 2
Germania Königshütte 2
TuS Schwientochlowitz 3
1. FC Kattowitz 4
VfB Liegnitz 11

Gauliga Niederschlesien

Club 1942 1943 1944
SpVgg Breslau 02 1 2 1
LSV Reinicke Brieg 21 2
WSV Liegnitz 3 7 1
Hertha Breslau 4 5 2
FV Breslau 06 5 3 5
Alemannia Breslau 6 9 3
Reichsbahn Oels 7 10 6
Tuspo Liegnitz 8 6 2
DSV Schweidnitz 9 4 1
Gelb-Weiß Görlitz 10
Immelman Breslau 8 6
STC Hirschberg 1
Vorwärts Breslau 1
Viktoria 95 Breslau 3
Minerva 09 Breslau 4
Union/Wacker Breslau 4
VfB Breslau 5
SC Jauer 3
LSV Lüben 4
LSV Sprottau 5
SG Liegnitz 6
TSV Haynau 7
Preußen Glogau 8
LSV Görlitz 2
Laubaner SV 3
SV Hoyerswerda 4
STC Görlitz 5
Kittlitztreben 6
Preußen Altwasser 2
Silesia Freiburg 3
VfB Glatz 4
Germania Weißenstein 5
Waldenburg 09 6
Sportfreunde Neurode 7
Rot-Weiß Striegau 8
Reichsbahn Dittersbach 9
NTSG Gottesburg 10

Gauliga Oberschlesien

Club 1942 1943 1944
Germania Königshütte 11 2
Bismarckhütter SV 99 2 4 3
Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz 3 5 8
TuS Lipine 4 21
Beuthener SuSV 09 5 6 9
TuS Schwientochlowitz 6 7 10
1. FC Kattowitz 7 8 7
Hindenburg 09 8 9
RSG Myslowitz 9
SC Preußen Hindenburg 10 4
Sportfreunde Knurow 3 6
Adler Tarnowitz 10
Reichsbahn SG Kattowitz 5

Clubs from Poland in the Gauliga Schlesien

From 1940, clubs from the occupied country of Poland took part in the German Gauliga system. [3] These clubs, from the region of Upper Slesia, could only take part in the German league system after germanising its name and declaring themselves German.

The following clubs played in the Gauliga under their Germanised names:

Related Research Articles

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Gauliga Nordmark

The Gauliga Nordmark was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein and the German states of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and parts of Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the GaueHamburg, Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein replaced the Prussian province and the German states in this northern region of Germany.

Gauliga Wartheland

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Diana Kattowitz association football club

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Preussen Hindenburg association football club

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East Upper Silesia is a term denoting the easternmost extremity of Silesia, the eastern part of the Upper Silesian region around the city of Katowice. The term is used primarily to denote those areas that became part of the Second Polish Republic on 20 June 1922, as a consequence of the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles. Prior to World War II, the Second Polish Republic administered the area as Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. East Upper Silesia was also known as Polish (Upper) Silesia, and the German (Upper) Silesia was known as West Upper Silesia.

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1935–36 Gauliga

The 1935–36 Gauliga was the third season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

1938–39 Gauliga

The 1938–39 Gauliga was the sixth season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was the last completed season before the Second World War.

1939–40 Gauliga

The 1939–40 Gauliga was the seventh season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was the first season held during the Second World War.

1940–41 Gauliga

The 1940–41 Gauliga was the eighth season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was the second season of the league held during the Second World War.

1941–42 Gauliga

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Gau Upper Silesia

The Gau Upper Silesia was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945 in the Upper Silesia part of the Prussian Province of Silesia. The Gau was created when the Gau Silesia was split into Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia in 1941. The Gau included territory annexed by Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland.

Gau Silesia

The Gau Silesia was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1941 in the Prussian Province of Silesia. From 1926 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party for these area. The Gau was split into Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia in 1941. The majority of the former Gau became part of Poland after the Second World War, with small parts in the far west becoming part of the future East Germany.

References

  1. ↑ Die deutschen Gauligen 1933-45 - Heft 2(in German) Tables of the Gauligas 1933-45, Booklet 2, page: 47, publisher: DSFS
  2. 1 2 3 "Gauliga final tables". f-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Luxembourg clubs in the German football structure 1940-1944 RSSSF.com, accessed: 29 May 2008

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