Gauliga Westfalen

Last updated
Gauliga Westfalen
Gauligas 1933.png
Founded 1933
Folded 1945 (12 seasons)
Replaced by Oberliga West
CountryFlag of Germany 1933.svg Nazi Germany
Province
and States
Gau (from 1934)
Level on pyramid Level 1
Domestic cup(s) Tschammerpokal
Last champions FC Schalke 04
(1943-44)

The Gauliga Westphalia was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Westphalia and the small Free State of Lippe from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gaue Westphalia-North and Westphalia-South replaced the Prussian province and the Free State.

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.

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.

Province of Westphalia province of the Kingdom of Prussia

The Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.

Contents

Overview

The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi take over of power in Germany .

The Gauliga Westfalen was established with ten clubs, all from the Province of Westphalia.

The Gauliga replaced as such a number of separate leagues covering the areas of Westphalia, South Westphalia and Ruhr, the highest leagues in the region until then.

In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the German championship while the bottom two teams were relegated. The league remained unchanged until 1940.

Throughout its existence, the league was dominated by what became the golden era of the FC Schalke 04, who won it in every one of its eleven completed seasons. Schalke also took out the national championship in 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, along with being the losing finalist in 1938 and 1941. A cup win in 1937 and four lost finals in 1935, 1936, 1941 and 1942 were also added to this. Despite no other club from the region having any national success, this list means the Gauliga Westfalen was the single most successful league in Germany in this era.

FC Schalke 04 German association-football club

Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04, Schalke or abbreviated as S04, is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The "04" in the club's name derives from its formation in 1904. Schalke has long been one of the most popular professional football teams and multi-sports club in Germany, even though the club's heyday was in the 1930s and 1940s. Schalke play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. As of June 2018, the club has 155,000 members, making it the second-largest sports club in Germany and the fourth-largest sports club in the world in terms of membership. Other activities offered by the club include athletics, basketball, handball, table tennis, winter sports and eSports.

The start to the 1939-40 season was delayed with the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 and league football was suspended. It only resumed at the beginning of November, with a number of local cup competitions having been played to bridge the gap. [1] In 1940-41, the league expanded to twelve clubs, with the bottom four teams relegated. The season after, it returned to its original set-up and remained so until 1944.

The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all Gauligas and the leagues last season, 1944–45, was meant to be staged in three regional groups with altogether 20 teams. Play never really got under way and no club absolved more than three matches, most none before it had to be suspended.

Nazi Germany The German state from 1933 to 1945, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler

Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party (NSDAP) controlled the country through a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state that controlled nearly all aspects of life via the Gleichschaltung legal process. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich until 1943 and Großdeutsches Reich from 1943 to 1945. Nazi Germany is also known as the Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", the first two being the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945, ending World War II in Europe.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist and the region of Westphalia found itself in the British occupation zone. Football in Westphalia restarted in 1946 with the Landesliga Westfalen.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their placings in the 1932-33 season were: [2]

Winners and runners-up of the league

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

SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1933-34FC Schalke 04SV Höntrop
1934-35FC Schalke 04SV Höntrop
1935-36FC Schalke 04SV Germania Bochum
1936-37FC Schalke 04Westfalia Herne
1937-38FC Schalke 04Borussia Dortmund
1938-39FC Schalke 04VfL Bochum
1939-40FC Schalke 04Arminia Bielefeld
1940-41FC Schalke 04Gelsenguß Gelsenkirchen
1941-42FC Schalke 04Borussia Dortmund
1942-43FC Schalke 04VfL Altenbögge
1943-44FC Schalke 04VfL Altenbögge

Placings in the league 1933-44

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league. Note that, in the 1944–45 season, the league was split into three separate groups but the competition was barely started before it came to a halt. [2]

Club 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
FC Schalke 04 11111111111
SV Höntrop 2 2 3 7 6 10
SuS Hüsten 09 3 7 4 5 9
Germania Bochum 1 4 5 2 8 5
SpVgg Herten 5 4 6 4 7 9 9
DSC Hagen 6 9 9
Viktoria Recklinghausen 7 10
Preußen Münster 8 3 9 7 7 12
Sportfreunde Dortmund 9
Arminia Bielefeld 3 10 6 2 6 6 7 10
Westfalia Herne 6 5 2 3 4 4 5 7 5 5
Union Recklinghausen 8 10
TuS Bochum 1 7 10
SV 08 Buer-Erle 8 9
Borussia Dortmund 3 2 3 9 4 2 6 3
SV Rotthausen 6 10
SpVgg Röhlinghausen 5 5 10 7 8 3 7
Arminia Marten 8 8 8 10 10
VfL Bochum 12 2 3 8 3 4 6
VfB Bielefeld 3 5 3 10
Gelsenguss Gelsenkirchen 4 6 2 4 8 9
Union Gelsenkirchen 11
VfB Altenbögge 5 2 2
STV Horst-Emscher 9
SpVgg Erkenschwick 4

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1933–34 Gauliga

The 1933–34 Gauliga was the inaugural season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

1934–35 Gauliga

The 1934–35 Gauliga was the second season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

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.

1936–37 Gauliga

The 1936–37 Gauliga was the fourth season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945.

1937–38 Gauliga

The 1937–38 Gauliga was the fifth 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.

1941–42 Gauliga

The 1941–42 Gauliga was the ninth season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was the third season of the league held during the Second World War.

References

  1. ↑ Die deutschen Gauligen 1933-45 - Heft 2(in German) Tables of the Gauligas 1933-45, Booklet 2, page: 24, publisher: DSFS
  2. 1 2 3 "Gauliga final tables". f-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 28 February 2016.

Sources

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