Oberliga Berlin (1945–1963)

Last updated
Oberliga Berlin
Karte-DFB-Lage von Berlin (1947-1990).png
Founded1945
Folded1963 (18 seasons)
Replaced by Bundesliga
CountryFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
State Flag of Berlin.svg Berlin
Level on pyramid Level 1
Relegation to Amateurliga Berlin
Domestic cup(s) Berlin Cup
Last champions Hertha BSC
(1962–63)

The Oberliga Berlin (English: Premier league Berlin), sometimes also referred to as Stadtliga Berlin (English: City league Berlin) [1] or Vertragsliga Berlin (English: Contract league Berlin) [2] [3] was the highest level of the German football league system in the city of West Berlin in West Germany from 1945 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It was by far the smallest of the five Oberligas.

Contents

Overview

The league was created in 1945, incorporating clubs from all four sectors of the allied-occupied Berlin. It replaced the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg as the highest league in the region. In its first year, it was staged in four groups with the winner of each group taking part in a finals tournament. In 1946, three clubs from each of those four groups went to form the single-division, twelve team, Oberliga Berlin. Alongside the Oberliga Berlin, four other Oberligas were formed in Germany in those years:

The clubs in Berlin were originally not permitted to carry their pre-war names and had to be simply named after the suburb they represented. This rule was slowly lifted in the three western sectors and by 1948, clubs in what was to become West-Berlin carried their original names again. In the Soviet sector, the future East Berlin, clubs took up names in accordance with the requirements of the new Communist regime.

With the reintroduction of the German championship in 1948, the winner of the Oberliga Berlin went on to the finals tournament with the other Oberliga champions. Being the smallest of the five Oberligas it is not surprising that no club from Berlin won a German championship in these years or even reached the final.

After the 1949–50 season, the clubs from East Berlin left the unified Berlin league system and joined the East German leagues instead. Union Oberschöneweide, qualified for the German championship finals in 1950, was not permitted to participate in this tournament either. The Oberliga Berlin carried on with clubs from West Berlin only.

Below the Oberliga Berlin ranked the Amateurliga Berlin as a second tier. Originally staged in a varying number of groups, it became a single-group competition from 1950.

With the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 the clubs in West Berlin suffered a substantial loss of revenue because they were cut off from supporters in the Eastern part of the city, causing the Oberliga clubs to suffer financially. Novel ideas were floated to combat the problem, like, instead of players receiving the maximum legal wage for a footballer in West Germany's top tier at the time, DM 400 per month, the players should only be paid for results, meaning they would not receive any money for games the club lost. [2]

In 1963, after 18 seasons, the Oberliga Berlin was disbanded in favor of the new Bundesliga. The champion of the 1962–63 season, Hertha BSC Berlin, was admitted to the new Bundesliga.

The four sectors of Allied occupation in Berlin Occupied Berlin.svg
The four sectors of Allied occupation in Berlin

Reforming of the Oberliga Berlin

In 1974, with the disbanding of the Regionalliga Berlin, the Oberliga Berlin was re-created, now as the third tier of German football. This was not the formation of a new league, but the renaming of the Amateurliga Berlin to Oberliga Berlin.

Founding members of the Oberliga Berlin

The following clubs took part in the first proper season of the Oberliga in 1946–47. The names in brackets are the ones they carried in this season:

Disbanding of the Oberliga

With the introduction of the new Bundesliga, the Oberligas were disbanded. The top team of the Oberliga Berlin was admitted to the Bundesliga, the clubs placed second to eight went to the Regionalliga Berlin, one of the five new second divisions. The bottom two teams were relegated to the Amateurliga Berlin while the top three from the Amateurliga were promoted.

Admitted to Bundesliga:

The following teams from the Oberliga went to the new Regionalliga:

Relegated to the Amateurliga:

Qualifying for the Bundesliga

The qualifying system for the new league was fairly complex. The league placings of the clubs playing in the Oberligen for the last ten seasons were taken into consideration, whereby results from 1952 to 1955 counted once, results from 1955 to 1959 counted double and results from 1959 to 1963 triple. A first-place finish was awarded 16 points, a sixteenth place one point. Appearances in the German championship or DFB-Pokal finals were also rewarded with points. The five Oberliga champions of the 1962–63 season were granted direct access to the Bundesliga. All up, 46 clubs applied for the 16 available Bundesliga slots.

Following this system, by 11 January 1963, the DFB announced nine fixed clubs for the new league and reduced the clubs eligible for the remaining seven places to 20. Clubs within the same Oberliga that were separated by less than 50 points were considered on equal rank and the 1962-63 placing was used to determine the qualified team. [4]

From this league, only three clubs applied for the one available spot, Hertha BSC Berlin qualified early.

Points table:

RankClubPoints 1952 to 1963Place in 1962–63
1Hertha BSC Berlin13461
2Tasmania 1900 Berlin 33242
3Viktoria 89 Berlin 33189

Honours

The winners and runners-up of the Oberliga Berlin: [5]

SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1945–46 BSV 1892 Berlin Alemannia 90 Berlin
1946–47 Tennis Borussia Berlin BSV 1892 Berlin
1947–48 Union 06 Oberschöneweide BSV 1892 Berlin
1948–49 BSV 1892 BerlinTennis Borussia Berlin
1949–50 Tennis Borussia BerlinUnion 06 Oberschöneweide
1950–51 Tennis Borussia Berlin Union 06 Berlin
1951–52 Tennis Borussia BerlinUnion 06 Berlin
1952–53 Union 06 Berlin Spandauer SV
1953–54 BSV 1892 Berlin Minerva Berlin
1954–55 Viktoria 89 Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin
1955–56 Viktoria 89 BerlinMinerva Berlin
1956–57 Hertha BSC Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin
1957–58 Tennis Borussia BerlinViktoria 89 Berlin
1958–59 Tasmania 1900 BerlinSpandauer SV
1959–60 Tasmania 1900 BerlinHertha BSC Berlin
1960–61 Hertha BSC BerlinTasmania 1900 Berlin
1961–62 Tasmania 1900 BerlinHertha BSC Berlin
1962–63 Hertha BSC BerlinTasmania 1900 Berlin

Placings & all-time table of the Oberliga Berlin

The final placings and all-time table of the Oberliga Berlin: [5]

Club 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 SGGFGAPoints
Tennis Borussia Berlin 13211136272176333174341038599561
BSV 1892 Berlin 2213485133848485817421833678483
Spandauer SV 611662464732344415374736586427
Viktoria 89 Berlin 1259734711424769916408811773412
Hertha BSC 103413710163212113345760570404
SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin 78129651121211299565406359
Wacker 04 Berlin 3565119998121010558616396677775352
SC Union 06 Berlin 221356399111011283533529295
Alemannia 90 Berlin 444455759111211252508465265
Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin 611127610105585912293451569263
BFC Südring 9786141111111176712296443671218
Minerva Berlin 9911824210119208349408200
Hertha Zehlendorf 11897689799232346425196
BFC Nordstern 71210108126138216351101
Union Oberschöneweide *1323671898798
VfB Pankow *8783669213356
Köpenicker SC *891036611414053
SC Staaken 5102448014833
VfB Britz 11132486111430
SV Lichtenberg 47 *10122446310628
SC Westend 01 10132526512628
Kickers 1900 Berlin 12102494713124
Rapide Wedding 12122556014821
Norden-Nordwest Berlin 10130417320
SC Tegel 10127398515
SG Stadtmitte Berlin 11122346113
VfL Nord Berlin 12142484716713
SSC Südwest 12124326412

Source: "Oberliga Berlin". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 2008-01-10.

Source: "All-time table of the Oberligas". Clas Glenning. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2008-01-10.

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References

  1. ↑ Stadtliga Westberlin 1950 bis 1963 (in German) die-fans.de, accessed: 22 December 2015
  2. 1 2 BERLIN: Harte Zeiten (in German) Der Spiegel , published: 18 April 1962, accessed: 22 December 2015
  3. ↑ Als ein Flüchtling 1951 zum Helden für Hertha wurde (in German) Der Tagesspiegel , published: 4 February 2011, accessed: 22 December 2015
  4. ↑ DSFS Ligachronik: Qualifikation zur Bundesliga 1963 (in German), page: B 11 - 12, publisher: Deutscher Sportclub für Fussballstatistik - DSFS, accessed: 3 November 2008
  5. 1 2 Germany - Oberliga Berlin 1945-63 rsssf.org, accessed: 15 December 2015

Sources

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