The 1936–37 Gauliga was the fourth season of the

Gauliga A Gauliga () was the highest level of play in German football from 1933 to 1945. The leagues were introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power by the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise. Name The German word ...

, the first tier of the

football league system Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

from 1933 to 1945. The league operated in sixteen regional divisions, of which two, the

Gauliga Ostpreußen The Gauliga Ostpreußen was the highest football league in the Prussian province of East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen) and the Free City of Danzig from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrati ...

and

Gauliga Pommern The Gauliga Pommern was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Pomerania (German:''Pommern'') from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the '' G ...

, were sub-divided into four and two regional groups respectively, with the league containing 183 clubs all up, the same number as the previous season. The league champions entered the 1937 German football championship, won by

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

who defeated 1. FC Nürnberg 2–0 in the final. It was Schalke's third

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

, with the club winning six all up during the Gauliga era of German football from 1933 to 1945. Two clubs remained unbeaten during the league season, those being

and SV 06 Kassel. Of those Schalke would go on to remain unbeaten during the German championship as well while Kassel would lose five out of six finals games. At the other end of the table only one club finished the season without a win, SC Göttingen 05. FC Schalke 04 scored the most goals of any Gauliga club with 103 while Sperber Hamburg conceded the most with 98. FC Schalke 04 achieved the highest points total with 35 while SC Göttingen 05 earned the least with one point to its name. The 1936–37 season saw the third edition of the ''Tschammerpokal'', now the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

. The 1937 edition was won by FC Schalke 04, defeating

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

2–1 on 9 January 1938. thereby becoming the first club in Germany to win the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

, something not repeated until

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

won it in 1968–69.

Champions

The 1936–37 Gauliga champions qualified for the group stage of the German championship. VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Nürnberg and FC Schalke 04 won their championship groups and advanced to the semi-finals with the latter two reaching the championship final which Schalke won. FC Schalke 04 won their fourth consecutive Gauliga title while Hertha BSC, won their third consecutive one and Fortuna Düsseldorf, SV Waldhof Mannheim, 1. FC Nürnberg, SV Werder Bremen and Viktoria Stolp defended their 1935–36 Gauliga titles.

German championship

References

Sources

* ''kicker-Almanach 1990'' Yearbook of German football, publisher: ''kicker Sportmagazin'', published: 1989, * ''100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband'' 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997 * ''Die deutschen Gauligen 1933–45 – Heft 1–3'' Tables of the Gauligas 1933–45, publisher: DSFS

External links

Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historic German league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Gauliga, 1936-37 1936-37 1 Ger