The 1942–43 Gauliga was the tenth 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. It was the fourth season of the league held during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The league operated in twenty-nine regional divisions, four more than in the previous season, with the league containing 298 clubs all up, 33 more than the previous season. The league champions entered the

1943 German football championship The 1943 German football championship, the 36th edition of the competition, was won by Dresdner SC, the club's first-ever championship, won by defeating FV Saarbrücken in the final.Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a founding member of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund) in 1900. Th ...

who defeated FV Saarbrücken 3–0 in the final. It was Dresden's first

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or 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 best team, indi ...

and the club would go on to win the competition in the following season as well. The 1942–43 season saw the ninth 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 considered ...

. The 1943 edition was won by

First Vienna FC First Vienna FC is an Austrian association football club based in the Döbling district of Vienna. Established on 22 August 1894, it is the country's oldest team and has played a notable role in the history of the game there. It is familiarly ...

, defeating ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

'' team

LSV Hamburg Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg (literally: Airforce sports club Hamburg) was a short-lived military German association football club active during World War II and is notable as the most successful of the wartime military sides. History Military spor ...

3–2 after extra time on 31 October 1943. It was the final edition of the ''Tschammerpokal'', with the German cup not resuming until the 1950s, then under its current name. The number of Gauligas, twenty-nine, increased by four compare to the previous season because of the sub-division of existing ones. The

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 ...

was split into the Gauliga Hamburg, Gauliga Mecklenburg and Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein while the

Gauliga Bayern The Gauliga Bayern was the highest association football league in the German state of Bavaria from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the five ''Gaue'' ''Bayre ...

was split into the Gauliga Nordbayern and Gauliga Südbayern and the

Gauliga Niedersachsen The Gauliga Niedersachsen was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Hanover and the German states of Bremen, Brunswick, Schaumburg-Lippe and Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reor ...

was split into the Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig and Gauliga Weser-Ems. The 1942–43 season saw the continued participation of military and police teams, especially in the eastern regions. Gauliga champions like LSV Adler Deblin, LSV Reinicke Brieg and LSV Pütnitz were associated with the German air force, the ''Luftwaffe'', ''LSV'' standing for ''Luftwaffen Sportverein'' while MSV Brünn was a club of the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

''. SG Warschau, in turn, was a club of the ''

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

'', the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany. In the part of Czechoslovakia annexed into Germany in March 1939, the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

, a separate Czech league continued to exist which was not part of the Gauliga system or the German championship.

Champions

The 1942–43 Gauliga champions qualified for the knock-out stages of the German championship. Holstein Kiel finished the tournament in third place, defeating First Vienna FC 4–1 in the third-place game while FV Saarbrücken and Dresdner SC contested the final which the latter won. FC Schalke 04 won their tenth consecutive Gauliga title, Stuttgarter Kickers their fifth, VfB Königsberg and Kickers Offenbach their fourth while LSV Pütnitz, Germania Königshütte and First Vienna FC defended their 1941–42 Gauliga title.''kicker Allmanach 1990'', page: 243-245 *^‡ Gauliga champions LSV Adler Deblin were replaced in the German championship by SG Warschau. *^† Both clubs finished on equal points and with the same goal average. The two clubs were declared joint Gauliga champions but

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

advanced to the German championship. *^# Denotes Gauligas created through sub-division of existing Gauligas for the 1942–43 season.

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, 1942-43 1942-43 1 Ger