The 1943–44 Gauliga was the eleventh 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 fifth 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 opposin ...

and the last completed one. The league operated in thirty-one regional divisions, two more than in the previous season, with the league containing 358 clubs all up, 60 more than the previous season. The league champions entered the 1944 German football championship, won by

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 ''

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 ...

4–0 in the final. It was Dresden's second

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 ...

, having won the competition in the previous season as well. The number of Gauligas, thirty-one, increased by two compare to the previous season because of the splitting off of the

Gauliga Osthannover 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 re ...

from the

Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig 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 ...

and the creation of the

Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren The Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren, was the highest football league in the parts of Czechoslovakia occupied by Germany on 15 March 1939 and incorporated in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German:''Protectorat Böhmen und Mähren'') from 194 ...

. The 1943–44 season saw the continued participation of military and police teams, especially in the eastern regions. Gauliga champions like

LSV Danzig Luftwaffensportverein Danzig was a short-lived German association football club from the city of Danzig, West Prussia (today Gdańsk, Poland). ''LSV'' was an air force (Luftwaffe) sports club that was active from 1941–44 and was made up prim ...

, LSV Mölders Krakau and

LSV Rerick LSV may refer to: Organisations * LSV Asset Management, an American quantitative investment management firm * LSV Society, University of Missouri * League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (''Liga socijaldemokrata Vojvodine''), a political party in ...

were associated with the German air force, the ''Luftwaffe'', ''LSV'' standing for ''Luftwaffen Sportverein'' while MSV Brünn, WSV Celle and HSV Groß-Born were clubs 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 previous ...

''. 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 1943–44 Gauliga champions qualified for the knock-out stages of the German championship. HSV Groß-Born and 1. FC Nürnberg were knocked-out in the semi-finals while LSV Hamburg and Dresdner SC contested the final which the latter won. FC Schalke 04 won their eleventh consecutive Gauliga title, VfB Königsberg and Kickers Offenbach their fifth, Germania Königshütte and First Vienna FC their third while SDW Posen, SpVgg Wilhelmshaven, Eintracht Braunschweig, Holstein Kiel, Dresdner SC, 1. FC Nürnberg, VfR Mannheim, SV Dessau 05, TuS Neuendorf and FC Mühlhausen 93 defended their 1942–43 Gauliga title.''kicker Allmanach 1990'', page: 243-245 *^# Denotes Gauliga created through sub-division of existing Gauliga for the 1943–44 season. *^† Denotes newly created Gauliga for the 1943–44 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, 1943-44 1943-44 1 Ger