The 1944

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, the 37th edition of the competition, was won by Dresdner SC, the club defending its 1943 title by 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 ...

in the final. The final years of the German Championship during the war saw many military teams compete in the championship, ''Luftwaffe'' teams, ''Luftwaffensportvereine'', short ''LSV'', and, ''

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 ...

'' teams, ''Wehrmachtssportvereine'', short ''WSV'', became very competitive. Dresden's Helmut Schön, who would later coach Germany to the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, became the top scorer of the 1944 championship with 14 goals, the second-highest individual amount of any player in the history of the competition from 1903 to 1963. It was the last edition of the tournament 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 ...

, with the competition not being held again until

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. The thirty-one 1943–44 Gauliga champions, two more than in the previous season, competed in a single-leg knock out competition to determine the national champion.German championship 1944
rsssf.org, accessed: 25 December 2015 Dresdner SC became the last club to be awarded the '' Viktoria'', the annual trophy for the German champions from 1903 to 1944. The trophy disappeared during the final stages of the war, did not resurface until after the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

and was put on display at the DFB headquarters in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

until 2015, when it was moved to the new ''

Deutsches Fußballmuseum The German Football Museum (german: Deutsches Fußballmuseum) aka DFB-Museum is the national museum for German football Football (or "soccer") is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußb ...

'' in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

Qualified teams

The teams qualified through the

1943–44 Gauliga The 1943–44 Gauliga was the eleventh season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was the fifth season of the league held during the Second World War and the last completed one. The league ...

season:

Competition

First round

Borussia Fulda received a bye for the first round. , align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 16 April 1944

Replay

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 23 April 1944

Round of 16

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 7 May 1944

Replay

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 14 May 1944

Quarter-finals

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 21 May 1944German championship 1944 – Quarter finals
Weltfussball.de, accessed: 25 December 2015

Semi-finals

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Third place play-off

Final

References

Sources

* ''kicker Allmanach 1990'', by kicker, page 164 & 177 - German championship

External links

German Championship 1943–44
at weltfussball.de

at RSSSF {{1943–44 in European football (UEFA) 1

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

German football championship seasons