The 1949–50 Oberliga was the fifth season of the Oberliga, 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 ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. The league operated in six regional divisions,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

(north and south) and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

. The five league champions and runners-up as well as the third and fourth placed teams in the West and South and the third placed team in the Southwest and North entered the

1950 German football championship The 1950 German football championship, the 40th edition of the competition, was the culmination of the 1949–50 football season in Germany. VfB Stuttgart won their first championship in a one-leg knock-out tournament. It was the third championsh ...

which was won by

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 Stu ...

. It was VfB Stuttgart's first-ever

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 ...

. The 1949–50 season was the last with clubs from

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

in the Oberliga, with

VfB Pankow VfB Einheit zu Pankow is a German association football club from the Pankow locality of Berlin. History Founded in 1893 as VfB Pankow, the club's initial interests were in cricket and tennis. Within a few years English expatriates introduced ...

and

Union Oberschöneweide 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

leaving the league at the end of the season, thereby ending unified German league football for the next four decades. Union Oberschöneweide was replaced by the

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

club Union 06 Berlin, formed by former Oberschöneweide players who had moved to the West. For the Oberliga Südwest, covering the whole of the

French occupation zone in Germany The French occupation zone in Germany (, ) was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. Background In the aftermath of the Second World War, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta C ...

, it was the last season of the league being divided into two regional divisions, north and south. The clubs from the southern division re-joined the Southern German Football Association at the end of seasons with two clubs entering the

Oberliga Süd Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...

for the following season, three clubs the

2. Oberliga Süd The 2. Oberliga Süd was the second-highest level of the German football league system in the south of Germany from 1950 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It covered the three states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. Overvi ...

and the rest being relegated to the Amateurligas. A similar-named league, the DDR-Oberliga, existed in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, set at the first tier of the

East German football league system The football league system of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, German: ''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'' or DDR) existed from 1949 until shortly after German reunification in 1991. Structure For most of its history, competitive GDR footba ...

. The

1949–50 DDR-Oberliga The 1949–50 DDR-Oberliga, playing as the DS-Liga in its first season as the ''DDR'', the German Democratic Republic was only formed after the start of the season, was the inaugural season of the DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of East German footba ...

, the inaugural season of the league, was won by ZSG Horch Zwickau.

Oberliga Nord

The 1949–50 season saw three new clubs promoted to the league,

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, Harburger TB and

VfB Oldenburg VfB Oldenburg is a German association football club based in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, they play in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany. History Founded by a group of high school boys as ''FC 1897 Ol ...

, while

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

was re-admitted after initially having been forcibly relegated during the previous season. The league's top scorer was Adolf Vetter of VfL Osnabrück with 28 goals, the third consecutive time he finished as top scorer.

Oberliga Berlin

The 1949–50 season saw three new clubs promoted to the league,

Hertha BSC Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...

, VfB Britz and

Tasmania 1900 Berlin SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin was a German football club based in the Berlin district of Neukölln. History The club was founded as ''Rixdorfer TuFC Tasmania 1900'' on 2 June 1900. It is believed the founders of the club were about to migrate t ...

. The league's top scorer was Heinz Rogge of Union Oberschöneweide with 29 goals.

Oberliga West

The 1949–50 season saw four new clubs promoted to the league, 1. FC Köln,

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

, FV Duisburg 08 and Duisburger SV. The league's top scorer was

Alfred Preißler Alfred Preissler (9 April 1921 – 15 July 2003) was a German footballer and manager who played as a forward mostly for Borussia Dortmund. He is the club’s all-time top goalscorer with 177 goals. The worker’s son grew up in Duisburg, in the ...

of Borussia Dortmund with 24 goals.

Oberliga Südwest

Northern group

The 1949–50 season saw four new clubs promoted to the league,

VfR Kaiserslautern VfR Kaiserslautern () is a German sports club in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Creation VfR Kaiserslautern was created through several mergers. In 1893, MTV Kaiserslautern was formed. The football team split off and forme ...

, ASV Landau, VfR Kirn and

FV Engers FV Engers 07 is a German association football club based in the city of Engers, Rhineland-Palatinate. History The club was founded in 1907 as FC Viktoria Engers on 10 July 1907 and later that same year was joined by FC Roland Engers. This com ...

. The league's top scorers were Werner Baßler and

Ottmar Walter Ottmar Kurt Herrmann Walter (6 March 1924 – 16 June 2013) was a German footballer who played as a striker. He played together with his brother, Fritz Walter, at the club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. They also played together for the Germany nation ...

of 1. FC Kaiserslautern with 45 goals each, the highest total for the Oberliga's in 1949–50.

Southern group

The 1949–50 season saw five new clubs promoted to the league, FV Kuppenheim, FV Lahr, SV Trossingen SV Hechingen and TV Ebingen. The division was disbanded at the end of the season.

Final

The winners of the two regional divisions of the Oberliga Südwest played a final to determine the league champion who was also directly qualified for the German championship: The runners-up of the two divisions determined the club who would face the loser of the championship final for the second place in the German championship: The third-placed teams of the two divisions determined the club who would face the loser of the second-place final for the third place in the German championship:

Oberliga Süd

The 1949–50 season saw two new clubs promoted to the league, SpVgg Fürth and

Jahn Regensburg Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V., commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The club is based on a gymnastics club founded in 1886 a ...

. The league's top scorer was

Horst Schade Horst Schade (10 July 1922 – 28 February 1968) was a German football player and manager. Schade began his career with Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, S ...

of SpVgg Fürth with 21 goals.

German championship

The 1950 German football championship was contested by the eight qualified Oberliga teams and won by

, defeating

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

in the final. It was the last edition with sixteen clubs in the championship playing a knock-out format. From 1951 onwards the finals were played with eight clubs and in group stages.

References

Sources

* ''30 Jahre Bundesliga'' 30th anniversary special, publisher: '' kicker Sportmagazin'', published: 1993 * ''kicker-Almanach 1990'' Yearbook of German football, publisher: ''kicker Sportmagazin'', published: 1989, * ''DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945'' publisher: DSFS, published: 2005 * ''100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband'' 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997

External links

The Oberligas on Fussballdaten.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberliga, 1949-50 1949-50 1 Ger