The 1956 FDGB-Pokal started with 148 teams. It was the sixth time that the
East German
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 ...
national cup in
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
was contested. Due to the switch to a calendar year season the final took place at the end of the year.
Two qualifying rounds were played before the first round. All rounds were played as knock-out matches with
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
following a draw after 90 minutes. If extra time yielded no winner, the teams faced each other again in a replay.
120 quarter-finalist of the DDR-Bezirkspokal competitions were joined by 21 members of the third-tier
2nd DDR-Liga that had been created in 1955. After the second qualifying round, the remaining 36 teams were joined by the 28 teams from the top-tier
DDR-Oberliga
The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany.
Overview
Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...
and the second-tier
DDR-Liga
The DDR-Liga (English: GDR League or ''East German League'') was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany), bei ...
.
By the third round proper none of the Bezirkspokal or 2nd DDR-Liga sides remained. In addition Oberliga sides
Rotation Babelsberg,
Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt,
SC Rotation Leipzig and
Motor Zwickau had been eliminated. Three DDR-Liga teams entered the quarter-finals –
Chemie Wolfen,
Chemie Halle-Leuna and BSG Chemie Zeitz – but only Halle went through to the semi-finals after a 4–3 extra time win over
Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg. In the semi-final the underdogs from Halle held Oberliga side
Turbine Erfurt to a 1-all draw after extra time – and won the replay 5-0 to reach the final in Magdeburg. Their opponents were
ZASK Vorwärts Berlin
1. FC Frankfurt is a German football club based in Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg. The club was founded as the army club SV VP Vorwärts Leipzig in Leipzig in East Germany in 1951. The club won six East German championships as ASK Vorwärts Be ...
who had eliminated holders and Oberliga champions
Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt.
First qualifying round
Wacker walkover; Stahl withdrew
Chemie walkover; Einheit withdrew
BSG Wismut Auerbach, BSG Wismut Schneeberg, BSG Stahl Lippendorf were given byes to the second qualifying round.
Replay
Second qualifying round
Replay
First round
Berlin walkover; Halle withdrew
Replays
Result unknown, Schneeberg advanced
Second round
(played on 18 November 1956)
Replay
Third round
(played on 25 November 1956)
Quarter-finals
(played on 2 December 1956)
Semi-finals
(played on 9 December 1956)
Replay
(played on 12 December 1956)
Final
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fdgb-Pokal 1956
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
1956 in East German football