The Amateur-Oberliga Berlin was the second tier of the
German football league system
The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 teams ...
in the city of
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 ...
in
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 1947 until the formation of the
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
in 1963, operating under the name of Amateurliga Berlin. After 1963, it was the third tier until 1991, when the league was disbanded. In 1974, the league changed its name from Amateurliga Berlin to Amateur-Oberliga Berlin.
[''Die Deutsche Liga Chronik 1945-2006'', Section F: Berlin and the Northeast region, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006]
Overview
The league was formed under the name of Amateurliga Berlin in 1947 as the second tier of play in the then still united city of Berlin, below the "old"
Oberliga Berlin.
The league operated with two groups in the 1947-48 season, split into four groups the year after, returned to two in 1949-50 and run in one single group from then onwards. After this season, the
East Berlin clubs left the Berlin league system to join that of
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 ...
instead.
It consisted of twelve teams from 1950, with the two first placed clubs gaining promotion to the Oberliga and the two bottom placed teams being relegated to the Landesliga. The number of clubs was extended to fifteen in 1952, with a third team being relegated from then on. In 1959, the number of clubs was extended to sixteen.
With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, the "old" Oberliga Berlin was disbanded and the new second-tier
Regionalliga Berlin
The Regionalliga Berlin was the second-highest level of the German football league system in the city of West-Berlin in Germany from 1963 until the formation of the 2. Bundesliga in 1974. It was by far the smallest of the five Regionalligas.
Over ...
became the highest league in the city of West-Berlin, absorbing most of its clubs. Three clubs from the Amateurliga Berlin were admitted to the new Regionalliga in 1963, these being the
Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin,
Union 06 Berlin and
Reinickendorfer Füchse.
The league continued with sixteen clubs and three relegated teams but only one promotion spot now to the Regionalliga. With the enlargement of the Regionalliga in 1965, six clubs from the Amateurliga were admitted and a second promotion spot was granted to the league from then on. In 1969, a seventeenth club was added, the year after an eighteenth.
With the introduction of the
2nd Bundesliga Nord and the disbanding of the Regionalliga Berlin in 1974, the Amateurliga became the highest league in Berlin, still as the third tier of the German league system. Nine of the twelve clubs from the Regionalliga went to the Amateurliga which meant that the Amateurliga clubs placed ninth to eighteens were relegated to the Landesliga to keep the number of teams in the league to eighteen. With the reorganization of the Regionalligas in 1974, the league was renamed Amateur-Oberliga Berlin.
From 1974, the champions of the Amateurliga had to take part in a
promotion play-off to determine the teams promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. In 1976, the league was reduced to sixteen clubs. Unlike the other
Oberliga champions, the winner of the Berlin league was not directly promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga after this but had to play out a series against the runners-up of the
Oberliga Nord, which they lost both times, in 1979 and 1980.
The inception of a single
2nd Bundesliga in 1981 meant no team was promoted from the Oberligas that year and after 1981, the Oberliga Berlin champion had to play-off with the winners of the
Oberligas Nord,
Westfalen
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
and
Nordrhein.
With the German reunion came the reorganization of the football in former East Germany. The Oberliga Berlin was disbanded and its clubs spread between the
NOFV-Oberligas Nord and Mitte. The teams placed fifteens and sixteenth went to the new
Verbandsliga Berlin
The Berlin-Liga (VI), formerly the Verbandsliga Berlin, is the highest league for football teams exclusively in the German capital. Since German reunification in 1990, it has been the highest level of domestic football in the city, replacing the A ...
.
League champions
The league champions:
[Historical German league tables]
Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv, accessed: 8 February 2015
Source:
Placings in the league 1963 to 1991
The complete list of clubs in the league and their final placings:
*
1 In 1973 SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin went bankrupt and was reformed as Tasmania 73 Berlin . In 2001 the club changed its name to SV Tasmania-Gropiusstadt 1973. In 2011 the club changed its name to
SV Tasmania Berlin
SV Tasmania Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Neukölln of the homonymous borough of Neukölln in Berlin, Germany. The team is currently playing in the fifth tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord.
History
Tasmania's predecessor ...
.
*
2 In 1986 Hertha BSC Berlin II had to withdraw from the league due to the relegation of the first team.
*
3 In 1988 Lichterfelder SU merged with FV Brandednburg-Lichterfelde to form VfB Lichterfelde. In 2004 the club changed its name to Lichterfelder FC.
Key
Founding members of the Amateurliga Berlin
The first proper season of the Amateurliga Berlin took place in 1950, after the East German clubs had left and the league was reduced to one group only. The founder members of this league were:
*
VfL Nord Berlin
VfL Nord Berlin was a German association football club from the city of Berlin. It was formed on 21 May 1947 in the aftermath of World War II as the successor to Berliner Fußball-Club which was established 15 October 1896 and was one of the ...
*
BFC Nordstern
*
VfL Schöneberg
*
Hertha Zehlendorf
The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin.
The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a strong youth department which has won two national youth championships. The depar ...
*
Frohnauer SC
*
Steglitzer SC Südwest
*
SC Tegel
*
SC Charlottenburg
SCC Berlin is a German sports club based in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin and founded in 1902 as ''Charlottenburger Sport-Club 1902''. In 1911, they merged with ''Sport-Club Westen 05'' and changed their club colors from yellow and blue ...
*
SC Staaken
SC Staaken () is a German sports club in Staaken, Berlin Germany. The club was founded in 1919.
History
The club was founded on 12 July 1919. During this time, Hans Berndt played for the club as a youth player. In 1937, the club merged w ...
*
BSC Rehberge Berlin
*
Alemannia 06 Haselhorst
*
Hakoah Berlin
Hakoah Berlin was a German association football club from the city of Berlin established 22 July 1905 as ''Sport-Club Hakoah Berlin''. In 1929, ''Hakoah'' merged with ''Jüdischer Turnverein Bar Kochba Berlin'' (established 22 October 1898) to ...
Disbanding of the Oberliga Berlin
The league was disbanded in 1991, its clubs spread between the new NOFV-Oberligas Mitte and Nord and the Verbandsliga Berlin.
To the
NOFV-Oberliga Nord
The NOFV-Oberliga Nord is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the northern states of the former East Germany and West Berlin. It covers the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and northern Saxony ...
:
*
Tennis Borussia Berlin
Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin.
History
The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and ta ...
*
Spandauer SV
Spandauer SV was a German football club from Berlin.
History
Early years
The capital city was one of the earliest centres of German football and was home to 1. Spandauer Fußballklub Triton, formed on 24 May 1894, and Sportclub Germania S ...
*
Reinickendorfer Füchse
*
Spandauer BC
*
Wacker 04 Berlin
Wacker 04 Berlin was a German football club based in Berlin. The club folded in 1994 after becoming insolvent.
''Wacker'' played at the highest level in Berlin for many years throughout its history, in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg, the Gaul ...
*
BFC Preußen Berlin
BFC Preussen is a German football club from Berlin. The team is part of a sports club which also has departments for handball, volleyball, athletics, gymnastics, and ice hockey. ''Preussen'' was one of the founding clubs of the German Footbal ...
To the
NOFV-Oberliga Mitte
The NOFV-Oberliga Mitte was the third tier of the German football league system in the central states of former East Germany and West Berlin. The league existed from 1991 to 1994. It covered the German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anha ...
:
*
Hertha BSC Berlin II
*
Türkiyemspor Berlin
*
VfB Lichterfelde
Lichterfelder FC was a German association football club from the Berlin district of Lichterfelde. The club had approximately 1,300 members and included the country's largest youth department.
History
The history of the association was marked ...
*
Hertha Zehlendorf
The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin.
The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a strong youth department which has won two national youth championships. The depar ...
*
Türkspor Berlin
*
NSC Marathon 02
*
SC Charlottenburg
SCC Berlin is a German sports club based in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin and founded in 1902 as ''Charlottenburger Sport-Club 1902''. In 1911, they merged with ''Sport-Club Westen 05'' and changed their club colors from yellow and blue ...
*
Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin II
*
SC Gatow
*
FV Wannsee
FV may stand for:
Groups, organizations, companies
* Rossiya (airline) (IATA code: FV)
* Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, a German publishing house
* Federal Vision, an evangelical Christian faith
* Funk Volume, a hip hop record label founded by American ...
To the
Verbandsliga Berlin
The Berlin-Liga (VI), formerly the Verbandsliga Berlin, is the highest league for football teams exclusively in the German capital. Since German reunification in 1990, it has been the highest level of domestic football in the city, replacing the A ...
:
*
Rapide Wedding
*
SV Tasmania 73 Neukölln
The Berlin-Liga (formerly Verbandsliga Berlin) is now the highest league in the city of Berlin. The NOFV-Oberliga Mitte existed for only three seasons, then its clubs were spread between the other two NOFV-Oberligas, Nord and Süd. All clubs on this level based in Berlin now play in the northern group.
References
Further reading
* ''kicker Almanach'' - The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, first published: 1937, published by the
Kicker Sports Magazine
* "Deutschlands Fussball in Zahlen" - An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher:
DSFS
* ''Die Deutsche Liga Chronik 1945-2006'', Section F: Berlin and the Northeast region, publisher:
DSFS, published: 2006
External links
*
Berlin Football Association (BFV)
*
Das Deutsche Fussball ArchivHistoric German league tables
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amateur Oberliga Berlin
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
Football competitions in Berlin
1963 establishments in West Germany
1974 disestablishments in West Germany
Sports leagues established in 1963
Sports leagues disestablished in 1974
Ger