The Gauliga Niedersachsen was the highest

football 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 ...

league in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, ...

and the German states of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Brunswick,

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bück ...

and

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the ''

Gaue ''Gau'' (German , nl, gouw , fy, gea or ''goa'' ) is a Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or current province. It was used in the Middle Ages, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The adm ...

'' '' Südhannover-Braunschweig'', '' Ost-Hannover'' and ''

Weser-Ems The Regierungsbezirk Weser-Ems was the most westerly of the four administrative regions of Lower Saxony, Germany, bordering on the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel. It was established in 1978 by merging the former regions Osnab ...

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

replaced the Prussian province and the German states in the region of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

(German:''Niedersachsen''), although

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

the old states continued to exist. From 1942, the ''Gauliga Niedersachsen'' was split into two separate leagues, the ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' and the ''Gauliga Weser-Ems''. In turn, the ''Gauliga Osthannover'' was separated from the ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' in 1943.

Overview

Gauliga Niedersachsen

The league was introduced by the

Nazi Sports Office The National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise (german: Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, abbreviated NSRL) was the umbrella organization for sports and physical education in Nazi Germany. The NSRL was kn ...

in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the '' Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' and ''Oberliga Weser/Jade'' as the highest level of play of the regional football competitions. The league's success on a national scale was moderate. The surprising victory of

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 ...

in the 1938 championship over the all-dominating

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

with a 4–3 extra time win in the replay final remained the only triumph for the region. In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship. The bottom two teams were relegated. The season after, the league was upsized to eleven teams due to the integration of

Viktoria Wilhelmsburg Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

, the club coming across from the ''

Gauliga Nordmark The Gauliga Nordmark was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein and the German states of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and parts of Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the f ...

''. The 1934–35 and 1935–36 seasons were therefore played with eleven teams and three relegation spots. From 1936, the league returned to ten clubs. Due to the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups of six clubs each. The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the ''Gauliga'' championship. This modus remained for the 1940–41 season. In its last season, 1941–42, the league remained divided into two regional groups but instead of a two team final, a championship-round of six teams was played. At the end of this season, the league was split into two separate ''Gauligas''.

Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig

The territory of the new ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' was made up of the area of the ''

Gau Southern Hanover-Brunswick Gau Southern Hanover–Brunswick (German: ''Gau Südhannover–Braunschweig'') was a ''de facto'' administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the Free State of Brunswick and part of the Free State of Prussia. Before that, ...

'' and the ''

Gau Eastern Hanover Gau Eastern Hanover (German: ''Ost-Hannover'') was a regional district of the NSDAP established in 1925 in the north eastern part of the Prussian Province of Hanover, comprising the governorates of Stade and Lüneburg in their then boundaries. Ori ...

''. The league started with ten clubs in a single division in 1942. It remained at this strength for the 1943–44 season but lost one club, the Wehrmacht SV Celle, to the new ''Gauliga Osthannover''. Due to the arrival of the war on Germany's borders, the last season, 1944–45, was barely started. It was meant to operate in eight regional groups.

Gauliga Weser-Ems

The territory of the new ''Gauliga Weser-Ems'' was made up of the area of the ''Gau'' of the same name. The league started out with ten clubs in a single division. The 1943–44 season was then played in three regional groups of uneven strength, with 23 clubs altogether and a three-team finals round. The last season saw the same modus but 24 clubs. Play did not get under way very far, and most clubs only played two or three games before the league was dissolved.

Gauliga Osthannover

The league begun play as an offshoot of the ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' in 1943 in the area of the ''

'' with eight teams in a single division. The league only played one complete season. In its second season, it was expanded to twelve teams in two groups of six. However, no club absolved more than two games before the effects of the war led to the cancellation of the league.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the ''Gauligas'' ceased to exist and the northern part of Germany found itself in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

occupation zone Germany was already de facto military occupation, occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies from the real German Instrument of Surrender, fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 Octo ...

. Only the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen was not part of this zone as it was awarded to the US forces as a port for their otherwise landlocked occupation zone in Southern Germany. In the British zone and Bremen, top-level football did not resume straight away, unlike in Southern Germany, and only in 1947 a new, highest league was introduced, the

Oberliga Nord The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the introduction of the 3. Liga, the league ceased to exist f ...

, which covered the new states of

and

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

along with the recreated city-states of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and Bremen.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their league positions in the ''Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' and ''Oberliga Weser/Jade'' in 1932–33 were: *

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

, ''2. Oberliga Weser/Jade'' *

Arminia Hannover SV Arminia Hannover is a German association football club based in Hanover, Lower Saxony. History The club was founded in 1910 as ''FC Arminia Hannover'' and merged with ''Rugby-Verein Merkur'' in 1918, becoming ''SV Arminia-Merkur''. Two y ...

, ''champions Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' * SV Algermissen 11, ''2nd Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' *

, ''3rd Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' *

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

, ''6th Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' * VfB Komet Bremen, ''champions Oberliga Weser/Jade'' *

Bremer SV Bremer SV is a German association football club, based in the city of Bremen, which was founded in 1906. The club play their home games at the Panzenberg Stadium and currently participate in the 4th tier Regionalliga Nord. History Bremer SV w ...

, ''3rd Oberliga Weser/Jade'' * Rasen SV Hildesheim 06, ''5th Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' *

VfB 04 Peine {{Short pages monitor