The Gauliga Hessen 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

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 ...

state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

and 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 ...

n province of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

from 1933 to 1945. From 1941, it was renamed Gauliga Kurhessen. 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 '' Gau'' '' Electoral Hesse'' replaced the Prussian province and the Peoples State.

Overview

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 take over of power in Germany and Baden. It replaced the ''

Bezirksliga The Bezirksliga ( en, County League) is commonly a medium set of amateur divisions set at steps 7, 8 or 9 in the German football league system. Structure Depending on the structural organisation within each of the 21 state football associations ...

'' as the highest level of play in German football competitions. The ''Gauliga Hessen'' was established with ten clubs, all from the region of Hesse. The Gauliga replaced as such the ''

Bezirksliga Main-Hessen The Bezirksliga Main-Hessen was the highest association football league in the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1927 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933. Overview The le ...

'' and ''

Bezirksliga Hessen-Hannover The Bezirksliga ( en, County League) is commonly a medium set of amateur divisions set at steps 7, 8 or 9 in the German football league system. Structure Depending on the structural organisation within each of the 21 state football associations ...

'', the highest leagues in the region until then. As such, it mixed clubs which had previously belonged to different Football Associations, the Southern German FA (Main/Hessen) and the West German FA (Hessen/Hannover). The region it covered was never particularly successful in German football and this didn't change with the establishment of the ''Gauliga''. No club from this league reached any German cup or championship final in this period. In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the German championship while the bottom two teams were relegated. The league remained unchanged until 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 1939-40 and 1940–41, the league played in two separate groups of six teams with a home-and-away final at the end to determine the leagues champion. In 1941, the league returned to a single-division format and renamed ''Gauliga Kurhessen'', but with only nine clubs. Also, some of the clubs from the south, like

FC Hanau 93 FC Hanau 93 is a German association football club based in Hanau, Hesse. History Early history Founded in 1893, the club is Hesse's oldest. In its first year, the club was winless in a half dozen matches, but the next season emerged as south ...

, left the league for the new

Gauliga Hessen-Nassau A Gauliga () was the highest level of play in German football from 1933 to 1945. The leagues were introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power by the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise. Name The German word ...

. The 1942–43 season was played in the same modus. The worsening war situation and lack of players forced many clubs to merge and form ''KSG's'', ''Kriegsspielgemeinschaften'' (''combined wartime side'') and therefore the league only had seven clubs in 1943–44. For the ''Gauligas'' final season, it was split in three regional divisions with a varying number of clubs. The imminent collapse of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1945 gravely affected all ''Gauligas'' and football in Hessen ceased in early 1945 with none of the groups having absolved their full program. With the end of the Nazi era, the ''Gauligas'' ceased to exist. In the US

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 ...

, which the newly created federal state of Hessen was part of, 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 ...

was formed in late 1945, to replace this league.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their positions in the 1932-33 ''Bezirksliga Main/Hessen'' and ''Bezirksliga Hessen/Hannover'' season were: *

Borussia Fulda Borussia Fulda is a German association football club from Fulda, Hesse. The club was founded 4 July 1904 as ''FC Borussia 1904 Fulda'' and underwent a number of changes in 1923 when they were first joined by ''Radsportclub 1907 Fulda'' in July, ...

, ''winner Hessen division'' *

VfB Friedberg The VfB Friedberg is a German association football club from the town of Friedberg, Hesse. In pre-Second World War football the club has played at times at highest level, most notable the six seasons spend in the Gauliga Hessen from 1933 to 193 ...

, ''10th Main division'' *

, ''9th Main division'' * Kurhessen Kassel, ''Hessen division'' *

CSC 03 Kassel CSC, Csc or CSc may refer to: Awards * Conspicuous Service Cross (disambiguation) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (New York) ** Conspicuous Service Cross (United Kingdom) Science and industry * Cancer ...

, ''Hessen division'' * SG Hessen Hersfeld, ''Hessen division'' * SV 06 Kassel, ''Hessen division'' * BC Sport Kassel, ''Hessen division'' *

VfB Marburg VfB Marburg is a German football club based in Marburg, Hesse, currently playing in the Hessenliga. History VfB Marburg was established on 13 May 1905 as Marburger Fußball Club and in its first two years boasted over 100 members. In October ...

, ''Hessen division'' * Hermannia Kassel, ''Hessen division''

Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Hessen

The winners and runners-up of the league:

Placings in the Gauliga Hessen and Kurhessen 1933-44

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league: * ¹ These four clubs joined the new Gauliga Hessen-Nassau in 1941. * ² In 1943, a number of clubs from Kassel formed “war sport unions” (German: KSG), those being: ** Kurhessen and SC 03 formed KSG Kurhessen/SC 03 Kassel. ** TuRa and TuSpo formed KSG TuRa/TuSpo 86/09 Kassel. ** BC Sport and BV 06 formed KSG BC Sport/BV 06 Kassel. * ³ Played in 1943-44 as Reichsbahn SG Borussia Fulda.

References

Sources

* ''Die deutschen Gauligen 1933-45 - Heft 1-3'' Tables of the Gauligas 1933–45, publisher: DSFS * ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine * ''Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988'' History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll

External links

*
The Gauligas
''Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv''

at RSSSF.com {{Football in Hesse Sports leagues established in 1933 1933 establishments in Germany 1945 disestablishments in Germany Gauliga Football competitions in Hesse