The Kreisliga Hessen (English: ''District league Hesse'') was the highest
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 ...
league in parts of 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 ...
(''
Rheinhessen
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
'') and parts of the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n region of
Palatinate as well as 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 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the
Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar
The Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the ''Rheinhessen'' part of the state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1923 ...
in 1923.
While the league carries the name Kreisliga Hessen it did not cover anywhere near the whole area of what is now the federal 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 ...
. Its main body lay in what is now
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, together with the
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
area of the state of Hesse.
Overview
Predecessor
From 1907, four regional leagues were formed within the structure of the
Southern German football championship
The Southern German football championship (German: ''Süddeutsche Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in the southern Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to p ...
, in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany, these being:
*
Ostkreis-Liga
The Kreisliga Bayern (English: ''District league Bavaria'') was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Bavaria and, later, the state of Bavaria from 1909 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezi ...
, ''covering Bavaria''
*
Nordkreis-Liga
The Nordkreis-Liga (English: ''Northern district league'') was the highest association football league in the German Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1909 to 1918. The league was disbanded with the introduction o ...
, ''covering Hesse''
*
Südkreis-Liga
The Südkreis-Liga (English: ''Southern district league'') was the highest association football league in the German Empire, German Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, the Province of Hohenzollern and Alsace-Lorraine from 1908 to 1918. ...
, ''covering Württemberg, Baden and Alsace''
*
Westkreis-Liga
The Westkreis-Liga (English: ''Western district league'') was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate, the northern parts of the Grand Duchy of Baden, the southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province and par ...
, ''covering the Palatinate, Lorraine and the southern Rhine Province''
In 1908, a first Nordkreis-Liga (English: ''Northern District League'') and Westkreis-Liga (English: ''Western District League'') were established. With the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level.
Post-First World War
With the collapse of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
in 1918, no Nord- or Westkreis championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919.
Southern Germany, now without the
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
regions, which had to be returned to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, was sub-divided into ten ''Kreisligas'', these being:
* Kreisliga Hessen
*
Kreisliga Nordbayern
The Kreisliga Bayern (English: ''District league Bavaria'') was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Bavaria and, later, the state of Bavaria from 1909 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezi ...
*
Kreisliga Nordmain
The Kreisliga Nordmain (English: ''District league North Main'') was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introd ...
*
Kreisliga Odenwald
The Kreisliga Odenwald (English: ''District league Odenwald'') was the highest association football league in the northern part of the German state of Baden and the southern part of the state of Hesse from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded wit ...
*
Kreisliga Pfalz
The Kreisliga Pfalz (English: ''District league Palatinate'') was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Rhein in 1923.
Ove ...
*
Kreisliga Saar
The Kreisliga Saar (English: ''District league Saar'') was the highest association football league in the Territory of the Saar Basin, governed by a League of Nations mandate, and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine ...
*
Kreisliga Südbayern
The Kreisliga Bayern (English: ''District league Bavaria'') was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Bavaria and, later, the state of Bavaria from 1909 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezi ...
*
Kreisliga Südmain
The Kreisliga Südmain (English: ''District league South Main'') was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Main in 1923.
...
*
Kreisliga Südwest
The Kreisliga Südwest (English: ''District league Southwest'') was the highest association football league in the German state of Baden from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden in 1923 ...
*
Kreisliga Württemberg
The Kreisliga Württemberg (English: ''District league Württemberg'') was the highest association football league in the German state of Württemberg from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Württember ...
The new Kreisliga Hessen was made up from ten clubs from both the Nordkreis and Westkreis leagues. The league winners of the Kreisligas advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season.
In 1921-22, the Kreisliga Hessen was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners then played a final to determine the Hessen champion, which in turn advanced to a Rheinhessen-Saar championship final against the Saar champion. This "watering down" of football in the region lasted for only one season, in 1922-23, the number of top clubs was reduced to eight clubs in a single division, with a Rheinhessen-Saar final against the Saar champion once more.
In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
,
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 ...
, established the Southern German ''Bezirksligas'' which were to replace the ''Kreisligas''.
History of the Offenburger Fußballverein
Page 5, accessed: 14 December 2008 The best four teams each from the Kreisliga Hessen and Saar were admitted to the new ''Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar
The Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the ''Rheinhessen'' part of the state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1923 ...
''. The four clubs from Hessen were:
* SV Wiesbaden
SV, Sv, sv, etc. may refer to:
Places and language
* El Salvador, ISO 3166-1 country code SV
* South Vietnam, an extinct state
* Svalbard, Norway, FIPS country code SV
* Swedish language, ISO 639-1 language code sv
* Silicon Valley, a region in n ...
* TG Höchst
* Alemannia Worms
* FV 02 Bieberich
National success
The clubs from the Kreisliga Hessen were not particularly successful in this era and none managed to qualify for the German championship.
Rheinhessen-Saar championship
Played in 1922 and 1923, these were the finals:
* 1922:
** ''Hessen final'': SV Wiesbaden - Alemannia Worms 2-0 / 1-4 / 2-1
** ''Rheinhessen-Saar final'': Borussia Neunkirchen
Borussia VfB Neunkirchen is a German association football club based in Neunkirchen, Saarland. The club ''SC Borussia Neunkirchen'' was founded out of the 1907 merger of ''FC 1905 Borussia'' and ''SC Neunkirchen''.
History
From 1912 through t ...
- SV Wiesbaden 3-1 / 3-0
* 1923:
** ''Rheinhessen-Saar final'': Borussia Neunkirchen - SV Wiesbaden 0-0 / 2-2 / 3-0
Southern German championship
Qualified teams and their success:
* 1920:
** Germania Wiesbaden, ''Group stage''
* 1921:
** FSV Mainz 05, ''Group stage''
* 1922:
** SV Wiesbaden, ''not qualified''
* 1923:
** SV Wiesbaden, ''not qualified''
Winners and runners-up of the Kreisliga Hessen
Placings in the Kreisliga Hessen 1919-23
* 1 VfR Worms joined Wormatia Worms in 1922.
References
Sources
* ''Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland'' (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, 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''
German league tables 1892-1933
''Hirschi's Fussball seiten''
at RSSSF.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreisliga Hessen
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1919 establishments in Germany
1923 disestablishments in Germany
Football competitions in Hesse
20th century in Hesse
Southern German football championship
Football competitions in Rhineland-Palatinate
Sports leagues established in 1919
Ger