The Thüringenliga is the sixth tier (VI) of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Thuringia (german: Thüringen). Until the introduction of the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

s in 1994 the fourth tier.

Overview

The Thüringenliga was established in 1990 as the ''

Landesliga The Landesliga ( en, Football State League) is a tier of football in some states of the German football league system. In Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Hamburg, the Landesligas are set right below the Oberliga and therefore ...

Thüringen'' from fourteen clubs as a highest league for the German state of Thuringia, which was established after the league in October 1990, and the Thuringia Football Association, TFV (german: Thüringer Fußball-Verband). It comprised the area of the three Bezirksligen of

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

, Gera and Suhl. Each of those three leagues contributed a number of clubs to the new league while one club was relegated from the DDR-Liga, then the second division. The Thüringenliga was established within the East German football league system and incorporated in the league system of the united Germany at the end of its first season, in 1991. The league has been a feeder league, together with the Sachsenliga and Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt, to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd, which its champion is directly promoted to. As such, it was the fourth tier of the German league system. After having fourteen clubs in the league in its first season, the number went to seventeen the year after and was then set at sixteen, which it maintained for most seasons. It some years the number does however vary to balance out promotion and relegation. In 1994, with the establishment of the Regionalliga Nordost as the new third tier of the league system, the ''Thüringenliga'' fell to tier five in the system but remained unchanged otherwise. In 2008, the league was again demoted one level when the

was established. However, this changed nothing in the leagues status as a feeder league to the

NOFV-Oberliga The NOFV- Oberliga is a division at step 5 of the German football league system. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became the successor of the DDR-Oberliga, and functions today as a 5th division in the former territory of East Germany and the ...

. The Landesligen of Thuringia and Saxony are unique in their naming as every other league in Germany of this standing carries the name Verbandsliga. This was done so simply by choice of the local ''football associations'' (German:''Fußballverband'') in Saxony and Thuringia and the name could be changed to ''Verbandsliga'' if they wish to do so.

League champions

The league champions: * Denotes club declined or ineligible for promotion.

Founding members of the league

The league was established from fourteen clubs from four leagues in 1990. Most of the East German clubs changed their names in the years after the reunion, some reverting to their old ones after a brief period. Current names, when different, are listed alongside the name in 1990. The clubs are: From the 2nd Division-Group B: *

FC Union Mühlhausen FC Union Mühlhausen is a German football club from Mühlhausen, Thuringia. History The club was founded in 1972 after the merger of ''BSG Post'' and ''BSG Motor''. As ''BSG Union Mühlhausen'' the team played most of the times in the Bezirksliga ...

From the Bezirksliga Erfurt: * SV Funkwerk Kölleda, ''now FSV 06 Kölleda'' *

Glückauf Sondershausen Glückauf may refer to * Glück auf, the traditional German miners' greeting * Glückauf-Kampfbahn, a sports stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany *, a number of ships with this name. * Eugen Glueckauf (1906 – 1981), German-born British expert on nuc ...

, ''now BSV Eintracht Sondershausen'' * SC Leinefelde * Grün-Weiß Erfurt * Preußen Bad Langensalza * SV Motor Gotha, ''now FSV Wacker 03 Gotha'' From the Bezirksliga Gera: * FV Zeulenroda, ''now FC Motor Zeulenroda again'' * Blau-Weiß Gera, ''later FV Gera Süd, now BSG Wismut Gera again'' * SV Jenaer Glaswerk, ''now SV Schott Jena'' From the Bezirksliga Suhl: *

SV EK Veilsdorf 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 ...

* SV 04 Schmalkalden, ''now FSV Schmalkalden'' * Lok Meiningen, ''now VfL 04 Meiningen'' * Versco Walldorf, ''now SV Walldorf''

References

Sources

* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS. * ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. ''Kicker'' Sports Magazine. * ''Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005'' History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.

External links

Das deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historic German league tables
The ''North East German Football Association'' (NOFV)

The Thuringia Football Association (TFV)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuringenliga Landesliga Football competitions in Thuringia 1990 establishments in East Germany Sports leagues established in 1990