The Verbandsliga Hamburg-Germania was the fourth tier of the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for Football in Germany, association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 Season (sports), season consisted of 2,235 Sports_leag ...

and the second-highest league in the German

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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

, together with the Verbandsliga Hamburg-Hansa and

Verbandsliga Hamburg-Hammonia The Landesliga Hamburg-Hammonia is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the second-highest league in the German state of Hamburg, together with the ''Landesliga Hamburg-Hansa''. It is named after the Latin word for Hamburg, Hamm ...

, until its disbanding in 1970.

1947 to 1950

The league was formed in 1947, alongside three other divisions on the same level in the City of Hamburg, as the Bezirksklasse Hamburg-Germania. The other three leagues were: * Bezirksklasse Hamburg-Hansa * Bezirksklasse Hamburg-Hammonia * Bezirksklasse Hamburg-Olympia The four new leagues replaced the 1. Klasse Hamburg as the feeder leagues to the Stadtliga Hamburg, which was now renamed Verbandsliga Hamburg. The 1. Klasse Hamburg had been operating since the end of the

Second World War 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 1945 and consisted of three divisions. The change in the league system at this level came together with the establishment of 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 ...

as the new tier-one league in Northern Germany. This meant the new Bezirksklasse in Hamburg was now the third tier of the league system, below Oberliga and Verbandsliga. The league started out with eleven clubs, with the league champion being promoted to the Verbandsliga. In its second season, the league expanded to thirteen clubs. The league above it was renamed from Verbandsliga Hamburg to Amateurliga Hamburg at the end of this season. The year after, in 1950, the Amateurliga was then reduced to one single division from the two it had been operating at previously. For the Bezirksklasse, this also meant a change: The four existing divisions were disbanded and replaced by two leagues: * Bezirksklasse Hamburg-Alster * Bezirksklasse Hamburg-Elbe For the Germania-division (German: Germania-Staffel) this meant a temporary end to its operation.

1953 to 1970

In 1953, the league was once more reestablished and the Elbe-Staffel and Alster-Staffel disbanded. Three of the four leagues in existence until 1950 were reformed, the Olympia-Staffel however, was not. The leagues were now named Verbandsligas: * Verbandsliga Hamburg-Germania * Verbandsliga Hamburg-Hansa *

Each of the three divisions had now fourteen clubs and the league champion was again promoted directly to the Amateurliga Hamburg. The leagues were again the third tier of the German league system. In the fourteen-team per division era, usually the bottom two teams of each division were relegated. Additionally, teams would be moved between the three divisions according to geographical necessity, to balance them out. In 1963, 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 ...

was established in Germany. The old Oberliga Nord was disbanded and at its stead, the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

was set as the second tier of the league system. The Amateurliga Hamburg, now renamed Landesliga Hamburg, slipped to third tier in the league system, making the three Verbandsligas the fourth tier now. Otherwise, nothing changed for the three leagues. In the first couple of seasons after 1963, nothing changed for the three leagues. In 1970, the Germania-Staffel was disbanded, leaving only the Hansa and Hammonia division on this level, as it is today. Of the fifteen clubs in the league in 1969–70, the league winner was promoted to the Landesliga while the teams placed second to ninth were split between the other two divisions. The remainder of the clubs was relegated.

Position of the Germania-Staffel in the league system

League champions

Source:

Sources

Das deutsche Fussball Archiv

References

External links

''The Hamburg Football Association'' (HFV)
{{Football in Hamburg Recurring events disestablished in 1970 Defunct football competitions in Germany Football competitions in Hamburg 1947 establishments in Germany