The Gauliga Nordmark 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 ...

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 e ...

Province of Schleswig-Holstein The Province of Schleswig-Holstein (german: Provinz Schleswig-Holstein ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (subsequently the Free State of Prussia after 1918) from 1868 to 1946. History It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and H ...

and the German states of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hou ...

, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and parts of Oldenburg 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 N ...

reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the '' Gaue'' ''

'', ''

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

'' 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 Sc ...

'' replaced the Prussian province and the German states in this northern region of Germany. From 1942, the ''Gauliga Nordmark'' was split into three separate leagues, the ''Gauliga Hamburg'', ''Gauliga Mecklenburg'' and the ''Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein''. The German word ''

Nordmark The Northern March or North March (german: Nordmark) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and ...

'' can be translated as ''Northern

Marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

'', referring to the fact that the league covered the northernmost part of the country.

Overview

Gauliga Nordmark

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 ...

in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the ''Oberliga Lübeck/Mecklenburg'', ''Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein'', ''Oberliga Nordhannover'' and ''Oberliga Hamburg'' as the highest level of play of the regional football competitions. 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, however, due to

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 Victori ...

moving to the '' Gauliga Niedersachsen'', only one club went down in 1934. The league retained its modus until 1937, when two clubs, the

Borussia Harburg Borussia is the Latin name for Prussia. Football clubs * Borussia Dortmund * Borussia Fulda * Borussia Mönchengladbach * Borussia Neunkirchen * HSV Borussia Friedenstal * SC Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind * Tennis Borussia Berlin * Wuppertal ...

and

FV Wilhelmsburg 09 FV may stand for: Groups, organizations, companies * Rossiya (airline) (IATA code: FV) * Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, a German publishing house * Federal Vision, an evangelical Christian faith * Funk Volume, a hip hop record label founded by American h ...

transferred across from the ''Gauliga Niedersachsen''. The league was therefore upsized to twelve clubs with three relegated teams for the 1937-38 season. It was reduced to eleven clubs for the season after. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups, one of six and one of seven clubs. The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the ''Gauliga'' championship. The league returned to a twelve-team, single-division format for the 1940-41 season and downsized to ten club for its last season, 1941-42. Unlike all other territories Germany had lost after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the Danish-speaking parts of northern Schleswig which had been awarded to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in 1920 were not reoccupied by Germany after 1940. No clubs from Denmark took part in the league therefore.

Gauliga Hamburg

The league started with ten clubs in a single division in 1942, containing only clubs from the greater Hamburg area. It remained at this strength for the duration of its existence. Unlike all other leagues in the country, the ''Gauliga Hamburg'' managed to complete its program in its last season, 1944–45 before the 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 ...

finished all competition. This was mainly due to the league being city-based and therefore much less affected by the restrictions on transport in the final war year. Of the clubs from the region ''Nordmark'', only the Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg achieved any form of national success during the ''Gauliga'' years. The club of the German air force (''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'') reached the cup final in 1943 and the championship final in 1944, losing both times.

Gauliga Mecklenburg

The territory of the new ''Gauliga Mecklenburg'' was made up of the area of the ''Gau'' of the same name. The league started out with seven clubs in a single division and expanded to ten clubs for the 1943-44 season. Its last season, 1944–45, probably did not get underway at all due to the effects of the war in the region.

Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein

The league started out with ten clubs in a single division, all from the ''Gau Schleswig-Holstein''. It remained at this strength in its second season, 1943-44. The third edition, 1944–45 got barely underway when the effects of the war forced it to be cancelled. Play continued on local level in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

and

, but no ''Gauliga'' champion was determined.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the ''Gauligas'' ceased to exist and the northern part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

found itself in the British occupation zone. Mecklenburg however, was part of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

zone and became later part of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

. In the British zone, top-level football did not resume straight away, unlike in Southern Germany, and only in 1947 was a new, highest league 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

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 ...

and

along with the recreated city-states of

and

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 cons ...

. Mecklenburg became part of the East German football league system and the

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern ...

was introduced as the new highest league in 1949.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their league positions in the ''Oberliga'' in 1932-33 were: *

Eimsbütteler TV Eimsbütteler Turnverband is a German sports club based in Eimsbüttel, Hamburg. Apart from football, the club also offers a variety of other sports, like basketball, volleyball, and fencing. The club's golden era was in the 1930s and early 1940s ...

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

* Holstein Kiel, ''champion Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein'' *

, ''champion Oberliga Nordhannover'' *

FC Altona 93 Altonaer FC von 1893, commonly known as Altona 93 and abbreviated to AFC, is a German association football club based in the Altona district of the city of Hamburg. The football team is a department of a larger sports club which also offers ha ...

, ''champion Oberliga Hamburg'' *

Union 03 Altona SC Union 03 Altona is a German association football club based in the Altona district of the city of Hamburg. The football team is a department of a larger sports club which also offers handball and tennis. During the inter-war period (1906– ...

Polizei Hamburg The Hamburg Police (german: Hamburger Polizei or ) is the Germany, German Landespolizei force for the city-state of Hamburg. Law enforcement in Germany is divided between federal and States of Germany, state (Land) agencies. A precursor to the ag ...

Borussia Kiel Borussia is the Latin name for Prussia. Football clubs * Borussia Dortmund * Borussia Fulda * Borussia Mönchengladbach * Borussia Neunkirchen * HSV Borussia Friedenstal * SC Borussia Lindenthal-Hohenlind * Tennis Borussia Berlin * Wuppertal ...

* Polizei SV Lübeck *

SV Schwerin 03 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 ...

, ''champion Oberliga Lübeck/Mecklenburg''

Winners and runners-up of the league

The winners and runners-up of the league:

Gauliga Nordmark

Gauliga Hamburg

Gauliga Mecklenburg

Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein

Placings in the league 1933-44

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league:

Gauliga Nordmark

* ¹ Moved from the Gauliga Nordmark to the Gauliga Niedersachsen in 1934. * ² Moved from the Gauliga Niedersachsen to the Gauliga Nordmark in 1937. * ³ Polizei Hamburg changed its name to MSV Hansa Hamburg in 1935.

Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein

Gauliga Hamburg

Gauliga Mecklenburg

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

External links

*
The Gauligas
''Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv''

at RSSSF.com {{Football in Schleswig-Holstein Gauliga Football competitions in Hamburg Football competitions in Schleswig-Holstein Football competitions in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Football competitions in Lower Saxony Sports leagues established in 1933 1933 establishments in Germany Defunct association football leagues in Germany