The 1937

German football championship German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

, the 30th edition of the competition, was won by

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

, the club's third German championship, by defeating 1. FC Nürnberg 2–0 in the final. For Schalke it was the half-way point of the club's most successful era, having won the 1934, 1935 final before the 1937 title and going on to win the 1939, 1940 and 1942 ones as well, winning six national championships all up during this time. 1. FC Nürnberg, the defending champions who had eliminated Schalke in the semi-finals in the previous season, already had six titles to their name at the time and would go on to win three more between 1948 and 1968 for a total of nine. The two clubs, Germany's most successful teams in the pre-

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

era, had previously met in the 1934 final which Schalke had won 2–1 but would never encounter each other again in a championship final after 1937.(West) Germany -List of champions
rsssf.org, accessed: 29 December 2015 Karl Mayer of

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

and Ernst Kalwitzki of FC Schalke 04 were the joint top scorers of the 1937 championship with ten goals each. Kalwitzki would finish as the competition's top scorer twice more, in 1939 and 1943. It was the first-ever German championship final to be played in the Olympiastadion in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, built for the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. FC Schalke 04 completed the 1936–37 season unbeaten, finishing the Gauliga Westfalen with 17 wins and one draw. The club than went on to win seven out of eight games in the championship and draw one, against

, to complete the league season with a record of 24 wins and two draws. After the German championship win Schalke went on to win the

1937 Tschammerpokal The 1937 DFB-Pokal, Tschammerpokal was the 3rd season of the annual German Association football, football cup competition. In the final which was held on 9 January 1938 in the Müngersdorfer Stadion (Cologne) FC Schalke 04, Schalke 04 defeated For ...

, the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

as well, by defeating

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

2–1 in the final. The sixteen 1936–37

Gauliga 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 '' ...

champions competed in a group stage of four groups of four teams each, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals. The two semi-final winners then contested the 1937 championship final.German championship 1937
rsssf.org, accessed: 29 December 2015

Qualified teams

The teams qualified through the 1936–37 Gauliga season:

Competition

Group 1

Group 1 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Nordmark, Ostpreußen, Sachsen and Schlesien:

Group 2

Group 2 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Brandenburg, Niedersachsen, Pommern and Westfalen:

Group 3

Group 3 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Hessen, Mitte, Südwest and Württemberg:

Group 4

Group 4 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Bayern, Baden, Mittelrhein and Niederrhein:

Semi-finals

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 6 June 1937

Third place play-off

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 20 June 1937

Final

, align="center" style="background:#ddffdd" colspan=3, 20 June 1937German championship 1937 – Final
Weltfussball.de, accessed: 29 December 2015

References

Sources

* ''kicker Allmanach 1990'', by kicker, page 164 & 177 - German championship

External links

German Championship 1936–37
at weltfussball.de

at RSSSF {{1936–37 in European football (UEFA) 1

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

German football championship seasons