The 1956–57 Oberliga was the twelfth season of the Oberliga, the first tier of the

football league system Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' generally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and the

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate ( ; ), officially Saarland (), was a short-lived French protectorate and a disputed territory separated from Germany. On joining the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG/West Germany) in 1957, it became the smallest "federal ...

. The league operated in five regional divisions,

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 ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

. The five league champions and the runners-up from the west, south, southwest and north then entered the

1957 German football championship The 1957 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1956–57. Borussia Dortmund were crowned champions for the second time after a group stage and a final. ''Borussia'' became th ...

which was won by

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. It was Borussia Dortmund's second

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

, having won its first in the previous season and thereby becoming the first club to win back-to-back championships since

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a founding member of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund) in 1900. Th ...

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. During the season, on 1 January 1957, the

officially joined West Germany, ending the post-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

political separation of the territory from the other parts of Germany, which had also seen the Oberliga Südwest clubs from the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken () is a German Football in Germany, football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. History The club began its existence as the footbal ...

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 ...

Sportfreunde Saarbrücken Sportfreunde (''English: Sport friends'') is the name of a number of German sports clubs and may refer to: Association football * Sportfreunde Baumberg * Vereinigte Breslauer Sportfreunde * Sportfreunde Eisbachtal * Sportfreunde Köllerbach * Sport ...

Saar 05 Saarbrücken Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Sarr Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player *Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname *Ain Saar (born 1968), Eston ...

and

SV Röchling Völklingen SV Röchling Völklingen is a German association football club that plays in Völklingen, part of the greater Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club draws its name from the Röchling family, owners of the Völklingen Ironworks steel factory, a former ...

, leave the German league system from 1948 to 1951. A similar-named league, 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 Allied-occupied G ...

, existed in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, set at the first tier of the

East German football league system The football league system of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, German: ''Deutsche Demokratische Republik'' or DDR) existed from 1949 until shortly after German reunification in 1991. Structure For most of its history, competitive GDR footba ...

. The

1957 DDR-Oberliga The 1957 DDR-Oberliga was the ninth season of the DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of league football in East Germany. Rather than in the traditional autumn-spring format the Oberliga played for six seasons from 1955 to 1960 in the calendar year form ...

was won by

SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. ...

Oberliga Nord

The 1956–57 season saw two new clubs in the league,

Heider SV Heider SV is a German association football club from the city of Heide, Schleswig-Holstein. The club was founded 14 October 1925 by what was the reserve side of '' VfL 05 Heide''. The reservists thought they were the better side and challenged ...

and

Concordia Hamburg SC Concordia von 1907 was a Football in Germany, German football club from Marienthal, a quarter in the Wandsbek borough of the city of Hamburg. In 2013, the club has merged with neighbours TSV Wandsbek-Jenfeld 81' (already having used their gro ...

, both promoted from the Amateurliga. The league's top scorer was

Uwe Seeler Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German Association football, footballer and football official. As a Striker (association football), striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the Ger ...

of Hamburger SV with 31 goals.

Oberliga Berlin

The 1956–57 season saw two new clubs in the league, BFC Südring and Rapide Wedding, both promoted from the

Amateurliga Berlin The Amateur-Oberliga Berlin was the second tier of the German football league system in the city of West Berlin in Germany from 1947 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, operating under the name of Amateurliga Berlin. After 1963, it was ...

. The league's top scorer was Helmut Faeder of Hertha BSC Berlin with 18 goals.

Oberliga West

The 1956–57 season saw two new clubs in the league,

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

and

Meidericher SV Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was o ...

, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga West. The league's top scorer was

Alfred Kelbassa Alfred Kelbassa (21 April 1925 – 11 August 1988) was a German football player. Kelbassa played for Preußen Münster (1952–1953) and Borussia Dortmund (1954–1963). He played for West Germany 6 times, scoring two goals, and was a participa ...

of Borussia Dortmund with 30 goals.

Oberliga Südwest

The 1956–57 season saw two new clubs in the league,

and FV Speyer, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Südwest. The league's top scorer was Otto Hölzemann of TuS Neuendorf with 28 goals.

Oberliga Süd

The 1956–57 season saw two new clubs in the league,

Freiburger FC Freiburger FC () is a German association football club based in Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg. Freiburger FC were one of the founding clubs of the DFB (German Football Association) in 1900. History Founded in 1897, for many decades FFC were th ...

and

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Süd. The league's top scorer was Heinz Beck of Karlsruher SC with 34 goals, the highest total for any scorer in the five Oberligas in 1956–57.

German championship

The 1957 German football championship was contested by the nine qualified Oberliga teams and won by

, defeating

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

in the final. The runners-up of the Oberliga Nord and Süd played a pre-qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a single round of matches at neutral grounds in two groups of four. The two group winners then advanced to the final.Das Finale der Deutschen Meisterschaft 1956/1957

Fussballdaten.de fussballdaten.de is a German-language website that predominantly collects comprehensive statistics on the top five tiers of German football. The website offers statistics on every Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga The 3. Liga is a p ...

, accessed: 16 December 2015

Qualifying

Group 1

Group 2

Final

References

Sources

* ''30 Jahre Bundesliga'' 30th anniversary special, publisher: ''

kicker Sportmagazin ''Kicker'' (stylized in all lowercase) is Germany's leading sports magazine, focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice weekly, usually Monday and Thursday ...

'', published: 1993 * ''kicker-Almanach 1990'' Yearbook of German football, publisher: ''kicker Sportmagazin'', published: 1989, * ''DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945'' publisher: DSFS, published: 2005 * ''100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband'' 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997

External links

The Oberligas on Fussballdaten.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberliga, 1956-57 1956-57 1 Ger