VfB Königsberg was a German association football club from the city of

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. The team played its home games at the ''Sportplatz des Vereins für Bewegungs Spiele'' near the Maraunenhof Stadtgärtnerei, aside from 1940 to 1941 when they played at the ''Sportplatz am Friedländer Tor'' between Haberberg and Rosenau. __TOC__

History

The club was established on 7 July 1900 as ''Fußball-Club Königsberg'', later being renamed ''VfB Königsberg'' in 1907. The team dominated play in the local city league and the regional Baltenverband between 1907 and 1932, capturing two dozen championships, and advancing to the national level playoffs on several occasions. ''VfBs best result there came in 1923 when they won their way to the semi-finals before being eliminated 2:3 by eventual champions ''

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 ...

''. Following the 1933 reorganization of German football into sixteen top flight divisions ('' Gauligen'') under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, ''VfB'' joined the Gauliga Ostpreußen in the 1933–34 season. The club fielded strong sides but could not do better than to earn a number of second place finishes until finally capturing the divisional title in 1940. That was the start of an unbroken string of five Gauliga Ostpreußen titles from 1940 to 1944. ''VfB'' subsequently took part in the national playoffs rounds from 1942 to 1944. In 1942 the club advanced as far as the quarterfinals where they were defeated 1:2 by '' Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin''. The team also participated in play for the Tschammerpokal, the predecessor to today's

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

(German Cup), in 1935 and 1940–43. Their furthest advance in the tournament ended ignominiously with an 0:8 quarterfinal loss at the hands of eventual cupwinners '' Dresdner SC'' in 1940.Grüne, Hardy (1996). Vom Kronprinzen bis zur Bundesliga. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag The Gauliga Ostpreußen did not have a 1944–45 season as World War II overtook the region. The Königsberg club disappeared in 1945 following the conflict when the city was annexed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and renamed

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Ice hockey

In addition to its football side, the club had an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

section which qualified for, but did not participate in, national playoff rounds in 1927 and 1928. In 1931 the team finished as vice-champions to the ''Berliner Schlittschuhclub''.

Honours

* Königsberg champions: 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 * Baltic football champions: 1908, 1909, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930 * Gauliga Ostpreußen champions: 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konigsberg, Vfb Football clubs in Germany Association football clubs established in 1900 Association football clubs disestablished in 1945 Defunct football clubs in former German territories Ice hockey teams in Germany Sport in Königsberg Multi-sport clubs in Germany

History

Ice hockey

Honours

See also

References