Oberliga Süd (1945-63)

The Oberliga Süd was the highest level of the German football league system in the south of Germany from 1945 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.It covered the three states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen.

Overview

The league was introduced as the highest level of football in the US occupation zone in 1945 to replace the disbanded Gauligas. At this stage, clubs from the south-western parts of Baden and Württemberg did not compete in it as they were based in the French occupation zone and had to play in the Oberliga Südwest, where they remaind until 1950. Play in the southern parts of Germany went underway almost straight after the end of the war while the north and east still had to wait some more years. A main reason for this was the fact that the less industrial, more aggricaltural south had sustained much less damage to infrastructur.

The clubs in the Oberliga Süd came from the following "Gauligas":
* Gauliga Baden ("without the clubs from the southern half")
* Gauliga Bayern
* Gauliga Kurhessen
* Gauliga Hessen-Nassau
* Gauliga Württemberg

In addition to the Oberliga Süd, four other Oberligas were formed in Germany in the 1940s.

*Oberliga West (formed in 1947)
*Oberliga Nord (formed in 1947)
*Oberliga Berlin (formed in 1945, originally with clubs from west and east Berlin)
*Oberliga Südwest (formed in 1945)

Set below the Oberliga were originally the Landesligas of Hessen, Bayern, Württemberg and Nordbaden, from 1950 also Südbaden. From 1950 the 2nd Oberliga Süd was formed as an intermidiate between Oberliga and Landesligas.

With the reintroduction of the German championship in 1948, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga Süd went on to the finals tournament with the other Oberliga champions. In 16 attempts the Oberliga Süd managed to win it six times.

In 1950, the southern group of the Oberliga Südwest was disbaned and it's clubs joined the Southern German Football Association. The SSV Reutlingen and the FC Singen 04 joined the Oberliga Süd, SV Tübingen, Freiburger FC and Vfl Konstanz were integrated into the new 2nd Oberliga Süd and the other eleven clubs were relegated to the Amateurliga.

The Oberliga Süd had quite a few permanent clubs. The VfB Stuttgart, 1. FC Nuremberg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Kickers Offenbach, VfR Mannheim and FC Schweinfurt 05 played all of the 18 possible seasons in the league. The Karlsruher SC was also present for all 18 seasons but only by counting in both halfs of the merger club.

Founding members of the Oberliga Süd

In order of finish:

*VfB Stuttgart
*1. FC Nuremberg
*Stuttgarter Kickers
*TSV Schwaben Augsburg
*SV Waldhof Mannheim
*FC Bayern Munich
*FC Schweinfurt 05
*BC Augsburg
*TSV 1860 München
*FSV Frankfurt
*Eintracht Frankfurt
*Kickers Offenbach
*SpVgg Fürth
*VfR Mannheim
*Phönix Karlsruhe
*Karlsruher FV

Of those clubs, the Karlsruher FV has ceased to exist and the Phönix Karlsruhe is now the Karlsruher SC.

Disbanding of the Oberliga

With the introduction of the Bundesliga, five teams from the Oberliga Süd were admitted to the new Bundesliga. The remaining clubs went to the new Regionalliga Süd, one of five new second divisions.

The teams admitted to the Bundesliga were:

*TSV 1860 München (Champion Oberliga Süd 1963)
*1. FC Nuremberg (Runners-up Oberliga Süd 1963)
*Eintracht Frankfurt (4th placed Oberliga Süd 1963)
*Karlsruher SC (5th placed Oberliga Süd 1963)
*VfB Stuttgart (6th placed Oberliga Süd 1963)

The 3rd placed team of the 1963 season, the FC Bayern München was not admitted as the DFB did not want two teams from the same city in the league and TSV 1860 München had qualified higher.

The following teams from the Oberliga went to the new Regionalliga:

*FC Bayern Munich
*Kickers Offenbach
*TSG Ulm 1846
*SpVgg Fürth
*Hessen Kassel
*FC Schweinfurt 05
*VfR Mannheim
*FC Bayern Hof
*SSV Reutlingen
*TSV Schwaben Augsburg
*BC Augsburg

Winners and runners-up of the Oberliga Süd ["Kicker Almanach" The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine]

1946 VfB Stuttgart 1. FC Nuremberg 1947 1. FC Nuremberg SV Waldhof Mannheim 1948 1. FC Nuremberg TSV 1860 München 1949 Kickers Offenbach VfR Mannheim 1950 SpVgg Fürth VfB Stuttgart 1951 1. FC Nuremberg SpVgg Fürth 1952 VfB Stuttgart 1. FC Nuremberg 1953 Eintracht Frankfurt VfB Stuttgart 1954 VfB Stuttgart Eintracht Frankfurt 1955 Kickers Offenbach SSV Reutlingen 1956 Karlsruher SC VfB Stuttgart 1957 1. FC Nuremberg Kickers Offenbach 1958 Karlsruher SC 1. FC Nuremberg 1959 Eintracht Frankfurt Kickers Offenbach 1960 Karlsruher SC Kickers Offenbach 1961 1. FC Nuremberg Eintracht Frankfurt 1962 1. FC Nuremberg Eintracht Frankfurt 1963 TSV 1860 München 1. FC Nuremberg

Bold denotes team went on to win German championship.

Placings & overall table of the Oberliga Süd 1945 to 1963

Source:Cite web
url = http://www.f-archiv.de/
title = Oberliga Süd
accessdate = 2007-12-26
publisher = Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv

*"VfB Mühlburg" and "Phönix Karlsruhe" merged in 1952 to form "Karlsruher SC".
** denotes club played in the "Oberliga Südwest" until 1950.

External links

* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fussball Archiv ]
* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/alteoberliga/sued/1963/ Oberliga Süd at Fussballdaten.de]
* [http://www.sfvmuenchen.de/ Southern German Football Association, the SFV]

References