Gauliga Mittelrhein

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Gauliga Mittelrhein
Gauliga Köln-Aachen
Gauliga Moselland
Founded
1933
Disbanded
1945
Nation
Nazi Germany
Provinces, Countrys & Regions
Rhine Province
Luxembourg (from 1941)
Eupen-Malmedy (from 1941)
Gau (from 1934)
Köln-Aachen
Moselland
Number of Seasons
12
Replaced by
Oberliga West
Level on Pyramid
Level 1
Domestic Cup
Tschammerpokal
Last Champions 1943-44
Gauliga Köln-Aachen KSG VfL 99 Köln/SpVgg Sülz 07
Gauliga Moselland TuS Neuendorf

The Gauliga Mittelrhein was the highest football league in the central and southern part of the Prussian Rhine Province from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gaue Köln-Aachen and Moselland replaced the Prussian province in the Middle Rhine (German: Mittelrhein) region.

From 1941, the Gauliga Mittelrhein was split into two separate leagues, the Gauliga Köln-Aachen and the Gauliga Moselland. From this time, it also included clubs from the occupied Luxembourg and the Belgian region of Eupen-Malmedy.

[edit] Overview

[edit] Gauliga Mittelrhein

The league was introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the Bezirksligas and Oberligas as the highest level of play in German football competitions.

In its first season, the league had eleven clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship. The bottom three teams were relegated. The season after, the league was reduced to ten teams and remained at this strength until 1939. From 1937, it also included Alemannia Aachen which had previously belonged to the Gauliga Niederrhein.

Due to the outbreak of the 2nd World War in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups, a northern division of seven and a southern of six clubs. The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the Gauliga championship.

In its last season, 1940-41, the league returned to a single-division, ten-team format. At the end of this season, the league was split into two separate Gauligas, divided along the administrative divisions of the two Gaue.

[edit] Gauliga Köln-Aachen

The territory of the new Gauliga Köln-Aachen was made up of the area of the Gau Köln-Aachen and the Eupen-Malmedy region, the German speaking part of Belgium which had been annexed to the Gau after the German victory in 1940. However, no club from this formerly Belgian region did play at highest level during the war.

The league started with nine clubs in a single division in 1941 and expanded to ten for the 1942-43 season. In its last completed season, 1943-44, it returned to a strength of nine teams. Due to the arrival of the war in the region and the conquest of Aachen by the allied forces, the last season probably not started anymore at all.

[edit] Gauliga Moselland

The territory of the new Gauliga Moselland was made up of the area of the Gau Moselland and Luxembourg, which had been annexed by Germany and added to the Gau after the German victory in 1940.

The league started out with two regional divisions of six clubs each with a home-and-away final to determined the Gauliga champion. The western group compromised two clubs from the city of Trier and four Luxembourgian clubs. The league modus remained the same for the 1942-43 season but the number of clubs from Luxembourg increased to five.

In the 1943-44 season, the eastern group comprised five teams while the western had seven clubs. With the arrival of allied forces in the region in late 1944, football was of low priority and the last season, 1944-45 was probably not started any more.

[edit] Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist and the northern part of the region found itself in the British occupation zone while the south became part of the French zone. The annexed regions of Belgium and Luxembourg were taken from Germany again after 1945.

The Oberliga Südwest was introduced as the highest football league in the French occupation zone in 1945, replacing the Gauliga. The territory of the pre-1940 Gau Moselland became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

In the British zone, which the former Gau Köln-Aachen was part of, top-level football did not resume straight away, unlike in Southern Germany, and only in 1947 was a new, highest league introduced, the Oberliga West, which covered all of the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

[edit] Founding members of the league

The eleven founding members and their league positions in the 1932-33 season were:

• Mülheimer SV 06
• VfR 04 Köln
• SpVgg Sülz 07, champion Rhein division
• Eintracht Trier
• Bonner FV
• SV Westmark 05 Trier
• Kölner CfR
• Kölner SC 99
• FV 1911 Neuendorf
• Fortuna Kottenheim, champion Mittelrhein division
• SV Rhenania Köln

[edit] Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga

[edit] Gauliga Mittelrhein

[edit] Gauliga Köln-Aachen

[edit] Gauliga Moselland

[edit] Clubs from Luxembourg in the Gauliga Moselland

From 1941, clubs from the occupied country of Luxembourg took part in the German Gauliga system. The most successful of those was the FV Stadt Düdelingen, who reached the German championship finals round, losing to the FC Schalke 04 0-2 in 1942^[1].

The following clubs played in the Gauliga under their Germanised names:

• FV Stadt Düdelingen, was Stade Dudelange
• FK Niederkorn, was Progrès Niedercorn
• Moselland Luxemburg, was Spora Luxembourg
• SV Düdelingen, was US Dudelange
• SV Schwarz-Weiß Esch, was Jeunesse d'Esch
• Schwarz-Weiß Wasserbillig, was Jeunesse Wasserbillig

[edit] Sources

• The Gauligas Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv (in German)
• Germany - Championships 1902-1945 at RSSSF.com
• Where's My Country? Article on cross-border movements of football clubs, at RSSSF.com

[edit] References

v • d • e Gauliga Original Gauligen Gauliga Baden  · Gauliga Bayern  · Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg  · Gauliga Hessen  · Gauliga Mitte  · Gauliga Mittelrhein  · Gauliga Niederrhein  · Gauliga Niedersachsen  · Gauliga Nordmark  · Gauliga Ostpreußen  · Gauliga Pommern  · Gauliga Sachsen  · Gauliga Schlesien  · Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen  · Gauliga Westfalen  · Gauliga Württemberg Gauligen formed after 1939 Gauliga Braunschweig-Südhannover  · Gauliga Hamburg  · Gauliga Hessen-Nassau  · Gauliga Köln-Aachen  · Gauliga Mecklenburg  · Gauliga Moselland  · Gauliga Niederschlesien  · Gauliga Oberschlesien  · Gauliga Osthannover  · Gauliga Schleswig-Holstein  · Gauliga Weser-Ems  · Gauliga Westmark Gauligen in occupied territories Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren  · Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen  · Gauliga Elsaß  · Gauliga Generalgouvernement  · Gauliga Sudetenland  · Gauliga Ostmark  · Gauliga Wartheland League system: German football league system, Cup competition: Tschammerpokal