1944 German football championship
| Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft | |
 Replica of the Viktoria trophy | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16 April – 18 June |
| Teams | 31 |
| Champions | Dresdner SC 2nd German title |
| Runners-up | LSV Hamburg |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 185 (5.78 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Helmut Schön (14 goals) |
← 1943 1948 → | |
The 1944 German football championship, the 37th edition of the competition, was won by Dresdner SC, the club defending its 1943 title by defeating Luftwaffe team LSV Hamburg in the final.[1][2]
The final years of the German Championship during the war saw many military teams compete in the championship, Luftwaffe teams, Luftwaffensportvereine, short LSV, and, Wehrmacht teams, Wehrmachtssportvereine, short WSV, became very competitive.[3]
Dresden's Helmut Schön, who would later coach Germany to the 1974 FIFA World Cup, became the top scorer of the 1944 championship with 14 goals, the second-highest individual amount of any player in the history of the competition from 1903 to 1963.[4]
It was the last edition of the tournament during the Second World War, with the competition not being held again until 1948. The thirty-one 1943–44 Gauliga champions, two more than in the previous season,[5] competed in a single-leg knock out competition to determine the national champion.[6]
Dresdner SC became the last club to be awarded the Viktoria, the annual trophy for the German champions from 1903 to 1944. The trophy disappeared during the final stages of the war, did not resurface until after the German reunification and was put on display at the DFB headquarters in Frankfurt until 2015, when it was moved to the new Deutsches Fußballmuseum in Dortmund.[7]
Qualified teams[]
The teams qualified through the 1943–44 Gauliga season:[6]
Competition[]
First round[]
Borussia Fulda received a bye for the first round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 16 April 1944[8] | ||
| LSV Danzig | 0–0 | Hertha BSC |
| 6–4 | ||
| 7–0 | ||
| Dresdner SC | 9–2 | Germania Königshütte |
| LSV Hamburg | 4–0 | |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | 1–2 | SpVgg Wilhelmshaven |
| Schalke 04 | 5–0 | TuS Neuendorf |
| 0–2 | KSG Duisburg | |
| FC Mühlhausen 93 | 4–2 | Kickers Offenbach |
| SV Göppingen | 3–5 | KSG Saarbrücken |
| VfR Mannheim | 2–1 | FC Bayern Munich |
| 0–8 | 1. FC Nürnberg | |
| 3–6 | First Vienna | |
| SV Dessau 05 | 2–3 | Holstein Kiel |
| 1–4 | VfB Königsberg | |
Replay[]
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 23 April 1944 | ||
| Hertha BSC | 7–1 | LSV Danzig |
Round of 16[]
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 7 May 1944[9] | ||
| VfB Königsberg | 3–10 | |
| First Vienna | 5–0 | |
| Hertha BSC | 4–2 | Holstein Kiel |
| Borussia Fulda | 2–9 | Dresdner SC |
| SpVgg Wilhelmshaven | 1–1 | LSV Hamburg |
| KSG Duisburg | 2–1 | Schalke 04 |
| KSG Saarbrücken | 5–3 | FC Mühlhausen 93 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 3–2 | VfR Mannheim |
Replay[]
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 14 May 1944 | ||
| LSV Hamburg | 4–2 | SpVgg Wilhelmshaven |
Quarter-finals[]
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 21 May 1944[10] | ||
| Dresdner SC | 3–2 | First Vienna |
| KSG Saarbrücken | 1–5 | 1. FC Nürnberg |
| 3–2 | Hertha BSC | |
| LSV Hamburg | 3–0 | KSG Duisburg |
Semi-finals[]
| LSV Hamburg | 3 – 2 | |
|---|---|---|
Mühle  7', 30' Gornick 19' |
Report | Plener 59' Sold 63' (pen.) |
| Dresdner SC | 3 – 1 | 1. FC Nürnberg |
|---|---|---|
| Voigtmann 4' Machate 26' Schön 73' (pen.) |
Report | Hettner 44' (pen.) |
Third place play-off[]
| 1. FC Nürnberg | not played | |
|---|---|---|
Final[]
| Dresdner SC | 4 – 0 | LSV Hamburg |
|---|---|---|
| Voigtmann 20' 50', 85' Schön 60' |
Report |
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References[]
- ^ (West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.com, accessed: 22 December 2015
- ^ Dresdner SC » Steckbrief (in German) Weltfussball.de – Dresdner SC honours, accessed: 22 December 2015
- ^ Als Wien deutscher Meister wurde (in German) Augsburger Allgemeine – When Vienna became German champions, published: 3 September 2015, accessed: 26 December 2015
- ^ "Deutsche Meisterschaft » Torschützenkönige" [German championship: Top goal scorer]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- ^ kicker Allmanach 1990, page: 243-245
- ^ a b German championship 1944 rsssf.com, accessed: 25 December 2015
- ^ POKALE AUF REISEN: VIKTORIA UND CO. WANDERN INS FUSSBALLMUSEUM (in German) DFB website, accessed: 27 December 2015
- ^ German championship 1944 – First round (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 25 December 2015
- ^ German championship 1944 – Round of sixteen[permanent dead link] (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 25 December 2015
- ^ German championship 1944 – Quarter finals (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 25 December 2015
Sources[]
- kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, page 164 & 177 - German championship
External links[]
- German Championship 1943–44 at weltfussball.de (in German)
- German Championship 1944 at RSSSF
- 1943–44 in German football
- 1943–44 in European association football leagues
- German football championship seasons