Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen
Encyclopedia
| Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen |
|---|
| Founded |
| 1940 |
| Disbanded |
| 1945 |
| Nation |
 Nazi Germany Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by... |
| State League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League... , Region Regierungsbezirk In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte... & Voivodeship Voivodeships of Poland The voivodeship, or province, called in Polish województwo , has been a high-level administrative subdivision of Poland since the 14th century.... |
 Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas.... |
| Marienwerder Region |
 Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919-1939) Pomeranian Voivodeship or Pomorskie Voivodeship was an administrative unit of inter-war Poland . It ceased to exist in September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland... |
| Gau |
| Danzig-West Prussia |
| Number of Seasons |
| 5 |
| Replaced by |
| Region became part of Poland |
| Level on Pyramid |
| Level 1 German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany that consists of over 2,300 men's divisions, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation... |
| Domestic Cup |
| Tschammerpokal DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal or DFB Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. 64 teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. It is considered the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga... |
| Last Champions 1943-44 |
| Luftwaffen SV Danzig |
The Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen was the highest football league in the former Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia
The Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia was a Nazi German province created on 8 October 1939 from the territory of the annexed Free City of Danzig, the annexed Polish province Greater Pomeranian Voivodship , and the Nazi German Regierungsbezirk West Prussia of Gau East Prussia. Before 2 November 1939,...
(German: Danzig-Westpreußen), a Nazi administrative unit established partly from German and partly from annexed territory.
Overview
The Nazi occupants had merged the German-annexed territories of the Free City of DanzigFree City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
(a free city
Free city
Free city may refer to:* City-state, region controlled exclusively by a sovereign city* Free city a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras* Free City , album by the St...
under the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
) and of the Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919-1939)
Pomeranian Voivodeship or Pomorskie Voivodeship was an administrative unit of inter-war Poland . It ceased to exist in September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland...
(Polish: Województwo Pomorskie) and the German Marienwerder Region in a Reichsgau
Reichsgau
A Reichsgau was an administrative subdivision created in a number of the areas annexed to Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945...
, a kind of paramount Nazi administrative region. Historically, the area had belonged to Poland and Prussia, changing hands several times.
After the formation of the Reichsgau on 26 October 1939, the league formed the highest level of play in the Reichsgau introduced for the sport season starting in 1940. Since the reorganisation of the league districts in 1933 football teams from places in the Free City of Danzig and the Marienwerder Region (called West Prussia Region between 1922 and 1939, not to be confused with the homonymous province dissolved in 1920) used to play in the Gauliga Ostpreußen-Danzig. Earlier the football clubs from places in the Free City formed a league with those from places in the Prussian Province of Grenzmark Posen-West Prussia. In 1940 the Gauliga Ostpreußen
Gauliga Ostpreußen
The Gauliga Ostpreußen was the highest football league in the Prussian province of East Prussia and the Free City of Danzig from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau East Prussia the Prussian province...
-Danzig skipped the addition Danzig from its name and comprised only teams from East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
in its then borders.
Until 1939 also clubs of Polish identity, such as Gedania Danzig
Gedania Danzig
KS Gedania Danzig was an ethnically-Polish association football club that was part of German football competition in the inter-war period. It was formed in 1922 in what was at the time the Free City of Danzig...
, comprising many, but not only, Danzigers of Polish tongue, played in the Gauliga Ostpreußen-Danzig and qualified for the play-offs of the Ostpreußen-Danzig gauliga championships . However the Danzig Senate had forbidden Gedania Danzig on 31 August 1939. Under Nazi occupation no clubs of Polish identity were allowed. Football in the Pomeranian voivodeship had been part of the Polish league system until the war.
The Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen was established with six clubs in a single divisions. Originally, the league only consisted of clubs from the region of Danzig and Marienwerder, only from 1942 did clubs from German-annexed Polish Thorn
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
and Bromberg enter the competition, too. Teams played each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship
German football champions
The German football champions are the annual winners of the highest association football competition in Germany. The history of the German football championship is complex and reflects the turbulent history of the country through the course of the 20th century.Brought to the country by English...
. The 1941/1942 season was played with ten clubs and two relegated teams. In 1942/1943, the league was reduced to nine teams but returned to its former strength the season after.
The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1945 gravely affected all Gauligas and football in Danzig-West Prussia ceased in 1944. The 1944/1945 season may not have been started at all anymore. It was scheduled to operate on the same system as the year before.
Aftermath
With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist. West Prussia and Danzig came under Soviet control. The region then became a part of Poland again. The German population was almost completely expelled from the region. All German football clubs were dissolved.Founding members of the league
The six founding members and their positions in the, incompleted, 1939/1940 Gauliga Ostpreußen season were:- Preußen DanzigPreußen DanzigPreußen Danzig was a German association football club from the city of Danzig, West Prussia .-History:The club was established in 1909 as Turn- und Fechtverein Preußen Danzig, a gymnastics and fencing club...
, 2nd Gauliga Ostpreußen - VfR Hansa Elbing, not part of the Gauliga
- SV 19 Neufahrwasser, 5th Gauliga Ostpreußen
- SC Viktoria Elbing, not part of the Gauliga
- BuEV DanzigBuEV DanzigBuEV Danzig was a German association football club formed in 1903, from the city of Danzig, West Prussia .-History:The city's first football side, Fußball Club Danzig was established 18 April 1903, and by 1905 was playing as Ballspiel- und Eislauf-Verein Danzig to reflect the club's interest in...
, 3rd Gauliga Ostpreußen - Polizei SV Danzig, not part of the Gauliga
Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen
| Season | Winner | Runner-Up |
| 1940-41 | Preußen Danzig | VfR Hansa Elbing |
| 1941-42 | HUS Marienwerder | SV 19 Neufahrwasser |
| 1942-43 | SV 19 Neufahrwasser | Luftwaffen SV Danzig |
| 1943-44 | Luftwaffen SV Danzig | Post Gotenhafen |
Placings in the Gauliga Danzig-Westpreußen 1940-44
| Club | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preußen Danzig Preußen Danzig Preußen Danzig was a German association football club from the city of Danzig, West Prussia .-History:The club was established in 1909 as Turn- und Fechtverein Preußen Danzig, a gymnastics and fencing club... |
1 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| Hansa Elbing | 2 | 10 | ||
| SV Neufahrwasser 1919 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Viktoria Elbing | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| BuEV Danzig BuEV Danzig BuEV Danzig was a German association football club formed in 1903, from the city of Danzig, West Prussia .-History:The city's first football side, Fußball Club Danzig was established 18 April 1903, and by 1905 was playing as Ballspiel- und Eislauf-Verein Danzig to reflect the club's interest in... |
5 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| Polizei SV Danzig 1 | 6 | 8 | ||
| HUS Marienwerder 1 | 1 | |||
| Post SV Danzig | 5 | 8 | 9 | |
| Wacker Danzig | 6 | 9 | ||
| SV 05 Elbing | 9 | |||
| LSV Danzig LSV Danzig Lufttwaffensportverein Danzig was a short-lived German association football club from the city of Danzig, West Prussia . LSV was an air force sports club that was active from 1941-44 and was made up primarily of flak soldiers. During World War II it was common in Germany for military sides to take... |
2 | 1 | ||
| SV Thorn | 4 | 6 | ||
| SG Bromberg | 5 | 7 | ||
| Post Gotenhafen | 2 | |||
| Danziger SC | 10 | |||
Source:
- 1 Both teams started the1942-43 season but dropped out half way through.
Sources
- Die deutschen Gauligen 1933-45 - Heft 1-3 Tables of the Gauligas 1933-45, publisher: DSFS
- Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports MagazineKicker (sports magazine)kicker Sportmagazin is Germany's leading sports magazine and is focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice a week, usually Monday and Thursday, in Nuremberg...
External links
The Gauligas Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv- Germany - Championships 1902-1945 at RSSSF.com
- Where's My Country? Article on cross-border movements of football clubs, at RSSSF.com