BC Hartha
Encyclopedia
BC Hartha is a German association football club
from the town of Hartha
, Saxony
.
, one of sixteen regional top-flight divisions established in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. Hartha fielded competitive sides through the balance of the decade and on to the end of World War II in 1945. The team captured division titles in 1937 and 1938 and delivered a number of top three finishes. Those titles earned BC a place in the national playoffs, but they were unable to progress beyond the opening group stage. They also made appearances in play for the Tschammerpokal, predecessor to today's DFB-Pokal
(German Cup), in 1935–39 and 1941, and sent a representative to the national team in 1939.
They slipped briefly from first division competition in 1941 but returned after just a single season absence. As the war overtook the country, play became more local in character and in 1944 BC became part of the Gauliga Chemnitz which collapsed early in the 1944–45 season.
Following the war the former membership of BC was re-formed as Sportgemeinde Hartha which became part of the separate football competition that emerged in East Germany. The team was renamed BSG Industrie Hartha in 1949 and again in 1952 as BSG Fortschritt Hartha. From 1953 until 1958, BSG was part of the second tier DDR-Liga
before slipping to the Bezirksliga Leipzig, where they played as an anonymous lower division side over the next three decades. On 18 August 1990, as the reunification of Germany
approached, the club reassumed its traditional identity as BC Hartha.
Football in Germany
Association football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the 1. and 2. Bundesliga on top, and the winner of the first...
from the town of Hartha
Hartha
Hartha is a town in the district of Mittelsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated 11 km west of Döbeln, and 12 km north of Mittweida....
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
History
The club was established 13 July 1913 and first emerged out of local level competition in the mid-30s by capturing the Bezirksklasse Mittelsachsen (II) title in 1935 and then winning a promotion playoff to advance to the Gauliga SachsenGauliga Sachsen
The Gauliga Saxony was the highest football league in the German state of Saxony from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau Saxony replaced the state Saxony.-Overview:The league was introduced in 1933,...
, one of sixteen regional top-flight divisions established in the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. Hartha fielded competitive sides through the balance of the decade and on to the end of World War II in 1945. The team captured division titles in 1937 and 1938 and delivered a number of top three finishes. Those titles earned BC a place in the national playoffs, but they were unable to progress beyond the opening group stage. They also made appearances in play for the Tschammerpokal, predecessor to today's DFB-Pokal
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...
(German Cup), in 1935–39 and 1941, and sent a representative to the national team in 1939.
They slipped briefly from first division competition in 1941 but returned after just a single season absence. As the war overtook the country, play became more local in character and in 1944 BC became part of the Gauliga Chemnitz which collapsed early in the 1944–45 season.
Following the war the former membership of BC was re-formed as Sportgemeinde Hartha which became part of the separate football competition that emerged in East Germany. The team was renamed BSG Industrie Hartha in 1949 and again in 1952 as BSG Fortschritt Hartha. From 1953 until 1958, BSG was part of the second tier DDR-Liga
DDR-Liga
The DDR-Liga was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR , being roughly equivalent to the Bundesliga in West Germany.-1950-1955:The league was established with two divisions of ten teams each in 1950...
before slipping to the Bezirksliga Leipzig, where they played as an anonymous lower division side over the next three decades. On 18 August 1990, as the reunification of Germany
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
approached, the club reassumed its traditional identity as BC Hartha.