Baltic football championship
Encyclopedia
| Baltic football championship |
|---|
| Founded |
| 1908 |
| Disbanded |
| 1933 |
| Nation |
 German Empire The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German... |
.svg.png) Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
 |
| Province Provinces of Prussia The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in... |
| East Prussia Province of East Prussia The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg .... |
| Pomerania |
| West Prussia West Prussia West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia... |
| Number of Seasons |
| 21 |
| Replaced by |
| 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... |
| Gauliga Pommern Gauliga Pommern The Gauliga Pommern was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Pomerania from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau Pomerania replaced the province of Pomerania.-Overview:The league was... |
| 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... |
| Last Champions 1932-33 |
| Prussia Samland Königsberg |
The Baltic football championship (German: Baltische Fußball Meisterschaft) was the highest association football competition in the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
provinces of East Prussia
Province of East Prussia
The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg ....
, Pomerania and West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
. The competition was disbanded in 1933.
It should not be confused with the Baltic Cup, a competition for the national teams of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. Instead, the competition was named after the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, its clubs mostly based on the shore of this sea.
Overview
German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, each of which carried out their own championship matches. These often pre-dated the national German championshipGerman 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...
. With the inception of the latter in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments. Regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. These regional championships were:
- Southern German football championshipSouthern German football championshipThe Southern German football championship was the highest association football competition in the South of Germany, established in 1898...
- formed in 1898 - Brandenburg football championshipBrandenburg football championshipThe Brandenburg football championship was the highest association football competition in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, including Berlin, established in 1898...
- formed in 1898 - Central German football championshipCentral German football championshipThe Central German football championship was the highest association football competition in Central Germany, in what is now the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, established in 1902...
- formed in 1902 - Western German football championshipWestern German football championshipThe Western German football championship was the highest association football competition in Western Germany, in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, the Rhine Province, the northern parts of the province of Hesse-Nassau as well as the Principality of Lippe, later to become the Free State of Lippe...
- formed in 1903 - March football championship - existed from 1903 to 1911
- Northern German football championshipNorthern German football championshipThe Northern German football championship , operated by Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband , was the highest association football competition in Northern Germany, in the Prussian provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover and the German states of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin,...
- formed in 1906 - South Eastern German football championshipSouth Eastern German football championshipThe South Eastern German football championship was the highest association football competition in the Prussian provinces of Silesia, which was divided into the Province of Lower Silesia and the Province of Upper Silesia after 1919, and Posen, which mostly became part of Poland in 1919...
- formed in 1906 - Baltic football championship - formed in 1908
Regional championships were suspended with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, but in league format. Others, such as the Baltic championship, completely disappeared, especially if the territories they were held in were no longer part of Germany. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
, regional championships ceased altogether.
Background
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, as the provinces of East Prussia
Province of East Prussia
The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg ....
, Pomerania and West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
.
With the defeat of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1918 and the formation of a Republic, the former Kingdoms and Principalities of Germany became states. For most of the Prussian provinces
Provinces of Prussia
The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in...
, this only meant that the Kingdom was replaced with the Free State of Prussia
Free State of Prussia (1918-1933)
The Free State of Prussia was a German state formed after the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of World War I. It was the major state of Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic, comprising almost 5/8 of its territory and population...
, but the provinces in east of the Kingdom were far more affected by the outcome of the war.
West Prussia was almost completely awarded
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
after the First World War, only a small strip of land of the western part of the province remained with Germany and became the border province Posen-West Prussia
Posen-West Prussia
The border province of historical period Posen-West Prussia was a province of the Free State of Prussia. The capital was Schneidemühl . The province had an area of 7,695 km², and was located within present-day Poland....
(German: Grenzmark Posen-West). This turned East Prussia into an exclave, separated from mainland Germany. The city of Danzig, previously part of West Prussia, became the Free City of Danzig
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....
.
A small portion of East Prussia, the region around Soldau in the south west of the province, was also awarded to Poland. In other parts of East Prussia, a plebiscite
East Prussian plebiscite
The East Prussia plebiscite , also known as the Allenstein and Marienwerder plebiscite or Warmia, Masuria and Powiśle plebiscite , was a plebiscite for self-determination of the regions Warmia , Masuria and Powiśle, which had been in parts of East Prussia and West Prussia, in accordance with...
was held, resulting in a vote for remaining with Germany. The Memel Territory
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
came initially under French protection and was later annexed by Lithuania.
Pomerania was not affected by any territorial changes after the First World War and remained completely part of Germany until 1945.
Clubs from both Danzig and Memel continued to compete in the Baltic championship despite not being part of Germany anymore. Clubs from Memel simultaneously took part in the Lithuanian championship, too.
Football association
The Baltic Football Association was formed in 1907. The development of football associations in the region was separated between Pomerania and the East & West Prussia until 1910:Pomerania
- Stettiner Fußball Vereinigung, formed 1903
- Pommerscher Fußball Verband, formed 1904 in a merger of Verband Stettiner Ballspiel Vereine and Stettiner Fußball Vereinigung
In 1907, the Pommersche Fußball Verband joined the Verband Berliner Ballspielvereine but, in 1910, it moved across to the Baltischer Rasen- und Wintersport Verband.
In 1930, the western parts of Pomerania joined the Verband Brandenburgischer Ballspielvereine, to compete in the Brandenburg football championship
Brandenburg football championship
The Brandenburg football championship was the highest association football competition in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, including Berlin, established in 1898...
instead.
West & East Prussia
The Verband Königsberger Ballspiel Vereine was formed on 3 September 1904 and joined the new Baltischen Rasensport Verband on 26 January 1908. In 1927, this association was renamed Baltischer Sportverband.1908 to 1914
The Baltic football championship was first contested in 1908 and won by the VfB KönigsbergVfB Königsberg
VfB Königsberg was a German association football club from the city of Königsberg, East Prussia.-History:The club was established on 7 July 1900 as Fußball-Club Königsberg, later being renamed VfB Königsberg in 1907...
, a club who would play an important part in the future of the competition. Only three teams played in the competition, the champions of Danzig, Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
and Elbing
Elbing
Elbing is the German name of Elbląg, a city in northern Poland which until 1945 was a German city in the province of East Prussia.Elbing may also refer to:- Ships :* SMS Elbing, light cruiser of the Imperial Germany Navy...
. The champions of Pomerania did not yet take part. It was staged as a knockout competition. The winner of this first competition then took part in the sixth edition of the national German championship for the first time.
To qualify for the Baltic championship, a club had to take out the title in its regional competition or league. As more football clubs were formed in Germany, the number of leagues increased and thereby also the numbers of clubs taking part in the Baltic championship. The first three seasons, only three clubs competed, in 1911, this number was increased to seven, the champions coming from the following regions:
- Allenstein
- Danzig
- Graudenz
- Insterburg
- Königsberg
- Rastenburg
- Tilsit-Memel
In 1912, Stolp-Köslin, in eastern Pomerania, was added as an eighth region. The year after, 1913, the number of clubs was increased to ten with the admittance of the Bromberg and Elbing champions.
In its last pre-First World War season, 1914, the competition was staged as a mini league with three clubs. Each club played the other only once and qualified were the three provincial champions.
In this era, the clubs from the Baltic region of Germany found themselves severely outclassed in the national championship. VfB Königsberg first two campaigns, 1908 and 1909, ended in 7-0 and 12-1 first-round defeats by Viktoria 89 Berlin
Viktoria 89 Berlin
Berliner Fußball-Club Viktoria 1889 is a German sports club based in the Tempelhof district of Berlin. Football, rugby, and cricket came to continental Europe in the late 19th century, and these "English games" became immediately popular in many countries. Viktoria is the oldest club in Germany...
. No club from the Baltic won a game in the national championship in this era.
1915 to 1919
In 1914-15, football in Germany had come to an almost complete halt. As it became clear, that the war would last longer than anticipated, local competitions restarted in 1915. In most regions of Germany, like the South, the championships were restarted from 1915 onwards but in the Baltic, this was not so. Eastern Prussia had actually become front line in the early stages of war and a large portion of the province was under RussianRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
occupation, until the battles of Tannenberg
Battle of Tannenberg (1914)
The Battle of Tannenberg was an engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian First and Second Armies against the German Eighth Army between 23 August and 30 August 1914. The battle resulted in the almost complete...
and the Masurian Lakes turned fortune in Germanys favour. A Baltic championship was not played again until 1920.
1920 to 1933
The 1920 championship resumed in the same fashion as the last one had finished in 1914, three clubs in a mini-league competition. The Danzig champion now replaced the West Prussian one as the third team, not a great change as the former West Prussian champions had mostly come from Danzig anyway. The champions, Titania Stettin, achieved the greatest success of any Baltic club so far in the national title games, when it reached the semi-finals, to bow out 3-0 to 1. FC Nuremberg.In 1921 and 1922, the three-team format remained in place. In 1923 and 1924, the number of games were doubled, each team playing the other twice. The 1925 season was organised as the previous two, but now an enlarged national championship meant, the Baltic runners-up was also qualified for the national finals.
The 1926 and 1927 editions saw the competition enlarged to six clubs, with the winners and runners-up of the three regions, Pomerania, East Prussia and Danzig, all qualified. The championship was held in league format with each club playing the other only once.
In 1928 and 1929, the competition was reduced to five teams. Each team would play the other only once, but the top three clubs then would play once more against each other. In 1930, four clubs played in the finals, but with home-and-away games again. It was the last edition where clubs from Western Pomerania took part in the Baltic championship, from 1931, they competed with the clubs from Brandenburg-Berlin.
The four-team home-and-away modus remained in place for the competitions last three seasons, 1931, 1932 and 1933. At the end of the 1933 edition, the competition was disbanded.
Aftermath
The Baltic championship was replaced with the Gauliga OstpreußenGauliga 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...
by the Nazis in 1933. In Pomerania, the Gauliga Pommern
Gauliga Pommern
The Gauliga Pommern was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Pomerania from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau Pomerania replaced the province of Pomerania.-Overview:The league was...
was formed. In the era that followed, the clubs from the Baltic continued to see very limited success in the national finals, never advancing past the group stages.
After the end of the Second World War, Germany suffered further territorial loss
Territorial changes of Germany
The territorial changes of Germany refer to the changes in the borders and territory of Germany from its formation in 1871 to the present. Modern Germany was formed in 1871 when Otto von Bismarck unified most of the German-speaking states into the German Empire...
, and half of East Prussia, the Free City of Danzig and most of Pomerania becoming part of Poland. Only a small strip of Pomerania west of the Oder-Neisse line
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
remained part of Germany. The northern half of East Prussia became part of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. German clubs in the region were either dissolved, as in most cases, or become part of the Polish football league system
Polish football league system
The Polish football league system is a series of leagues for club football in Poland.-The men's system:Polish League system was reorganized in 2008/2009 season. The Second league was renamed to First League. Third league, divided into four groups, was renamed to Second league, and divided into only...
.
Baltic football champions
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Further reading
- Stürmen für Deutschland: Die Geschichte des deutschen Fussballs von 1933, publisher: Campus Verlag
External links
Sources
- Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, 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 German league tables 1892-1933 Hirschi's Fussball seiten- Germany - Championships 1902-1945 at RSSSF.com