Gauliga Schlesien

Gauliga Schlesien
Gauligas Niederschlesien
Gauliga Oberschlesien
Founded
1933
Disbanded
1945
Nation
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...

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...
Province of Lower Silesia Province of Lower Silesia The Province of Lower Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Silesia Province. The capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau...
Province of Upper Silesia Province of Upper Silesia The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln...
Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship The Silesian Voivodeship was an autonomous province of the interwar Second Polish Republic. It consisted of territory which came into Polish possession as a result of the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite, the Geneva Conventions, three Upper Silesian Uprisings, and the eventual partition of Upper... (from 1939)
Gau (from 1934)
Niederschlesien
Oberschlesien
Number of Seasons
12
Replaced by
region became part of 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...
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
Gauliga Niederschlesien STC Hirschberg
Gauliga Oberschlesien Germania Königshütte

The Gauliga Schlesien was the highest football league in the region of Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

(German:Schlesien), which consisted of the Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n provinces of Lower Silesia

Province of Lower Silesia

The Province of Lower Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Silesia Province. The capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau...

and Upper Silesia

Province of Upper Silesia

The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln...

from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gaue Niederschlesien and Oberschlesien replaced 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...

.

After the Polish

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...

defeat in 1939, the parts of Upper Silesia awarded to Poland after the First World War were reoccupied by Nazi Germany and added to the Gau Oberschlesien.

From 1941, the Gauliga Schlesien was split into two separate leagues, the Gauliga Niederschlesien and the Gauliga Oberschlesien.

The league was introduced in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power

Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...

in Germany. It replaced the Oberliga as the highest level of play of the regional football competitions.

In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing 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 bottom two teams were relegated. The league modus and strength did not change until 1939.

Because of the outbreak of the 2nd World War in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups, one of five and one of seven clubs and the season start was delayed until early December 1939. The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the Gauliga championship. For its last season, 1940–41, it returned to a single-division format, now with eleven clubs, some of them from the newly occupied regions formerly part of Poland. This last season was however not completed and with most teams having only one or two games to go, a winner was declared and the competition cancelled.

After this, the league was split into two separate competitions.

Gauliga Niederschlesien

The league started with nine clubs in one single division, all from the region of the former Prussian province. It was increased to ten clubs for its second season, 1942-43.

The last completed season, 1943–44, the league was subdivided in three regions with all-up five divisions. the three regional champions then played out the Gauliga champion. All together, a record 33 clubs took part in this season.

The arrival of the war in the region made football impossible and, most likely, the last season, 1944–45, did not get underway at all anymore.

Gauliga Oberschlesien

The new Gauliga Oberschlesien compromised the pre-war area of Upper Silesia and the formerly Polish reoccupied parts of the region.

The league started out with ten clubs in one single division in 1941. It was reduced to nine clubs for its second season 1942-43 but returned to ten clubs in the next year.

In its last season, 1944–45, it was meant to have nine clubs again but the arrival of the war in Silesia meant an early cancellation of the competition.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist and Silesia became part of the Soviet occupation zone

Allied Occupation Zones in Germany

The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–49. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, US forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the...

. In turn, the Soviets handed over the region to Poland as compensation for the territories they lost in their east. Only a very small part of Silesia, the area west of the river Neiße

Lusatian Neisse

The Lusatian Neisse is a long river in Central Europe. The river has its source in the Jizera Mountains near Nová Ves nad Nisou, Czech Republic, reaching the tripoint with Poland and Germany at Zittau after , and later forms the Polish-German border on a length of...

, remained with Germany, becoming part of the new East Germany.

The majority of Germans in the region were forced to leave Silesia and almost all German football clubs disbanded. The region became part of the Polish football league system.

The small remaining part of Silesia not awarded to Poland, mainly the Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis

Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis

The Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis was the easternmost Kreis of the Free State of Saxony and Germany. Neighboring districts were Löbau-Zittau, Bautzen, Kamenz and the district Spree-Neiße in Brandenburg...

, is now part of the German federal state of 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....

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their league positions in 1932-33 were:

Beuthener SuSV 09
Beuthener SuSV 09
Beuthener SuSV 09 was a German association football club from the city of Beuthen, Upper Silesia in what was then part of Germany but is today Bytom, Poland.-History:...

, champions Oberschlesien division, champion of South-East Germany
SpVgg 02 Breslau
SC Hertha Breslau
Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz
Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz
Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz was a German association football club from the city of Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, today Gliwice, Poland.-History:...
SC Vorwärts Breslau
SpVgg Ratibor 03
SC Preußen Hindenburg
FV 06 Breslau
SV 1919 Hoyerswerda
STC Görlitz
STC Görlitz
STC Görlitz was a German association football club from the city of Görlitz, Saxony. The club was established as Sportclub Preußen Görlitz in 1906.-History:...

, champions Oberlausitz division