Germania Wiesbaden
Encyclopedia
SG Germania Wiesbaden is a German association football club
from the city of Wiesbaden
in Hesse.
The clubs two most notable achievement came when it won the tier-one Kreisliga Hessen
in 1920 and, almost 50 years later, reached as the Germany's second division for one season in 1966–67.
, unlike its local rival SV Wiesbaden
.
After the First World War, Germania became part of the new Kreisliga Hessen
, which it won in its first season, 1919–20. In the group stages of the Southern German championship, the team was knocked out by Saar 05 Saarbrücken and Pfalz Ludwigshafen. In the seasons that followed, Germania could not continue its good performance and, in 1923, the team was relegated, at a time when the Southern German football leagues were reorganised once more. Instead of the new Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar
, the club ended up playing in the tier-two Kreisliga Rhein-Main.
In 1926, the club came close to promotion, finishing on equal points with Alemannia Worms but then lost the decider 0–2. The year after, it experienced the same with a 0–1 loss to Olympia Worms. It did however earn promotion for a year to the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen
for the 1927–28 season. After this, until the outbreak of the Second World War, the club remained a non-described side in this league. For a time, in the early 1930s, the club merged with local rival SV Wiesbaden but this did not last and by 1934, Germania was independent again.
. The season after, the club was relegated, coming second-last. It became something of an elevator side, earning promotion back to the Amateurliga in 1958, 1960 and 1962, to be relegated again in 1959 and 1961. Finally, in the 1962–63 season, the club archived some stability and maintained its Amateurliga status.
The 1964–65 season proofed a turn for the better, Germania finishing fifth in the league and winning the Hesse Cup
. The following season saw the club take out the Amateurliga title and earning promotion to the Regionalliga Süd.
The clubs one season in the second division ended with a 17th place finish and relegation, alongside BC Augsburg
and 1. FC Pforzheim
. Back in the Amateurliga, it found it hard to find its footing and, after two seasons, was relegated back to what was now the Gruppenliga Hessen-Süd
. Back in the fourth division, the title brought another promotion, back to the Amateurliga, under manager Otto Baric
in its first coaching position.
Germania archived a good fourth place back in the Amateurliga in 1970–71 but narrowly avoided relegation the season after. In its ranks in that season it had the former Yugoslavian internationals
Zvezdan Čebinac
and Fahrudin Jusufi
. In its third season back, the club then finished distant last and was relegated once more. This time, the Gruppenliga proved much harder and in 1976, Germania experienced another drop, to the Bezirksliga Wiesbaden, tier five. From there, in 1980, the drop went even further, to the tier-six A-Klasse.
From 1982, the club improved again, winning promotion to the Bezirksliga and the year after to the Landesliga Hessen-Mitte, the Gruppenligas having been renamed to Landesligas. In this league, the club existed as a mid-table side until 1988, when a 16th place and unfavorable results in a relegation round meant a return to the Bezirksliga.
Germania became part of the new Bezirksoberliga in 1990, the new fifth tier in Hesse, and played in this league until 1998, when it dropped down to the Bezirksliga. From there, it continued its life-long yoyo existence and moved up and down between Bezirksliga and A-Klasse, to establish itself back in the Bezirksliga from 2006 onwards.
While local rival SV Wiesbaden has considerably lost in importance, another local club has risen through the ranks to now play in the 3rd division, SV Wehen Wiesbaden.
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 city of Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
in Hesse.
The clubs two most notable achievement came when it won the tier-one Kreisliga Hessen
Kreisliga Hessen
The Kreisliga Hessen was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate as well as the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923...
in 1920 and, almost 50 years later, reached as the Germany's second division for one season in 1966–67.
1903–1945
Formed in 1903, the club became part of the A-Klasse Südmain, a regional first division in the early days of German football. The club then disappeared from the highest level and did not play in the new Nordkreis-LigaNordkreis-Liga
The Nordkreis-Liga was the highest association football league in the German Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1909 to 1918...
, unlike its local rival SV Wiesbaden
SV Wiesbaden
SV Wiesbaden is a German football club based in Wiesbaden, Hesse. The team was disbanded in 1994 as the result of financial problems, but was rebuilt and currently plays in the Verbandsliga Hessen-Mitte . Their home games are played in the Helmut-Schön-Sportpark.- History :A football section was...
.
After the First World War, Germania became part of the new Kreisliga Hessen
Kreisliga Hessen
The Kreisliga Hessen was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate as well as the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923...
, which it won in its first season, 1919–20. In the group stages of the Southern German championship, the team was knocked out by Saar 05 Saarbrücken and Pfalz Ludwigshafen. In the seasons that followed, Germania could not continue its good performance and, in 1923, the team was relegated, at a time when the Southern German football leagues were reorganised once more. Instead of the new Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar
Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar
The Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the Rheinhessen part of the state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1923 to 1927, when the league was replaced by the Bezirksliga...
, the club ended up playing in the tier-two Kreisliga Rhein-Main.
In 1926, the club came close to promotion, finishing on equal points with Alemannia Worms but then lost the decider 0–2. The year after, it experienced the same with a 0–1 loss to Olympia Worms. It did however earn promotion for a year to the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen
Bezirksliga Main-Hessen
The Bezirksliga Main-Hessen was the highest association football league in the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1927 to 1933...
for the 1927–28 season. After this, until the outbreak of the Second World War, the club remained a non-described side in this league. For a time, in the early 1930s, the club merged with local rival SV Wiesbaden but this did not last and by 1934, Germania was independent again.
1945 to current
After the war, Germania entered the Bezirksklasse Wiesbaden, a local third division and, from there, earned promotion to the 2nd Amateurliga Wiesbaden in 1951. Two years later, it won the 2nd Amateurliga and earned entry into the Amateurliga Hessen, the third tier. The club had its best season in this era in 1955–56, finishing second in the Amateurliga, 14 points behind champions SpVgg Neu-IsenburgSpVgg Neu-Isenburg
SpVgg 03 Neu-Isenburg is a German association football club from the city of Neu-Isenburg, Hesse. The roots of the club are in the founding of Freispielclub Neu-Isenburg on 13 June 1903. Over the next three-and-a-half decades, the association went through mergers with a number of other local clubs...
. The season after, the club was relegated, coming second-last. It became something of an elevator side, earning promotion back to the Amateurliga in 1958, 1960 and 1962, to be relegated again in 1959 and 1961. Finally, in the 1962–63 season, the club archived some stability and maintained its Amateurliga status.
The 1964–65 season proofed a turn for the better, Germania finishing fifth in the league and winning the Hesse Cup
Hesse Cup
The Hesse Cup is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football. The winner of the competition gains entry to the first round of the German Cup.-History:...
. The following season saw the club take out the Amateurliga title and earning promotion to the Regionalliga Süd.
The clubs one season in the second division ended with a 17th place finish and relegation, alongside BC Augsburg
BC Augsburg
BC Augsburg was a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. The team was founded as Fußball-Club Allemannia Augsburg in 1907 and played as Ballspiel-Club Augsburg from 1921 to 1969. Facing imminent financial collapse, BC merged with the football side of TSV Schwaben Augsburg in July 1969 to...
and 1. FC Pforzheim
1. FC Pforzheim
1. FC Pforzheim was a German association football club playing in Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg. The club was established on 5 May 1896 and was a founding member of the German Football Association in Leipzig in 1900. In 2010 it merged with VfR Pforzheim to 1. CfR Pforzheim.-Early success:The club...
. Back in the Amateurliga, it found it hard to find its footing and, after two seasons, was relegated back to what was now the Gruppenliga Hessen-Süd
Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd
The Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd, until 2008 named Landesliga Hessen-Süd, is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3...
. Back in the fourth division, the title brought another promotion, back to the Amateurliga, under manager Otto Baric
Otto Baric
Otto Barić is a Croatian-Austrian football manager.-1970s to 1980s:Barić started his coaching career in 1969 at West German club Germania Wiesbaden and moved after one season to Austrian club Wacker Innsbruck, where he spent next two seasons and won two consecutive league champions titles before...
in its first coaching position.
Germania archived a good fourth place back in the Amateurliga in 1970–71 but narrowly avoided relegation the season after. In its ranks in that season it had the former Yugoslavian internationals
Yugoslavia national football team
The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...
Zvezdan Čebinac
Zvezdan Cebinac
Zvezdan Čebinac is a former Serbian former football midfielder and manager. He played 20 times for SFR Yugoslavia. He had then a coaching career in Switzerland....
and Fahrudin Jusufi
Fahrudin Jusufi
Fahrudin Jusufi is a former Yugoslav football defender of Gorani origin.-Career:...
. In its third season back, the club then finished distant last and was relegated once more. This time, the Gruppenliga proved much harder and in 1976, Germania experienced another drop, to the Bezirksliga Wiesbaden, tier five. From there, in 1980, the drop went even further, to the tier-six A-Klasse.
From 1982, the club improved again, winning promotion to the Bezirksliga and the year after to the Landesliga Hessen-Mitte, the Gruppenligas having been renamed to Landesligas. In this league, the club existed as a mid-table side until 1988, when a 16th place and unfavorable results in a relegation round meant a return to the Bezirksliga.
Germania became part of the new Bezirksoberliga in 1990, the new fifth tier in Hesse, and played in this league until 1998, when it dropped down to the Bezirksliga. From there, it continued its life-long yoyo existence and moved up and down between Bezirksliga and A-Klasse, to establish itself back in the Bezirksliga from 2006 onwards.
Current
In 2008–09, the club played in the Kreisoberliga Wiesbaden, the former Bezirksliga, winning the league and earning promotion.While local rival SV Wiesbaden has considerably lost in importance, another local club has risen through the ranks to now play in the 3rd division, SV Wehen Wiesbaden.
Honours
- League
- Kreisliga HessenKreisliga HessenThe Kreisliga Hessen was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate as well as the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923...
(I) champions: 1920 - Kreisliga Rhein-Main (II) champions: 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929
- Amateurliga Hessen (III) champions: 1966
- 2nd Amateurliga Wiesbaden (IV) champions: 1953, 1958, 1960, 1962
- Gruppenliga Hessen-SüdVerbandsliga Hessen-SüdThe Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd, until 2008 named Landesliga Hessen-Süd, is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3...
(IV) champions: 1970 - Bezirksklasse Wiesbaden (V) champions: 1951, 1983
- A-Klasse Wiesbaden (VIII) champions: 1982, 2003, 2006
- Kreisliga Hessen
- Cup
- Hesse CupHesse CupThe Hesse Cup is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football. The winner of the competition gains entry to the first round of the German Cup.-History:...
winners: 1965
- Hesse Cup
Recent seasons
| Year | Division | Position |
| 1999–00 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden (VII) | 9th |
| 2000–01 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden | |
| 2001–02 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden | 15th  |
| 2002–03 | A-Klasse Wiesbaden (VIII) | 1st  |
| 2003–04 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden (VII) | 5th |
| 2004–05 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden | 15th |
| 2005–06 | A-Klasse Wiesbaden (VIII) | 1st |
| 2006–07 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden (VII) | 2nd |
| 2007–08 | Bezirksliga Wiesbaden | 3rd |
| 2008–09 | Kreisoberliga Wiesbaden (VIII) | 1st |
| 2009–10 | Gruppenliga Wiesbaden (VII) |
Sources
- Süddeutschlands Fußballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897–1988 History of Southern German football in tables, author: Ludolf Hyll