DDR-Oberliga
The DDR-Oberliga was the top level football league in East Germany.
Overview
Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the occupied eastern and western halves of Germany, replacing the Gauligas of the Nazi era.In East Germany, a top-flight football competition, the highest league in the East German football league system, was established in 1949 as the DS-Oberliga. Beginning in 1958, it carried the name DDR-Oberliga and was part of the league structure within the DFV.
In its inaugural season in 1949/50 the DDR-Oberliga was made up of 14 teams with 2 relegation spots. Over the course of the next four seasons the number of teams in the division varied and included anywhere from 17 to 19 sides with 3 or 4 relegation spots. Beginning with the 1954/55 season up until merger of the East and West German football associations in 1991/92 the league was made up of 14 teams with 2 relegation spots.
Initially the DDR-Oberliga was operated on an autumn-spring schedule as was traditional in Germany. From 1956 to 1960 a Soviet-style spring-autumn schedule was in place. This required a transition round in 1955 and, although no champion was formally declared that season, SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt finished atop the division. 1961/62 saw the return of an autumn-spring season and an extended schedule was played with each club meeting the others a total of three times – once at home, once away, and once at a neutral venue.
After German reunification the last regular DDR-Oberliga season was played in 1990/91 under the designation NOFV-Oberliga. The following year the East German league structure was merged into the West German system under the German Football Association and the top two NOFV-Oberliga clubs – F.C. Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden – joined the first division Bundesliga.
For the duration of the league's existence, the league below it was the DDR-Liga.
Disbanding of the Oberliga
In 1991, the DDR-Oberliga ceased to exist, its clubs being integrated in the German football league system. The fourteen Oberliga clubs went to the following leagues, spread over three tiers:To the Fussball-Bundesliga :
- 1. FC Dynamo Dresden
- F.C. Hansa Rostock
- BSV Stahl Brandenburg
- 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig
- Chemnitzer FC
- FC Carl Zeiss Jena
- FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
- Hallescher FC
- FC Berlin
- Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl
- FC Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder
- 1. FC Magdeburg
- FC Energie Cottbus
- FC Sachsen Leipzig
The Oberliga reformed as the Regionalliga Nordost
The league was disbanded again in 2000 and its member clubs were spread between the two remaining Regionalligas and the NOFV-Oberligas, effectively ending the history of the all-East German leagues.
The Regionalliga Nordost returned in 2012/13 as one of five fourth-tier regional leagues. The new league will cover the area of the former GDR and Berlin and the champions of this new division will qualify for a play-off against the winner of another Regionalliga or against the second-placed team in the Regionalliga Südwest to determine promotion to the 3rd Liga.
DDR-Oberliga champions
was the league record holder with 10 DDR-Oberliga titles to its credit, having won all of these titles in successive seasons.| Season | Club |
| 1948 | SG Planitz |
| 1949 | ZSG Union Halle |
| 1949–50 | ZSG Horch Zwickau |
| 1950–51 | BSG Chemie Leipzig |
| 1951–52 | BSG Turbine Halle |
| 1952–53 | SG Dynamo Dresden |
| 1953–54 | BSG Turbine Erfurt |
| 1954–55 | BSG Turbine Erfurt |
| 1955 | SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt |
| 1956 | SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt |
| 1957 | SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt |
| 1958 | ASK Vorwärts Berlin |
| 1959 | SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt |
| 1960 | ASK Vorwärts Berlin |
| 1961–62 | ASK Vorwärts Berlin |
| Season | Club |
| 1962–63 | SC Motor Jena |
| 1963–64 | BSG Chemie Leipzig |
| 1964–65 | ASK Vorwärts Berlin |
| 1965–66 | FC Vorwärts Berlin |
| 1966–67 | FC Karl-Marx-Stadt |
| 1967–68 | FC Carl Zeiss Jena |
| 1968–69 | FC Vorwärts Berlin |
| 1969–70 | FC Carl Zeiss Jena |
| 1970–71 | SG Dynamo Dresden |
| 1971–72 | 1. FC Magdeburg |
| 1972–73 | SG Dynamo Dresden |
| 1973–74 | 1. FC Magdeburg |
| 1974–75 | 1. FC Magdeburg |
| 1975–76 | SG Dynamo Dresden |
| 1976–77 | SG Dynamo Dresden |
;Notes
Placings in the DDR-Oberliga 1975–1991
Clubs are named by the last names they carried before the German reunification, which are not necessarily their current ones.| Club | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 |
| F.C. Hansa Rostock | 13 | — | 14 | — | 14 | — | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 13 | — | 9 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| SG Dynamo Dresden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Berliner FC Dynamo | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| FC Carl Zeiss Jena | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| FC Karl-Marx-Stadt | 10 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 3 |
| FC Vorwärts Frankfurt | 5 | 12 | 12 | 13 | — | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 13 | — | — | 14 |
| BSG Wismut Aue | 12 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 13 | — |
| Hallescher FC Chemie | 11 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 14 | — | — | — | 5 | 9 | 9 | 4 |
| BSG Sachsenring Zwickau | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 14 | — | — | 14 | — | — | 13 | — | — |
| 1. FC Union Berlin | — | — | 11 | 8 | 10 | 13 | — | — | 12 | 13 | — | 7 | 11 | 11 | 14 | — | — |
| BSG Stahl Riesa | 6 | 10 | 13 | — | 9 | 11 | 13 | — | — | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | — | — | — |
| BSG Stahl Brandenburg | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 8 |
| BSG Energie Cottbus | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | 10 | 7 | 13 |
| BSG Chemie Leipzig | — | 13 | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | 12 | 13 | — | — | — | — | —1 | 12 |
| BSG Chemie Böhlen | — | — | — | 12 | 13 | — | 14 | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | —1 | 12 | |
| BSG Fortschritt Bischofswerda | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | 14 | — |
| BSG Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 9 |
| BSG Motor Suhl | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BSG Chemie Buna Schkopau2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| BSG Wismut Gera | — | — | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ASV Vorwärts Stralsund | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
- 1 BSG Chemie Leipzig and BSG Chemie Böhlen merged in August 1990, to form FC Sachsen Leipzig.
- 2 The club would continue as SV Merseburg 99 following German reunification. SV Merseburg 99 merged with VfB IMO Merseburg in 2019 to form 1. FC Merseburg.