Gauliga Hessen


The Gauliga Hessen was the highest football league in the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1933 to 1945. From 1941, it was renamed Gauliga Kurhessen. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau Electoral Hesse replaced the Prussian province and the Peoples State.

Overview

The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi take over of power in Germany and Baden. It replaced the Bezirksliga as the highest level of play in German football competitions.
The Gauliga Hessen was established with ten clubs, all from the region of Hesse.
The Gauliga replaced as such the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen and Bezirksliga Hessen-Hannover, the highest leagues in the region until then. As such, it mixed clubs which had previously belonged to different Football Associations, the Southern German FA and the West German FA.
The region it covered was never particularly successful in German football and this didn't change with the establishment of the Gauliga. No club from this league reached any German cup or championship final in this period.
In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the German championship while the bottom two teams were relegated. The league remained unchanged until the outbreak of World War II.
In 1939-40 and 1940–41, the league played in two separate groups of six teams with a home-and-away final at the end to determine the leagues champion.
In 1941, the league returned to a single-division format and renamed Gauliga Kurhessen, but with only nine clubs. Also, some of the clubs from the south, like FC Hanau 93, left the league for the new Gauliga Hessen-Nassau. The 1942-43 season was played in the same modus.
The worsening war situation and lack of players forced many clubs to merge and form KSG's, Kriegsspielgemeinschaften and therefore the league only had seven clubs in 1943-44.
For the Gauligas final season, it was split in three regional divisions with a varying number of clubs.
The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all Gauligas and football in Hessen ceased in early 1945 with none of the groups having absolved their full program.
With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist. In the US occupation zone, which the newly created federal state of Hessen was part of, the Oberliga Süd was formed in late 1945, to replace this league.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their positions in the 1932-33 Bezirksliga Main/Hessen and Bezirksliga Hessen/Hannover season were:
The winners and runners-up of the league:
SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1933-34Borussia FuldaVfB Friedberg
1934-35FC Hanau 93Borussia Fulda
1935-36FC Hanau 93Borussia Fulda
1936-37SV 06 KasselSG Hessen Hersfeld
1937-38FC Hanau 93CSC 03 Kassel
1938-39CSC 03 KasselFC Hanau 93
1939-40CSC 03 KasselFC Hanau 93
1940-41Borussia FuldaBC Sport Kassel
1941-42Borussia FuldaKurhessen Kassel
1942-43SV 06 KasselVfL Marburg
1943-44Reichsbahn SG Borussia FuldaSV Niederzwehren

Placings in the Gauliga Hessen and Kurhessen 1933-44

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league:
Club19341935193619371938193919401941194219431944
Borussia Fulda 312281031131
VfB Friedberg268656
FC Hanau 93 131151212
Kurhessen Kassel 248975427
CSC 03 Kassel 25433211245
SG Hessen Hersfeld6742434
SV 06 Kassel73713423515
BC Sport Kassel 2810893134
VfB Marburg969
Hermania Kassel105866
Germania Fulda5579
SpVgg Langenselbold96
SV Bad Nauheim10
Kewa Wachenbuchen47106
SV Niederzwehren1092
VfB Großauheim 16523
Dunlop Hanau 1855
VfL/TuRa Kassel 26
TSV 1860 Hanau 144
VfL Marburg624
BV 06 Kassel 278
SV Petersberg9
KSG Kurhessen/SC 03 Kassel 23
KSG TuRa/TuSpo 86/09 Kassel 27
KSG BC Sport/BV 06 Kassel 28