Gauliga Mitte


The Gauliga Mitte was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Saxony and the German states of Thuringia and Anhalt from 1933 to 1945, all located in the center of Germany. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gaue Thuringia, Magdeburg-Anhalt and Halle-Merseburg replaced the states and Prussian province.

Overview

The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the Bezirksligas and Oberligas as the highest level of play in German football competitions.
Until the formation of the Gauliga, the region was covered by a number of local leagues and, together with clubs from state of Saxony, they played out a Central German championship.
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. The bottom two teams were relegated. The league operated on the same modus until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Due to the effects of the war, the 1939-40 and 1940-41 seasons were played with only eight clubs. In 1941, the league returned to a ten-club strength, which it retained until 1944.
The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all Gauligas and football in the region was split into six regional groups. However, none of them played more than a few games before the arrival of the Red Army, and the end of the war ended all competitions.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist and the region found itself in the Soviet occupation zone. The DDR-Oberliga was formed in the following years as the highest level of play in the new country of East Germany and the region became part of the East German football league system.
Virtually all football clubs in the region were dissolved and replaced with clubs controlled by the new communist government. Of those, some readopted the pre-1945 names after the German reunification in 1990.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their league positions in the 1932-33 season were:
The winners and runners-up of the league:
SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1933-34FC Wacker HalleSV 08 Steinach
1934-351. SV Jena 03FC Wacker Halle
1935-361. SV Jena 03Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg
1936-37SV Dessau 05FC Thüringen Weida
1937-38SV Dessau 05Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg
1938-39SV Dessau 051. SV Jena 03
1939-401. SV Jena 03SV Dessau 05
1940-411. SV Jena 03SV Dessau 05
1941-42SV Dessau 051. SV Jena 03
1942-43SV Dessau 05SpVgg Erfurt
1943-44SV Dessau 05SpVgg Erfurt

Placings in the Gauliga Mitte 1933-44

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league:
Club19341935193619371938193919401941194219431944
FC Wacker Halle1279338
SV 08 Steinach2393
VfL Bitterfeld39
SpVgg Erfurt48576923
SV Victoria 96 Magdeburg56810
SC 95 Erfurt671010584
1. SV Jena71134211255
SV 99 Merseburg8108377
Fortuna Magdeburg910
Preußen Magdeburg10
Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg425255410
Sportfreunde Halle5349847
1. FC Lauscha4688
SV Dessau 05611122111
FC Thüringen Weida274339
VfL 96 Halle5666479
1. SV Gera4789
SpVgg Zeitz5610
SC Apolda8
SV 98 Dessau766
Reichsbahn/VfL Merseburg2
Preußen Burg10