The 1953–54 Oberliga was the ninth season of the Oberliga, the first tier of the football league system in West Germany and the Saar Protectorate. The league operated in five regional divisions, Berlin, North, South, Southwest and West. The five league champions and the runners-up from the south then entered the 1954 German football championship which was won by Hannover 96. It was Hannover's second national championship, having previously won it in 1938 in an epic final against FC Schalke 04 that saw two extra time games before Hannover won 4–3.[2][3]

Oberliga
Season1953–54
Champions
Relegated
German championsHannover 96
2nd German title
Top goalscorerHerbert Martin
(35 goals)[1]
Map of the five German Oberligas 1945 to 1963

Hannover 96 equaled the Oberliga start record set in 1952–53 by 1. FC Köln, winning its first eleven games, a mark later equaled by Hamburger SV in 1961–62 but never surpassed.[4]

A similar-named league, the DDR-Oberliga, existed in East Germany, set at the first tier of the East German football league system. The 1953–54 DDR-Oberliga was won by Turbine Erfurt.[5]

Oberliga Nord

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The 1953–54 season saw two new clubs in the league, Eintracht Braunschweig and Victoria Hamburg, both promoted from the Amateurliga. The league's top scorer was Fritz Apel (Arminia Hannover) and Werner Heitkamp (FC St. Pauli) with 21 goals each.[1] Hannover 96 became the only team other than Hamburger SV to win the Oberliga Nord as the latter won 15 of the possible 16 league championships from 1947 to 1963 but missed out in 1953–54.[6]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Hannover 96 (C) 30 20 6 4 64 26 +38 46 Qualification to German championship
2 FC St. Pauli 30 16 7 7 65 37 +28 39
3 FC Altona 93 30 13 6 11 68 59 +9 32
4 Eintracht Braunschweig 30 12 8 10 57 58 −1 32
5 Werder Bremen 30 13 5 12 53 43 +10 31
6 Arminia Hannover 30 12 5 13 78 77 +1 29
7 TuS Bremerhaven 93 30 11 7 12 53 55 −2 29
8 Eimsbütteler TV 30 11 7 12 51 55 −4 29
9 Holstein Kiel 30 10 9 11 50 68 −18 29
10 Göttingen 05 30 10 8 12 43 48 −5 28
11 Hamburger SV 30 12 8 10 77 58 +19 28[a]
12 VfL Osnabrück 30 11 5 14 48 46 +2 27
13 Bremer SV 30 11 5 14 44 56 −12 27
14 Harburger TB 30 10 6 14 43 60 −17 26
15 VfB Lübeck (R) 30 7 9 14 33 59 −26 23 Relegation to Amateurliga
16 Victoria Hamburg (R) 30 7 8 15 28 50 −22 22
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Hamburger SV deducted four points for illegal payments to player Willi Schröder.[7]

Oberliga Berlin

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The 1953–54 season saw two new clubs in the league, Kickers 1900 Berlin and Hertha Zehlendorf, both promoted from the Amateurliga Berlin. The league's top scorer was Hermann Paul of Berliner SV 1892 with 19 goals.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Berliner SV 92 22 15 4 3 58 29 +29 34 Qualification to German championship
2 Minerva 93 Berlin 22 14 3 5 59 40 +19 31
3 Union 06 Berlin 22 12 6 4 45 30 +15 30
4 Spandauer SV 22 12 3 7 45 35 +10 27
5 Alemannia 90 Berlin 22 11 4 7 44 36 +8 26
6 Tennis Borussia Berlin 22 8 8 6 38 30 +8 24
7 Viktoria 89 Berlin 22 9 3 10 51 42 +9 21
8 BFC Nordstern 22 7 5 10 34 40 −6 19
9 Wacker 04 Berlin 22 6 5 11 29 36 −7 17
10 Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin 22 5 6 11 39 47 −8 16
11 Hertha Zehlendorf (R) 22 4 6 12 23 50 −27 14 Relegation to Amateurliga Berlin
12 Kickers 1900 Berlin (R) 22 0 5 17 19 69 −50 5
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

Oberliga West

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The 1953–54 season saw two new clubs in the league, Rheydter SV and VfL Bochum, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga West. The league's top scorer was Hans Schäfer of 1. FC Köln with 26 goals.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 1. FC Köln 30 17 7 6 83 43 +40 41 Qualification to German championship
2 Rot-Weiss Essen 30 19 2 9 75 49 +26 40
3 FC Schalke 04 30 16 7 7 76 51 +25 39
4 Preußen Münster 30 11 11 8 60 54 +6 33
5 Borussia Dortmund 30 14 4 12 69 58 +11 32
6 Schwarz-Weiß Essen 30 13 5 12 72 53 +19 31
7 Bayer Leverkusen 30 13 5 12 58 67 −9 31
8 VfL Bochum 30 13 5 12 50 58 −8 31
9 Alemannia Aachen 30 12 4 14 59 59 0 28
10 Fortuna Düsseldorf 30 12 3 15 53 49 +4 27
11 Meidericher SV 30 9 9 12 46 55 −9 27
12 Borussia München-Gladbach 30 10 7 13 56 73 −17 27
13 Preußen Dellbrück 30 10 7 13 41 55 −14 27
14 SV Sodingen 30 11 4 15 46 56 −10 26
15 Rheydter SV (R) 30 9 2 19 45 76 −31 20 Relegation to 2. Oberliga West
16 STV Horst-Emscher (R) 30 7 6 17 43 76 −33 20
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

Oberliga Südwest

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The 1953–54 season saw two new clubs in the league, ASV Landau and VfR Frankenthal, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Südwest. The league's top scorer was Herbert Martin of 1. FC Saarbrücken with 35 goals, the highest total for any scorer in the five Oberligas in 1953–54.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 30 26 0 4 139 33 +106 52 Qualification to German championship
2 FK Pirmasens 30 24 3 3 73 30 +43 51
3 TuS Neuendorf 30 18 3 9 85 51 +34 39
4 Saar 05 Saarbrücken 30 16 3 11 80 62 +18 35
5 1. FC Saarbrücken 30 14 6 10 80 53 +27 34
6 Phönix Ludwigshafen 30 14 6 10 49 55 −6 34
7 FSV Mainz 05 30 13 5 12 61 50 +11 31
8 Borussia Neunkirchen 30 12 4 14 58 54 +4 28
9 VfR Frankenthal 30 9 9 12 38 45 −7 27
10 Eintracht Trier 30 12 2 16 57 66 −9 26
11 Wormatia Worms 30 10 6 14 53 68 −15 26
12 TuRa Ludwigshafen 30 10 4 16 52 65 −13 24
13 FV Speyer 30 10 2 18 35 80 −45 22
14 VfR Kaiserslautern 30 9 3 18 41 69 −28 21
15 ASV Landau (R) 30 6 5 19 27 93 −66 17 Relegation to 2. Oberliga Südwest
16 VfR Kirn (R) 30 4 5 21 34 83 −49 13
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

Oberliga Süd

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The 1953–54 season saw two new clubs in the league, Jahn Regensburg and KSV Hessen Kassel, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Süd. The league's top scorer was Helmut Preisendörfer (Kickers Offenbach) and Horst Schade (1. FC Nürnberg) with 22 goals each.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 VfB Stuttgart 30 18 7 5 64 39 +25 43 Qualification to German championship
2 Eintracht Frankfurt 30 17 8 5 70 31 +39 42
3 Kickers Offenbach 30 16 9 5 70 38 +32 41
4 1. FC Nürnberg 30 15 8 7 71 44 +27 38
5 Karlsruher SC 30 14 7 9 61 53 +8 35
6 Jahn Regensburg 30 14 5 11 42 48 −6 33
7 FSV Frankfurt 30 11 8 11 60 56 +4 30
8 FC Schweinfurt 05 30 12 4 14 53 50 +3 28
9 FC Bayern Munich 30 9 10 11 42 46 −4 28
10 VfR Mannheim 30 9 9 12 62 71 −9 27
11 SpVgg Fürth 30 9 8 13 42 54 −12 26
12 BC Augsburg 30 11 3 16 52 66 −14 25
13 KSV Hessen Kassel 30 9 5 16 54 74 −20 23
14 Stuttgarter Kickers 30 8 5 17 63 79 −16 21
15 SV Waldhof Mannheim (R) 30 5 10 15 47 66 −19 20 Relegation to 2. Oberliga Süd
16 Viktoria Aschaffenburg (R) 30 8 4 18 44 82 −38 20
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

German championship

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The 1954 German football championship was contested by the six qualified Oberliga teams and won by Hannover 96, defeating 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the final. The six clubs played single round of matches at neutral grounds in two groups of three. The two group winners then advanced to the final.[8]

Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Hannover 96 (Q) 2 2 0 0 5 2 +3 4 Qualified to final
2 VfB Stuttgart 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 2
3 Berliner SV 92 2 0 0 2 1 5 −4 0
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 1. FC Kaiserslautern (Q) 2 2 0 0 5 3 +2 4 Qualified to final
2 1. FC Köln 2 1 0 1 6 6 0 2
3 Eintracht Frankfurt 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Final

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Hannover 96 5–1 1. FC Kaiserslautern

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Fußball-Torjägerstatistik Deutschland (in German) Goal scorer statistics Germany, author: Walter Grüber, published: 2011, accessed: 21 December 2015
  2. ^ (West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 19 December 2015
  3. ^ Hannover 96 » Steckbrief (in German) Weltfussball.de – Hannover 96 honours, accessed: 21 December 2015
  4. ^ kicker Allmanach 1990, page: 245
  5. ^ East Germany 1946-1990 rsssf.org, accessed: 15 December 2015
  6. ^ Oberliga Nord 1947 bis 1963 (in German) DSFS, accessed: 21 December 2015
  7. ^ Oberliga Nord 1953/54 (in German) hsv-history.de, accessed: 21 December 2015
  8. ^ Das Finale der Deutschen Meisterschaft 1953/1954 (in German) Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 21 December 2015

Sources

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  • 30 Jahre Bundesliga (in German) 30th anniversary special, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1993
  • kicker-Almanach 1990 (in German) Yearbook of German football, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1989, ISBN 3-7679-0297-4
  • DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945 (in German) publisher: DSFS, published: 2005
  • 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband (in German) 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997
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