1937 German football championship

The 1937 German football championship, the 30th edition of the competition, was won by Schalke 04, the club's third German championship, by defeating 1. FC Nürnberg 2–0 in the final. For Schalke it was the half-way point of the club's most successful era, having won the 1934, 1935 final before the 1937 title and going on to win the 1939, 1940 and 1942 ones as well, winning six national championships all up during this time. 1. FC Nürnberg, the defending champions who had eliminated Schalke in the semi-finals in the previous season, already had six titles to their name at the time and would go on to win three more between 1948 and 1968 for a total of nine. The two clubs, Germany's most successful teams in the pre-Bundesliga era, had previously met in the 1934 final which Schalke had won 2–1 but would never encounter each other again in a championship final after 1937.[1][2][3]

1937 German championship
Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft
Replica of the Viktoria trophy
CountryGermany
Dates4 April – 20 June
Teams16
ChampionsSchalke 04
3rd German title
Runners-up1. FC Nürnberg
Third placeVfB Stuttgart
Fourth placeHamburger SV
Matches played52
Goals scored213 (4.1 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Ernst Kalwitzki
Karl Mayer
(10 goals each)
← 1936
1938 →

Karl Mayer of SV Werder Bremen and Ernst Kalwitzki of FC Schalke 04 where the joint top scorers of the 1937 championship with ten goals each. Kalwitzki would finish as the competition's top scorer twice more, in 1939 and 1943.[4]

It was the first-ever German championship final to be played in the Olympiastadion in Berlin, build for the 1936 Summer Olympics.[5]

FC Schalke 04 completed the 1936–37 season unbeaten, finishing the Gauliga Westfalen with 17 wins and one draw. The club than went on to win seven out of eight games in the championship and draw one, against SV Werder Bremen, to complete the league season with a record of 24 wins and two draws.[6][7][8] After the German championship win Schalke went on to win the 1937 Tschammerpokal, the German Cup as well, by defeating Fortuna Düsseldorf 2–1 in the final.[9]

The sixteen 1936–37 Gauliga champions competed in a group stage of four groups of four teams each, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals. The two semi-final winners then contested the 1937 championship final.[7]

Qualified teams

The teams qualified through the 1936–37 Gauliga season:[7]

ClubQualified from
SV Waldhof MannheimGauliga Baden
1. FC NürnbergGauliga Bayern
Hertha BSCGauliga Berlin-Brandenburg
SV 06 KasselGauliga Hessen
SV Dessau 05Gauliga Mitte
VfR KölnGauliga Mittelrhein
Fortuna DüsseldorfGauliga Niederrhein
SV Werder BremenGauliga Niedersachsen
Hamburger SVGauliga Nordmark
Hindenburg AllensteinGauliga Ostpreußen
Viktoria StolpGauliga Pommern
BC HarthaGauliga Sachsen
Beuthener SuSV 09Gauliga Schlesien
Wormatia WormsGauliga Südwest
Schalke 04Gauliga Westfalen
VfB StuttgartGauliga Württemberg

Competition

Group 1

Group 1 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Nordmark, Ostpreußen, Sachsen and Schlesien:[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification HSV BCH HIA BEU
1 Hamburger SV 6 6 0 0 27 4 6.750 12 Advance to semi-finals — 3–0 6–1 6–0
2 BC Hartha 6 2 1 3 13 17 0.765 5 0–3 — 6–2 2–6
3 Hindenburg Allenstein 6 1 2 3 10 21 0.476 4 2–5 1–1 — 2–1
4 Beuthener SuSV 6 1 1 4 12 20 0.600 3 1–4 2–4 2–2 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Group 2

Group 2 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Brandenburg, Niedersachsen, Pommern and Westfalen:[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification S04 SVW BSC STO
1 Schalke 04 6 5 1 0 31 5 6.200 11 Advance to semi-finals — 5–1 2–1 12–0
2 Werder Bremen 6 4 1 1 20 10 2.000 9 2–2 — 5–2 5–0
3 Hertha BSC 6 2 0 4 12 13 0.923 4 1–2 1–3 — 3–1
4 Viktoria Stolp 6 0 0 6 1 36 0.028 0 0–8 0–4 0–4 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Group 3

Group 3 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Hessen, Mitte, Südwest and Württemberg:[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification VFB W08 SVD SVK
1 VfB Stuttgart 6 4 1 1 12 3 4.000 9 Advance to semi-finals — 0–0 2–0 3–0
2 Wormatia Worms 6 4 1 1 11 3 3.667 9 0–1 — 1–0 3–1
3 SV Dessau 05 6 2 0 4 6 12 0.500 4 2–1 0–4 — 4–2
4 SV 06 Kassel 6 1 0 5 7 18 0.389 2 1–5 1–3 2–0 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Group 4

Group 4 was contested by the champions of the Gauligas Bayern, Baden, Mittelrhein and Niederrhein:[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification FCN F95 WMA VRK
1 1. FC Nürnberg 6 5 1 0 18 4 4.500 11 Advance to semi-finals — 0–0 7–1 3–1
2 Fortuna Düsseldorf 6 2 2 2 9 8 1.125 6 1–3 — 2–1 0–2
3 Waldhof Mannheim 6 2 1 3 6 14 0.429 5 1–4 1–1 — 1–0
4 VfR Köln 6 1 0 5 4 11 0.364 2 0–1 1–5 0–1 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Semi-finals
Team 1  Score  Team 2
6 June 1937[10]
Schalke 04 4–2 VfB Stuttgart
1. FC Nürnberg 3–2 Hamburger SV

Third place play-off
Team 1  Score  Team 2
20 June 1937[11]
VfB Stuttgart 1–0 Hamburger SV

Final
Team 1  Score  Team 2
20 June 1937[12]
Schalke 04 2–0 1. FC Nürnberg

References
  1. (West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 29 December 2015
  2. FC Schalke 04 » Steckbrief (in German) Weltfussball.de – FC Schalke 04 honours, accessed: 29 December 2015
  3. "1. FC Nürnberg » Steckbrief" [1. FC Nürnberg honours]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  4. "Deutsche Meisterschaft » Torschützenkönige" [German championship: Top goal scorer]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  5. "Olympiastadion, Berlin (Deutschland) » Historische Spiele" [Olympic Stadium Berlin, historic games]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  6. Das Deutsche Fussball-Archiv (in German) Historic German league tables, accessed: 29 December 2015
  7. German championship 1937 rsssf.org, accessed: 29 December 2015
  8. Germany 1936–37 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine www.claudionicoletti.eu, accessed: 29 December 2015
  9. DFB-Pokal 1937 » Spielplan (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 29 December 2015
  10. German championship 1938 – Semifinals (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 29 December 2015
  11. German championship 1937 – Third place (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 29 December 2015
  12. German championship 1937 – Final (in German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 29 December 2015

Sources
  • kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, page 164 & 177 - German championship
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