The 1954–55 Oberliga was the tenth 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 west, south, southwest and north then entered the 1955 German football championship which was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. It was Essen's sole national championship while, for losing finalist 1. FC Kaiserslautern, it was the fourth final it played in five seasons.[2][3]

Oberliga
Season1954–55
ChampionsHamburger SV
Viktoria 89 Berlin
Rot-Weiss Essen
1. FC Kaiserslautern
Kickers Offenbach
RelegatedBremer SV
Harburger TB
BFC Südring
BFC Nordstern
Meidericher SV
VfL Bochum
FV Speyer
Sportfreunde Saarbrücken
KSV Hessen Kassel
FC Bayern Munich
German championsRot-Weiss Essen
1st German title
European CupRot-Weiss Essen
1. FC Saarbrücken
Top goalscorerErnst-Otto Meyer
(36 goals)[1]
Map of the five German Oberligas 1945 to 1963

On the strength of this title Rot-Weiss Essen and 1. FC Saarbrücken, the best-placed Oberliga team from the Saar Protectorate, participated in the first edition of the European Cup, going out to Hibernian F.C. in the first round, as did Saarbrücken against AC Milan.[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 1954–55 DDR-Oberliga was won by SC Turbine Erfurt.[5]

Oberliga Nord

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The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Oldenburg, both promoted from the Amateurliga. The league's top scorer was Günter Schlegel of Hamburger SV with 30 goals.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Hamburger SV 30 23 1 6 108 41 +67 47 Qualification to German championship
2 TuS Bremerhaven 93 30 17 7 6 56 38 +18 41
3 Werder Bremen 30 15 8 7 68 46 +22 38
4 FC Altona 93 30 15 8 7 73 51 +22 38
5 Hannover 96 30 14 6 10 52 41 +11 34
6 Eintracht Braunschweig 30 15 3 12 58 56 +2 33
7 FC St. Pauli 30 10 11 9 45 41 +4 31
8 Eimsbütteler TV 30 9 10 11 51 60 −9 28
9 VfL Osnabrück 30 9 9 12 58 55 +3 27
10 Holstein Kiel 30 8 11 11 52 64 −12 27
11 VfB Oldenburg 30 9 7 14 33 56 −23 25
12 Arminia Hannover 30 9 6 15 50 60 −10 24
13 Göttingen 05 30 6 12 12 35 49 −14 24
14 VfL Wolfsburg 30 7 10 13 34 53 −19 24
15 Bremer SV (R) 30 9 5 16 35 56 −21 23 Relegation to Amateurliga
16 Harburger TB (R) 30 3 10 17 35 76 −41 16
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

Oberliga Berlin

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The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, Hertha BSC Berlin and BFC Südring, both promoted from the Amateurliga Berlin. The league's top scorer was Werner Nocht of Viktoria 89 Berlin with 18 goals.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Viktoria 89 Berlin 22 15 4 3 53 20 +33 34 Qualification to German championship
2 Tennis Borussia Berlin 22 14 2 6 52 33 +19 30
3 Berliner SV 92 22 12 4 6 38 26 +12 28
4 Minerva 93 Berlin 22 13 2 7 42 29 +13 28
5 Union 06 Berlin 22 11 3 8 42 37 +5 25
6 Spandauer SV 22 8 5 9 41 34 +7 21
7 Hertha BSC Berlin 22 10 1 11 37 44 −7 21
8 Wacker 04 Berlin 22 4 10 8 30 40 −10 18
9 Alemannia 90 Berlin 22 7 3 12 29 38 −9 17
10 Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin 22 6 5 11 24 45 −21 17
11 BFC Südring (R) 22 6 3 13 32 46 −14 15 Relegation to Amateurliga Berlin
12 BFC Nordstern (R) 22 2 6 14 34 62 −28 10
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

Oberliga West

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The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, Westfalia Herne and Duisburger SV, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga West. The league's top scorer was Heinz Lorenz of Preußen Dellbrück with 23 goals.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Rot-Weiss Essen (C) 30 20 5 5 64 38 +26 45 Qualification to German championship
2 SV Sodingen 30 17 5 8 54 40 +14 39
3 Bayer Leverkusen 30 13 10 7 54 42 +12 36
4 Borussia Dortmund 30 12 6 12 63 57 +6 30
5 FC Schalke 04 30 11 8 11 51 49 +2 30
6 Fortuna Düsseldorf 30 13 4 13 66 65 +1 30
7 1. FC Köln 30 13 3 14 60 55 +5 29
8 Duisburger SV 30 12 5 13 48 52 −4 29
9 Preußen Münster 30 12 4 14 70 60 +10 28
10 Preußen Dellbrück 30 12 4 14 51 58 −7 28
11 Alemannia Aachen 30 11 6 13 56 64 −8 28
12 Schwarz-Weiß Essen 30 11 5 14 52 55 −3 27
13 Westfalia Herne 30 10 6 14 57 63 −6 26
14 Borussia München-Gladbach 30 9 8 13 48 65 −17 26
15 Meidericher SV (R) 30 10 6 14 39 60 −21 26 Relegation to 2. Oberliga West
16 VfL Bochum (R) 30 6 11 13 36 46 −10 23
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Oberliga Südwest

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The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, Eintracht Bad Kreuznach and Sportfreunde Saarbrücken, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Südwest. The league's top scorer was Herbert Martin of 1. FC Saarbrücken with 27 goals.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 30 23 4 3 96 42 +54 50 Qualification to German championship
2 Wormatia Worms 30 16 9 5 80 38 +42 41
3 1. FC Saarbrücken 30 18 5 7 82 52 +30 41 Qualification for the European Cup first round
4 TuS Neuendorf 30 17 6 7 79 38 +41 40
5 FK Pirmasens 30 18 3 9 70 45 +25 39
6 Phönix Ludwigshafen 30 15 9 6 60 39 +21 39
7 TuRa Ludwigshafen 30 14 6 10 57 52 +5 34
8 VfR Frankenthal 30 13 3 14 47 66 −19 29
9 Saar 05 Saarbrücken 30 6 13 11 43 56 −13 25
10 Borussia Neunkirchen 30 8 9 13 37 50 −13 25
11 Eintracht Trier 30 10 4 16 45 59 −14 24
12 VfR Kaiserslautern 30 8 6 16 47 76 −29 22
13 Eintracht Kreuznach 30 7 7 16 43 75 −32 21
14 FSV Mainz 05 30 8 4 18 51 64 −13 20
15 FV Speyer (R) 30 6 5 19 45 70 −25 17 Relegation to 2. Oberliga Südwest
16 Sportfreunde Saarbrücken (R) 30 4 5 21 31 92 −61 13
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

Oberliga Süd

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The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, SSV Reutlingen and Schwaben Augsburg, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Süd. The league's top scorer was Ernst-Otto Meyer of VfR Mannheim with 36 goals, a title he would take out twice more, in 1955–56 and 1958–59.[6] Meyer was also the top scorer for all five Oberligas in 1954–55.[1]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Kickers Offenbach 30 17 5 8 67 38 +29 39 Qualification to German championship
2 SSV Reutlingen 30 16 5 9 62 44 +18 37
3 FC Schweinfurt 05 30 14 9 7 52 44 +8 37
4 Eintracht Frankfurt 30 15 6 9 56 36 +20 36
5 Karlsruher SC 30 15 5 10 69 51 +18 35
6 FSV Frankfurt 30 13 7 10 55 49 +6 33
7 BC Augsburg 30 14 4 12 72 60 +12 32
8 Schwaben Augsburg 30 12 8 10 46 45 +1 32
9 1. FC Nürnberg 30 12 5 13 64 51 +13 29
10 VfR Mannheim 30 12 5 13 77 79 −2 29
11 SpVgg Fürth 30 11 7 12 56 67 −11 29
12 Stuttgarter Kickers 30 10 7 13 48 56 −8 27
13 VfB Stuttgart 30 11 4 15 58 60 −2 26
14 Jahn Regensburg 30 11 4 15 47 85 −38 26
15 KSV Hessen Kassel (R) 30 6 6 18 37 67 −30 18 Relegation to 2. Oberliga Süd
16 FC Bayern Munich (R) 30 6 3 21 42 76 −34 15
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated

German championship

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The 1955 German football championship was contested by the nine qualified Oberliga teams and won by Rot-Weiss Essen, defeating 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the final. The runners-up of the Oberligas, except Berlin, played pre-qualifying matches to determine which three of the four would go on to the group stage. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-and-away round of matches in two groups of four. The two group winners then advanced to the final.[7]

Qualifying

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First round

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
SV Sodingen 3–0 SSV Reutlingen
Team 1  Score  Team 2
TuS Bremerhaven 93 3–3 aet Wormatia Worms
Replay
Team 1  Score  Team 2
TuS Bremerhaven 93 3–2 Wormatia Worms

Second round

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Wormatia Worms 2–1 SSV Reutlingen

Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 1. FC Kaiserslautern (Q) 6 3 3 0 20 8 +12 9 Qualified to final
2 Hamburger SV 6 3 2 1 8 5 +3 8
3 SV Sodingen 6 2 3 1 13 9 +4 7
4 Viktoria 89 Berlin 6 0 0 6 4 23 −19 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 Rot-Weiss Essen (Q) 6 4 2 0 16 5 +11 10 Qualified to final
2 TuS Bremerhaven 93 6 2 2 2 5 10 −5 6
3 Kickers Offenbach 6 2 0 4 11 12 −1 4
4 Wormatia Worms 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 4
Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Final

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Team 1  Score  Team 2
Rot-Weiss Essen 4–3 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. ^ Rot-Weiss Essen » Steckbrief (in German) Weltfussball.de – Rot-Weiss Essen honours, accessed: 19 December 2015
  4. ^ 1955: Königsklasse in Kinderschuhen (in German) Weltfussball.de, published: 4 September 2015, accessed: 20 December 2015
  5. ^ East Germany 1946-1990 rsssf.org, accessed: 15 December 2015
  6. ^ 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband, page: 165
  7. ^ Das Finale der Deutschen Meisterschaft 1954/1955 (in German) Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 16 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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