The Gauliga Niedersachsen was the highest football league in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position ...

and the German states of Bremen, Brunswick,

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bück ...

and Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the ''

Gaue ''Gau'' (German , nl, gouw , fy, gea or ''goa'' ) is a Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or current province. It was used in the Middle Ages, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The adm ...

'' '' Südhannover-Braunschweig'', '' Ost-Hannover'' and '' Weser-Ems''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

replaced the Prussian province and the German states in the region of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

(German:''Niedersachsen''), although

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

the old states continued to exist. From 1942, the ''Gauliga Niedersachsen'' was split into two separate leagues, the ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' and the ''Gauliga Weser-Ems''. In turn, the ''Gauliga Osthannover'' was separated from the ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' in 1943.

Overview

Gauliga Niedersachsen

The league was introduced by the

Nazi Sports Office The National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise (german: Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, abbreviated NSRL) was the umbrella organization for sports and physical education in Nazi Germany. The NSRL was kn ...

in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the '' Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' and ''Oberliga Weser/Jade'' as the highest level of play of the regional football competitions. The league's success on a national scale was moderate. The surprising victory of Hannover 96 in the 1938 championship over the all-dominating

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

with a 4–3 extra time win in the replay final remained the only triumph for the region. 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 season after, the league was upsized to eleven teams due to the integration of Viktoria Wilhelmsburg, the club coming across from the ''

Gauliga Nordmark The Gauliga Nordmark was the highest football league in the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein and the German states of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and parts of Oldenburg from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the ...

''. The 1934–35 and 1935–36 seasons were therefore played with eleven teams and three relegation spots. From 1936, the league returned to ten clubs. Due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups of six clubs each. The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the ''Gauliga'' championship. This modus remained for the 1940–41 season. In its last season, 1941–42, the league remained divided into two regional groups but instead of a two team final, a championship-round of six teams was played. At the end of this season, the league was split into two separate ''Gauligas''.

Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig

The territory of the new ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' was made up of the area of the ''

Gau Southern Hanover-Brunswick Gau Southern Hanover–Brunswick (German: ''Gau Südhannover–Braunschweig'') was a ''de facto'' administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 in the Free State of Brunswick and part of the Free State of Prussia. Before that, ...

'' and the ''

Gau Eastern Hanover Gau Eastern Hanover (German: ''Ost-Hannover'') was a regional district of the NSDAP established in 1925 in the north eastern part of the Prussian Province of Hanover, comprising the governorates of Stade and Lüneburg in their then boundaries. Ori ...

''. The league started with ten clubs in a single division in 1942. It remained at this strength for the 1943–44 season but lost one club, the Wehrmacht SV Celle, to the new ''Gauliga Osthannover''. Due to the arrival of the war on Germany's borders, the last season, 1944–45, was barely started. It was meant to operate in eight regional groups.

Gauliga Weser-Ems

The territory of the new ''Gauliga Weser-Ems'' was made up of the area of the ''Gau'' of the same name. The league started out with ten clubs in a single division. The 1943–44 season was then played in three regional groups of uneven strength, with 23 clubs altogether and a three-team finals round. The last season saw the same modus but 24 clubs. Play did not get under way very far, and most clubs only played two or three games before the league was dissolved.

Gauliga Osthannover

The league begun play as an offshoot of the ''Gauliga Südhannover-Braunschweig'' in 1943 in the area of the ''

'' with eight teams in a single division. The league only played one complete season. In its second season, it was expanded to twelve teams in two groups of six. However, no club absolved more than two games before the effects of the war led to the cancellation of the league.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the ''Gauligas'' ceased to exist and the northern part of Germany found itself in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

occupation zone. Only the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen was not part of this zone as it was awarded to the US forces as a port for their otherwise landlocked occupation zone in Southern Germany. In the British zone and Bremen, top-level football did not resume straight away, unlike in Southern Germany, and only in 1947 a new, highest league was introduced, the Oberliga Nord, which covered the new states of

and

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

along with the recreated city-states of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and Bremen.

Founding members of the league

The ten founding members and their league positions in the ''Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' and ''Oberliga Weser/Jade'' in 1932–33 were: * SV Werder Bremen, ''2. Oberliga Weser/Jade'' * Arminia Hannover, ''champions Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' * SV Algermissen 11, ''2nd Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' * Hannover 96, ''3rd Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' * Eintracht Braunschweig, ''6th Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' * VfB Komet Bremen, ''champions Oberliga Weser/Jade'' *

Bremer SV Bremer SV is a German association football club, based in the city of Bremen, which was founded in 1906. The club play their home games at the Panzenberg Stadium and currently participate in the 4th tier Regionalliga Nord. History Bremer SV w ...

, ''3rd Oberliga Weser/Jade'' * Rasen SV Hildesheim 06, ''5th Oberliga Südhannover/Braunschweig'' *

VfB 04 Peine {{Short pages monitor