Gauliga Elsaß
 |
|
| Country |
 Nazi Germany
|
|---|---|
| Region |
 Alsace
|
| Gau | Gau Baden-Elsaß |
| Founded | 1940 |
| Folded | 1945 |
| Replaced by | territory returned to France |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Tschammerpokal |
| Last champions |
FC Mülhausen 93 (1943–44) |
The Gauliga Elsaß was the highest football league in the region of Alsace (German: Elsaß, old orthography of Elsass) from 1940 to 1945. The Nazis reorganised the administrative region and the Alsace became part of the Gau Baden-Elsaß.
The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1940, after the French defeat and the German annexation of the Alsace region. The Alsace region was traditionally disputed between the two countries and had last been part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, with its football clubs playing in the German league system then.
The Gauliga Elsaß was established with sixteen clubs in two groups of eight, all from the Alsace region. The two group winners then played a home-and-away final to determine the Alsace champion and the team entering the German championship.
The league was reduced to one single group of twelve teams in the 1941-42 season with the bottom four teams relegated. The season after, it operated with ten clubs and two relegated teams. This modus remained in place for the 1943-44 season.
In late 1944, the Alsace region became part of the frontline and its doubtful whether the 1944-45 season was even able to get under way. The league was scheduled to have two groups, a northern one with five and a southern one with six clubs.
After the region had been completely liberated by allied forces, Strasbourg being retaken on 22 November 1944, the Alsace and its football clubs returned to France with the top club, the RC Strasbourg, reentering the French first division in 1945.
The sixteen founding members in 1940 were split into two groups. All clubs came from the French league system and are still active as of 2008, unless stated otherwise:
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