Gauliga Sachsen
 |
|
| Country |
 Nazi Germany
|
|---|---|
| State |
 Saxony
|
| Gau (from 1934) | Gau Saxony |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Folded | 1945 |
| Replaced by | DDR-Oberliga |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Tschammerpokal |
| Last champions |
Dresdner SC (1943-44) |
The Gauliga Saxony was the highest football league in the German state of Saxony (German:Sachsen) from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the Gau Saxony replaced the state Saxony.
The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the Bezirksligas and Oberligas as the highest level of play in German football competitions.
In its first season, the league had eleven clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship. The bottom three teams were relegated. The season after, the league was reduced to ten teams. It operated on the same modus until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Due to the effects of the war, the 1939-40 season was played in two regional groups of six teams each with a home-and-away final between the two group winners.
During the war years, the Dresdner SC became a dominating force in German football, with two championships, in 1943 and 1944, a lost final in 1940 and two cup wins in 1940 and 1941. The VfB Leipzig was the other team from the league with a national title, winning the German Cup in 1936. Those successes made the Gauliga Sachsen one of the strongest competitions in the country.
In the 1940-41 season, the Gauliga Sachsen returned to a single division format, now with twelve clubs. This number was reduced to ten for the next season and remained at this strength until 1944.
The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all Gauligas and football in the region was split into seven regional groups. However, none of them played more than a few games before the arrival of the Red Army, and the end of the war terminated all competitions.
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Wikipedia