History of the German football league system

Today, the German football league system consists refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. As of 2015, the league systems spans up to 14 levels and consists of over 2,300 divisions in total, that stands at the end of a development starting around the year 1900 with different district leagues, was then organized over decades on a regional basis and saw the first edition of a nationwide league as late as 1963.

Until the foundation of the German Football Association there had already been different regional and district championships' respective leagues and it was not until 1906 that there was a consistent mode to determine the participants of the German championship that was played as a final tournament until the foundation of the Bundesliga. For that reason football in Germany was divided into seven regions which had their own regional championships (that were mostly played as a cup tournament, too). Only the regional champions and the defending German champion were qualified to play in the championship until 1924, when the number of final tournament participants was increased to 16.

As there were no regional top-level league established the system of many parallel leagues and divisions continued up to the 1933–34 season.

From the late 1920s on there were efforts to install a nationwide professional league, but these efforts were never powerful enough to outreach the strong anti-professionalism from conservative and nationalist officials.

Level

Division

↑ Winners qualified for German championship tournament

↑ Winners qualified for Regional championship tournament

North German district divisions

Berlin district divisions

Middle German district divisions

West German district divisions

South German district divisions

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