Southern German championship
-de.svg) |
|
| Country |
 German Empire
 Germany
|
|---|---|
| State | Southern Germany |
| Founded | 1898 1945 (reformed) |
| Folded | 1933 (disbanded by the Nazis) 1963 |
| Replaced by | competition disbanded |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Last champions |
TSV 1860 Munich (1962–63) |
The Southern German football championship (German: Süddeutsche Meisterschaft) was the highest association football competition in the South of Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power.
While no senior Southern German championship exists nowadays, the under 15 juniors still play an annual competition for the title, often involving the junior teams of clubs who had once been involved in the senior edition.
German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. These regional championships were:
All this regional championships were suspended with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether.
The Süddeutsche Fußball-Verband (SFV), the Southern German Football Association was formed in Karlsruhe on 17 October 1897, three years before the German Football Association (DFB) was formed. It originally was named Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine (English: Association of Southern German football clubs). One of the leading figures and driving force in the Southern German football was Walther Bensemann, founder of the kicker sportmagazin, a position he retained until the Nazis rise to power. The other driving force behind football in the south of Germany was Friedrich William Nohe, chairman of the Karlsruher FV. The association was formed by eight clubs, those being:
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