German football associations 1890–1933

The term German Football Associations from 1890 to 1933 encompasses all local or regional German football associations between the founding of the first German football association in Berlin in 1890 , the Association of German Football Players , and the harmonization of sport and thus also football after the National Socialists came to power in the year Summarize 1933. Some of the associations only existed for a few years and were often in competition with one another in the early years (within the same region or with regard to the regulations). With the establishment of the German Football Association in 1900, uniform structures emerged over the course of the following years, and the number of associations affiliated to the DFB fell to seven before the First World War. In addition, the German Gymnastics Association , the ATSB and denominational associations organized football championships until 1933 .

Historical background

Sport was only of secondary importance in the German Empire in the 19th century. Germany's “football forefather”, Braunschweig teacher Konrad Koch , stated at the beginning of the 1870s that students were often couch potatoes and often pale and sick due to too little activity in the fresh air. During a stay in England , Koch got to know the English school system, in which sport was one of the school subjects and leisure activities, especially in the elite schools. This also included football, played in two versions: rugby football (now referred to as rugby) with picking up the ball and association football (now only football) without picking up the ball . Koch then first introduced rugby in Braunschweig and, from 1878, also football.

Rugby football dominated the German Empire from 1875 to the mid-1880s. Rugby was played in Frankfurt am Main from 1875, and rugby clubs were also established in Cannstatt , Wiesbaden , Homburg , Darmstadt , Neuenheim , Hanover and Bremen . From 1880 to at least 1883 a German championship was held as the "Champion of Germany's Football Clubs". In 1885 there were already 14 clubs in Frankfurt am Main and the surrounding area. On May 5th of the same year, the Frankfurt-born opera singer Georg Leux founded the BFC Frankfurt 1885 in Berlin, the first football club in the capital . At the end of the 1880s, association football was played there after rugby.

As in all of Germany, developments in Berlin were very slow. In the winter of 1881/1882, as at the same time in Hamburg , English people present in the city played the first association football game. In 1883 the English and Germans occasionally played in Berlin (e.g. on the Tempelhofer Feld ). Nevertheless, little happened until 1888, only then did rapid development begin with the establishment of a large number of football clubs.

The beginnings

On April 15, 1888, BFC Germania 1888, the oldest German football club still in existence today, was founded. During this time, a wave of founding clubs began in Berlin and the immediate vicinity, which remained unmatched in the German Empire for years. By the First World War , more than 600 clubs were established. It was probably even significantly more, but since clubs that were not organized in associations were only mentioned very rarely or never, the exact number can no longer be determined today. Due to internal quarrels (as in the other associations), some clubs only existed for a short time, then dissolved again, joined another club or occasionally changed the sport.

Berlin also held the record for the number of football associations. There were a number of reasons for this: New clubs were not always accepted into the existing associations immediately, which usually resulted in a ban on playing the club in question. In addition, new associations were founded because some clubs wanted to belong to a less strict association in which fines were not imposed for every little “offense”. Other clubs operated z. B. Athletics or gymnastics as the main sport, only had a football department on the side and wanted to keep to themselves. The founding of a new association was partly due to animosity with associations or officials. The early years were sometimes very chaotic, not only in Berlin, but there it was particularly noticeable.

The south (southwest) followed Berlin in 1893 with the Süd-Westdeutsche Fußball-Union as its own association, which, however, only existed for two years due to internal disputes and the small number of clubs in the south. Then followed u. a. In 1894 in Hamburg / Altona the Hamburg-Altona Football Association , in 1896 in Leipzig the Association of Leipziger Ballspiel-Vereine , in 1897 in Karlsruhe the Association of South German Football Associations and in 1898 in Düsseldorf the Rhenish Game Association . Finally, in 1900, the German Football Association was founded as an umbrella organization.

The early years

In addition to the few championships with a few encounters, which were first held in Berlin and then in Hamburg / Altona and Leipzig, there were countless so-called "competitions" and board games. Competitive games, although the term was often used incorrectly out of ignorance, were mostly based on the challenge of another club to prove who the better team was. It was often about "diplomas" for the winner, and occasionally also about a trophy. Opponents were often asked by name in advertisements to take part in a game and if that were not the case, they declared themselves the winner.

In contrast to England and Scotland, where there were no Sunday games for religious reasons, in Germany, with a few exceptions, the general soccer game day was on Sunday afternoon. There were also morning games, later generally in Hamburg / Altona for the reserve teams due to the few available places. In November 1894, Hamburger FC 1888 (later merged with other clubs to form Hamburger SV ) tried two games in one day. In the morning at 9.30 a.m. they competed against Borgfelder FC 1894 in Wandsbek and at 3 p.m. the HFC faced the Altonaer Cricket Club 1893 (a little later Altonaer FC 1893 ) on the Altonaer Exercierweide .

Originally, the counting method for a result was based on the rugby origins. For example, a friendly game between Hamburger FC 1888 and the Pöseldorfer Tennis Club on September 30, 1894 showed a break of "3-0 goals, eight goals, two corners = 24 points" for the tennis players against "three goals by HFC = three points". The end result brought a victory for the tennis club with 61-6 points and 8-0 goals.

Local rivalry began early and was often accompanied by resentment and, not infrequently, pure hatred in the early years. Due to the lack of reporters on site, the sports newspapers inevitably had to print match reports from the clubs, some of which were written by the team captains and therefore very one-sided. This became clear when both clubs concerned reported twice, for example in this case:

"Swabia - Francs 6-1. On the last Sunday in front of a large crowd of spectators, the due meeting of the above clubs took place on the ideally located Schwaben sports field, which ended with the expected victory for the Swabians ... Krause (1st captain of Swabia). "

The opponent saw it completely differently:

"Franconia - Swabia 1-6. Fortunately, last Sunday only a few spectators came to see a game that really did no credit to our sport on that dreary Swabian sandcoat, which is repeatedly called the 'sports field' by extremely fantastically inclined people ... Schulze (Kapt. Von Franken). "

In contrast to the English teams, where fair play was the order of the day, with a few exceptions, many German teams turned out to be bad losers, and not only in point games. One-sided game abandons were not uncommon if you were not on the winning road. As soon as a very high defeat threatened, this tendency of unsportsmanlikeness increased. Individual players also left the field and left their team in the lurch if they did not like the course of the game. Often there was also a lack of respect to follow the instructions of the team captain. There were no coaches in the early years; the captain elected by the general assembly also directed the training, provided that the club in question trained at all.

organization

The associations were created to give member clubs regular opportunities to play. The divisions were often small, usually two to eight clubs, only more in exceptional cases. Nevertheless, the processing of the few point games often dragged on for months, occasionally well into the summer. The fact that players were usually very young and had to take over all functions in the clubs and associations themselves, while also fulfilling the office of referee, all at the expense of their own free time and without much experience, was one of the reasons that often happened chaotic conditions in the associations and clubs. In addition, with the small number of members and no gaming revenue, all costs had to be paid out of pocket through monthly fees. There were hardly any passive members in those years. As in the early years in England, players and officials tended to come from middle-class and academic families. A number of academic associations were also formed, either as an independent club or as a division of an existing association. Members from the working class were often not welcome, and workers usually could not have paid the association fees and high fines. In the early years, officials came from the field of active players, both in clubs and in associations. In the process, unsuitable people often pushed themselves to the fore in order to gain a position of power and abuse it for their personal purposes.

By electing mostly conservative functionaries, the associations generally saw themselves as an end in themselves and not as representing the interests of the member associations. This often led to considerable tension and arguments. Not infrequently, motions of no confidence were made at association days and entire board members voted out. Attacks on board members were the order of the day, and there were often tough attacks from the clubs. These often ended with reprimands or fines for those affected. Occasionally there were also expulsions from the association. As the number of member associations and members rose steadily, the income of the associations also increased. Particularly unpopular was the "poll tax", for which a certain amount had to be paid to the association for each member. Another source of income was the mandatory purchase of the association newspapers, based on a proportion of the members of each association. In addition, the clubs were obliged to purchase a certain number of football yearbooks, and later also of athletics yearbooks. The acceptance of these so-called deposit copies was strictly controlled. If there were any doubts, the clubs concerned were asked to provide postal receipts.

The clubs themselves bore the greatest blame for another source of income for the associations: a “protest fee” had to be deposited for protests submitted. If this did not happen or not in time, the protest was not negotiated. If the protest was accepted, the club in question received its protest fee back, otherwise the amount was forfeited to the association's treasury. In addition, a whole catalog of penalty fees has been created over the years, from incorrect playing attire to expulsion. The increasing income partly led to the fact that officials helped themselves from the cash register. Furthermore, quite a few functionaries lost interest after a while and let the association's business slide completely. In these cases no more players were registered, no mail answered or reported results not processed. Occasionally the documents were not even handed over to a successor, which meant that, among other things, one or the other table could no longer be calculated.

The capture and registration of players came early. This was to ensure that a player belonged to only one club and could only be registered for one of his teams. Re-registrations within a club were possible at any time. If there was a change of club without a change of residence, there was a waiting period of two months until eligibility to play. The number of players per team was very restrictive and inevitably led to problems. In countless games, teams could not compete with eleven players. Not infrequently even the minimum of eight players was undercut, with which the points were automatically lost.

Regulations

From the mid-1890s onwards , football was sharply criticized by national conservative circles, teachers, the nobility and gymnastics because it came from England and was therefore not German. Although the arguments put forward were mostly unsustainable, they had a lasting effect in football circles. In some circles there were convulsive attempts to portray football as an ancient Germanic sport, which had no basis whatsoever. In Magdeburg, football was Germanized with its own house rules in the mid-1890s; due to a lack of interest, the experiment had to be terminated again after a short time. In addition, there were deviations from the now applicable English rules in some cities. In Bremen, for example, they only played 40 minutes twice, elsewhere there were no penalties for violations in the penalty area. The Hamburg-Altona Football and Cricket Association was the first German football association to adopt the rules of the English Football Association (FA) for the second half of the season, which began on March 21, 1896 .

In addition, there were regular disputes and protests regarding the regulations or game ratings. A basic evil was the fact that association officials were also members of a certain club and were also directly or indirectly affected by decisions that affected the interests of their own club. The press often picked up on this problem, which made it clear that it was. This was clearly evident in the verdicts of the gaming committee, where it was not uncommon for each other to meet. The problem existed more or less in all associations, apparently particularly extreme in Berlin. Especially new, promoted clubs that worked their way to the top of the top division sometimes had a hard time. The established top clubs often could not or would not tolerate the fact that they had received new competition. In Berlin there was the problem with the BTuFC Viktoria 1889 and BFC Germania 1888; Only with the years and more neutral composition of the game committees did the situation defuse. In Hamburg, SC Victoria was known in 1895 for going to the game committee when games against the other top teams FC Altona 93 or the FA of Eimsbütteler TV were lost. All SC Victoria 1895 teams were notorious for drawing the referee's attention to the fact that the waiting time was exceeded and thus receiving the points without a fight.

Comparison with other nations

Little is reported about training in the early years. There were no specially trained coaches - if any training took place, it was led by the captain of the team. The training itself was very one-sided, even around 1910, for example, in Berlin it was limited to shots on goal. Technical training and fitness were, with a few exceptions, unknown. Even in the early years, the path of German football in a more physical direction was already emerging. The game was played very defensively as early as the 1890s. The game was often designed to prevent the opponent's goals from attacking instead of attacking. How far German clubs lagged behind the performances and skills of clubs from other countries was shown in international friendly matches. English teams remained unmatched before the First World War, although the difference in performance had narrowed. But football strongholds were also emerging in continental Europe, especially in Prague and Budapest, and later in Vienna and the Netherlands. Technical football was cultivated there. There were often very bitter defeats for the top German clubs when they met on the field with greats from abroad.

Especially with the Prague clubs there were regular friendlies. Although the German Football Association imposed a game ban on Czech clubs, as they were striving for the independence of the Czech Republic from the KuK monarchy, the more cosmopolitan and liberal Berliners did not give up until the politically motivated ban was back after years with a vote victory in the DFB Bundestag was repealed. These games against top continental teams attracted large audiences for the time, which Berliners, certainly not entirely unselfish, did not want to do without.

Rules and Referees

Although Konrad Koch , who introduced soccer in Germany in 1874, lived in England himself and got to know soccer and rugby at schools, he turned his own experiences around and adapted them to German circumstances and the German mentality. While English boys wallowed in the mud at the games in wet and cold weather, German children, who were often couch potatoes and ailing, had strict clothing and health regulations.

This problem continued in adults until World War I, when games were abandoned because of a few raindrops or when players did not leave their homes when clouds came in and forego the points.

The appointment of qualified referees for the championship games in all leagues of the German Empire was an insurmountable problem, especially before 1920. The referees inevitably had to come from among the active players. Many clubs were small, membership numbers of 20 and less were not uncommon. In addition, many players were of military age and were drafted into military service. Since almost only Sunday games took place, there was inevitably a bottleneck when a club that had to provide a referee could not provide a complete team itself. The consequence was that the team opted for as complete a team as possible and preferred to accept the association's fine for not sending a referee. Often students were also sent to lead adult games.

The referees faced enormous problems; only a few had sufficient knowledge of the rules and many escaped rule changes. In individual cases, years later, they continued to play according to long outdated rules. The number of protests, especially when it came to referee decisions, was enormous. Countless championship games were rescheduled by the game committees if the negotiations revealed that the referees had violated the rules. Many referees allowed themselves to be manipulated by spectators and home teams and favored them out of sheer fear. This was also discussed in the negotiations before the match committees and was often admitted by the referees themselves. Their disadvantage was that both teams each provided a touch judge (linesman) and the referee was completely on his own. Referees were also responsible for a large number of game abandons. Shouts or laughter from the audience at a decision by the referee were often enough to end a game offended. Furthermore, referees were not always weatherproof and stopped a game with a few raindrops.

The dissatisfaction with referee services reached a climax in the 1904/05 season in District I (Cöln, Bonn, Düren) of the Rheinisch-Westfälischer Spiel-Verband, when in January 1905 all games of the highest class "were canceled due to insufficient referee services" and a play-off game for the championship of the two best-placed teams to date. The problem itself was everywhere.

The contemporary sports newspapers took up the topic again and again:

“We recently took the opportunity to address the unfortunate situation of the referee question in Hamburg ... As with almost all games, the referee was not visible when the teams started; Of course, certain clubs are obliged to provide such, but everyone is happy when they have their eleven together, which is then left for referee purposes, should not be too suitable to be able to cope with the often great tasks they are faced with. "

“A goal was given by the referee despite a complaint, even though it shouldn't have been given according to the rules. Even when he was made aware of his incorrect interpretation of the rules by other players, the referee insisted on his statement. "

"Pforzheim. On Sunday the 4th d. M. the teams of the Pforzheim football club and Meteor faced each other in the return game ... The game was 40:40 minutes and 35:45 minutes, as the first game time was shortened by 5 minutes due to an error by the referee. "

“On Sunday, March 31st, the B.Th.uFC Attila played against the BFC Hubertus in a competition on the field of the latter club ... It should be mentioned that some players from Hubertus, when their gate was harassed, a second ball pushed into the pitch to confuse Attilas strikers. Note d. Red. Where was the referee? A one-time prohibition of such impropriety would have to be sufficient. "

"Bremer SC 1891 - FC St. Georg 1895 4: 0 ... It was very unusual for the people of Hamburg, who are used to the strict regulations of their association, that it is always allowed in Bremen to play on the man, even if he is not on the ball. and that jostling from behind is by no means considered forbidden. The Bremen Association should bring its regulations in line with those of the German Football Association. Otherwise the Bremen team should have gloomy experiences with the referees at away games. "

Often the playgrounds could not or only with difficulty be made out, so that countless games were canceled or could start significantly later than planned, which was also confirmed by the following press release:

"The referee had gone to Minerva's Platz at Gotzkowskybrücke, but when he kicked off, neither Minerva nor Rapide were there to meet at Rapide's Platz in Bernauerstrasse and fight a game there."

The Berliner Tageblatt wrote after the VI. Bundestag of the DFB, which took place in Hamburg in 1903, in an article:

“The referee meetings, in which the holding of the association competitions are regulated, also offer a productive field of activity for 'pushes' of all kinds. Woe to the club that stands outside the 'ring' that certain clubs form. They have power on their side, and as soon as a club excels in sport or even announces its intentions for the championship through its good game, its wings are cut. Under the guise of the association's statutes, the interpretation of which would do some lawyers credit, this association is shown that its successes are not legitimate. If the statutes or their subtle interpretation are insufficient, a vote is taken and the law trampled underfoot. The championships in Berlin are not decided by athletic performance on the green lawn, but by voting at the green table. Many a club that had won an arduous victory in a football match on Sunday was ruined in the subsequent referee meeting by the intrigues of a clique of associations that set themselves the goal of becoming up-and-coming associations that could compete with them suppress. The number of cases in which the justified claims of some associations were rejected by a majority is quite numerous ... "

As early as February 1901, the Munich soccer clubs formed a panel of referees, "which has the purpose of bringing about closer contact between the Munich soccer clubs and by setting up qualified referees to bring and maintain soccer competitions to the highest possible level."

Early seats and equipment

The prerequisites for staging point and friendship games were often very primitive, especially when it came to the playground and occasionally also the changing facilities. In contrast to England, where mostly public parks and green spaces could be used to host games, playgrounds were in short supply in the German Reich. Without the concession of the local military authorities, some associations would not have been able to start point games, as there was no other suitable place at the location that could be used. If the permit was withdrawn, as in the following case, insurmountable problems arose: “Rostock. Since the local football clubs are not allowed to play on the parade ground by the military commando, we were not able to host any competitions this season. We are currently playing water polo. ” Playing fields ranged from parade grounds to rubbish dumps, meadows where cows and sheep grazed, to squares littered with broken glass. Some match reports and communications mentioned the respective conditions: "The place, a so-called coke place, has a fairly wide and deep channel on one long side."

“Last Sunday, Steglizer FC Prinz Heinrich and Friedenauer SC 1900 faced each other on the latter's very unsuitable field. Despite the 1/2 m deep pit that was in front of one goal, the Steglitzers still managed to finish with 7-0. "

"Burgundy had a choice of seats and first played uphill and against the wind."

Often a pub or restaurant "nearby" served as a changing room. The hosts knew that the players were thirsty after an encounter and guaranteed sales and were happy to provide a room. Not infrequently, considerable distances had to be covered from there to the playground. Since there were no permanent playgrounds at that time, only a field without goals, corner flags, etc., every game had to be "built" and then "dismantled" again. The home team, the building club, dragged the "playground equipment" to the square and set it up there. An "earth auger" was usually used to allow the goalposts to be embedded in order to drill holes in the earth for anchoring. If the ground was frozen, this was strenuous, time-consuming and sweaty work. At the same time, the visiting team waited with the referee for the playground to be completed. There have been cases where overzealous policemen have fined players who dragged goalposts on their shoulders through the public streets to the playground for “gross mischief”.

In the early years all game material had to be imported from England, where an entire industry had now emerged and everything from soccer balls to shoes, jerseys, pants, turnstiles, etc. was manufactured. Since there were no closed playgrounds in Germany, the import was limited to playing clothes, balls and (air) bubbles, air pumps, which were offered in specialist shops. Only later did the German Empire develop its own sporting goods industry. In the wake of rising nationalism and anti-English sentiment, the German sports industry was strongly supported by the football associations, which asked players and clubs in their association bodies to only buy German goods. Occasionally nationalism even went so far as to consciously endanger the health of the players. A manufacturer made soccer shoes with steel caps, but clubs and players were asked to take them off until the existing inventory was sold out.

Due to the empty coffers at most clubs, used playground equipment was also very popular, as the following advertisement proved: “We are looking to buy a well-preserved soccer game facility. Offers under WK 1903, Post Office 42. ” Losses were also reported: “ Lost. Last Sunday, d. 11. d. Mts., A soccer ball got lost on the Bernau playground during the competition between B. Th. And Helgoland versus BFTuC Allemannia. The honest finder is asked to do the same in the club room with Mr. A. Kuss, Fidicinstr. 39a to submit. B. Th. U. FC Helgoland. "

There have also been complaints from visiting teams about the wretched conditions on some pitches, especially when you were forced to change clothes in a dirty cow or sheep pen and wash yourself there after the game. Later there were local court commissions who inspected playgrounds before the start of the season and occasionally closed them because of risks to the health of the players. Many places did not meet the minimum dimensions, but were allowed due to the lack of alternatives. In a “Sent in” (letter to the editor) from 1904, the grievances were reprimanded: “As an old player, I allow myself to draw attention to grievances in even leading sports clubs, which are particularly noticeable now in the cold and wet months. They affect the places of accommodation that clubs rent or that are assigned to them, mostly rooms everywhere that, too small, too airy, too humid and, in the current season, too cold and unfriendly, outdo each other in primitive comfort. And they are often decisive for the first impression of guests who have traveled far and are in need of care. It is high time that our sport was refined in this respect, and that our leading clubs began to offer their athletes the amenities that are necessary for personal hygiene! With the movement, which in a short period of time, with correct knowledge, seized peoples to promote lawn games, the noble sense of caring for our body does not seem to have kept pace enough, especially in football, as the above-mentioned frugality proves! Yours sincerely , P. Francke , FCWL "

The maintenance of the "play equipment", especially the balls, as well as the organizational preparation of who was responsible for what on match days, often left a lot to be desired. "Wilmersdorfer FC Ascania - BFC West. West won without a fight because Ascania had no equipment and no ball. "

"In the III. Class played Victoria III - Britannia II. The referee was absent in the first game. This time the game was again under a blunder: Victoria was only belatedly able to manage a ball that was malicious enough, probably because he knew that there was no replacement ball, to burst after a short time. Britannia helped out the opponents, so that the game could be carried out in spite of fate. "

"The balls were bad, two of them were unsuitable."

Most of the clubs were very hospitable, they picked up their guests at the train station, especially when they played friendly matches against foreign teams, took them to the changing room and later to the playground. Afterwards there was often a joint meal, occasionally followed by a Kommers, also known as a pub, where people drank a lot and, as was common at the time, also sang. Other clubs were less hospitable and left their guests to their own fate. With only vague or no location information, it was not always possible to find the location of the home club, and surveying local residents did not always lead to the goal. This was expressed several times in the contemporary sports press among the results:

"Viktoria III had to fight against Brandenburg III, but since the Victorians could not find their opponents despite searching, the game had to be canceled."

"VBB meeting of the game committee, department for football, on April 20, 1903. ... For the game Sparta - Hertha II, a new date is set at Hertha 's request because Hertha was unable to locate the Sparta playground."

Occasionally, home clubs went a step further and didn't show up for the game they arranged.

With the Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin had a very large area on which numerous clubs could play their point and friendship games, both on the left and right of the Chaussee, today's Tempelhofer Damm . In the 1892/93 season, for example, of the eleven clubs in the 1st class in Berlin, six played on the left and one on the right of Chaussee and four clubs on the "Exercierplatz zur lonely Pappel" in Bernauer Strasse. The respective “places” were assigned, as in the following message: “VBB The following playgrounds were set: Stern plays behind Viktoria. Helgoland I team next to Viktoria's II team. Helvetia behind Union on the left of the poplar, on the other side of the path leading to Tempelhof. Wacker behind Helvetia. ” “ At the request of the General Command, all associations are requested to send me the originals of the gaming concessions immediately. IA: Carl Wüst, 1st letter VBB "

When the Tempelhof community imposed penal orders in 1904 against clubs and players who played on the Tempelhofer Feld during church hours (Sunday morning at 11 a.m.), a legal dispute broke out which was initiated by the Association of Berlin Ball Game Clubs . "In the well-known legal dispute between the Berlin Association and the Tempelhof community, which had repeatedly given association members with penal orders for playing football during church hours, the Berlin II district court rejected the public prosecutor's appeal against the acquittal judgment of the first instance last Friday left no doubt in the judgment that playing football was not an event that would disturb the Sunday rest. "

In the 1904/05 season, 42 teams played on the Tempelhof field. The VBB published a sketch in which the playing fields were drawn. In seven vertical rows, the area was divided horizontally into five, six, seven and twice eight playing fields. 15 first teams and 27 lower teams played their championship games here. The association stipulated “Between the individual playing fields, at least 2 m must be left free for the public on all 4 sides. The sketch opposite serves as the basis for the building clubs. Violations will be punished. "

In some cities, e.g. B. Hamburg and Leipzig could occasionally be played in public parks. A contemporary report from Leipzig pointed out the disadvantages of these places: “... A second point at which work should start is the cordoning off of the field. That people cross the lines here and there in an effort to better follow a process should also happen elsewhere, but a family with prams in the middle of the field, as happened here last autumn, is probably a record in this regard. Of course the public was also in the middle of the field yesterday. It is probably not too big an expense for the clubs playing on the parade ground to buy a line and a few poles and so that a real result can be achieved. ” In Hamburg the situation was no better: “ It was even more important In the afternoon on the Heigengeistfelde the match between the Altona football club from 1893 and the Victoria football club took place, as some conclusions can be drawn from it about the outcome of the championship ... After Altona scored the first goal here, the pace accelerated . However, the left side of the leaders was unable to develop to their disadvantage, as the spectators had exceeded the boundary line by 10 to 15 m over the entire length of the field. ” And further in Hamburg: “ The competition only took place in the afternoon and in City areas, namely on the Heiligengeistfelde, a terrain that is made available to the guests of the Hamburg Cathedral every Christmas, and on which all hands are already moving to set up the stalls. The consequence of this was that the terrain was severely limited and in the end only a playground could be marked out, which in some respects did not meet the usual requirements. Apart from the fact that the place was very small, the incessant rain had left its surface in a state that made safe play impossible. "

Only in the following years did the situation slowly improve, when new and mostly closed places were created, where entry fees could be collected for the first time.

spectator

In contrast to England, the number of spectators from the German leagues was rarely reported, and team lineups were also a rarity. This poor reporting continued into the 1920s, and even after that these dates were not always printed.

The three great international matches against England in November 1899 only attracted a few spectators. The Berlin police chief had banned the first game originally planned for the day of penance, which meant that the match had to be postponed by one day to Thursday, November 23rd. Due to the early kick-off time at 2:38 p.m., only around 1,000 spectators attended the game on the athletic sports field on Kurfürstendamm . Since the English team left for Prague at 1 p.m. the following day, the second game had to start at 10:45 a.m., again on the athletics field. Only around 600 visitors came at such an early hour on a weekday. The last game, on Tuesday, November 28th, 1899 on the Engländerplatz in Karlsruhe, was watched by around 1,500 spectators, kick-off time was at 2:30 p.m.

The record visit for a German international match on home soil was on March 21, 1913 at the Viktoria sports field on Eisenacher Strasse in Berlin-Mariendorf , when the national team competed against the English amateurs. Despite the very high admission prices for the time of M 5.00 for the grandstand, M 2.50, M 1.50 and M 0.50 for the other seats, the first ones were found six hours before the start of the game, which was scheduled for 4 p.m. Spectators on the much too small square. After all tickets were sold out at 3:15 p.m. and the ticket offices were closed, some of the waiting crowd forced their way into the square. At the start of the game, the spectators were crowded to the outside lines. Another estimated 8,000 people were no longer admitted. The sports press reported a crowded place with 17,000 spectators. The official number of 11,257 viewers gave the DFB its record earnings before the First World War with 13,723.85 marks.

Other international matches drew relatively few spectators, even though only a few international matches were played in the early years. Since most of the figures were estimated, they gave a rather skewed picture of the actually present and paying visitors. While the German national team was not a big and attractive opponent at that time, the away games in Budapest in 1912 attracted an estimated 25,000 and against the Netherlands in the new Amsterdam stadium in 1914 18,000. In Germany there was a lack of large and adequate stadiums to accommodate the appropriate number of spectators for attractive games. The "German Stadium" in Berlin built for the Olympic Games in 1916 (renamed "Grunewald Stadium" after the First World War) was a facility without any flair or atmosphere because of the cinder track and the integrated swimming stadium. In no other German city were there anywhere near as many football clubs as in Berlin, but this was more reflected in the number of active players in the general interest of the population. Audience figures in Berlin remained low in relation to the size of the city.

The final rounds and finals for the German championship also only achieved a higher number of visitors after the end of the First World War. If the attendance figures for two preliminary round matches were kept secret in the early years, the minus record for a final round match should hold the game between SC Schlesien Breslau and SC Alemannia Cottbus in 1905 in the sports park of the Dresden SC in 1898 with an estimated 50 spectators. Numbers from 100 to 400 were not uncommon in the early years. The estimates for the finals, which are certainly still generous, resulted in 2,800 spectators in four games in the first final round 1902/03, in 1903/04 (in which the final was canceled) 1,200 visitors in five games (another number of spectators not reported), and 5,050 in 1904/05 in eight games and in 1905/06 6,550 in six games. While the final in Nuremberg only attracted 1,100 visitors, two preliminary round matches were seen by 2,000 people each.

In the following years, too, the interest did not increase significantly, in 1906/07 a total of 7,500 (five games), 1907/08 13,200 in eight matches, 1908/09 7,900 visitors in seven games. It was not until 1909/10 that the total number of spectators rose to 25,300 in eight games, with the semi-finals of the two Karlsruhe clubs KFV and Phönix making up almost a third with 8,000 visitors. But the upward trend continued.

In the last four seasons before the First World War, the numbers continued to rise. 1910/11 29,200 spectators in six games, in 1911/12 official figures were reported 23,152 (seven games), 1912/13 (again official figures) 22,349 (six games) and 1913/14 47,700 spectators in seven matches. A quarter-final and a semi-final each were attended by 12,000 spectators this season.

Only the final in Dresden 1911 with an estimated 12,000 visitors reached a five-digit audience.

The Kronprinzenpokal (cup donated by the Crown Prince for the regional associations' teams) was also unable to attract crowds. In the first season 1908/09, 10,400 spectators saw the six matches, 1909/10 13,900 visitors in six games (another number of spectators was not reported), 1910/11 18,800 (seven games - another number of visitors not mentioned), 1911/12 ( official figures) 18,131 (six games), 1912/13 (official figures) 25,912 (six games) and 1913/14 (official figures) 31,318 in six games. The 1914 finals between northern and central Germany took place for the first time in the “German Stadium” in Berlin and attracted 16,100 visitors, probably the record German audience before the First World War.

The point games were, apart from a few top games and slowly emerging local derbies, poorly attended before the First World War. Audience numbers of a few hundred and even under 100 visitors were the rule. Football was certainly an innovation for the older generation that took time to get used to, but in many places it was also criticized that even children and young people showed just as little interest and preferred other sports such as sports. B. operated ball. The decisive game for the Berlin championship of the 1893/94 season between BFC Germania 1888 and BTuFC Viktoria 89 attracted 4,000 spectators to Tempelhofer Feld, a record number of visitors at the time.

Regional associations

After negotiations between the DFB and the existing associations, the areas were determined as follows in March 1906:

Northern Germany: In the west and north the German imperial border, in the east the Mecklenburg state border and the border of the Berlin Association, in the south the border of the Central German Association and from Worbis up to and including Northeim, Einbeck, Coppenbrügge, Haste, Wunstorf, Steinhuder Meer, Wagenfeld ( Stolzenau belongs to West Germany), Bramsche (Westphalian state border) to Nordhorn.

West Germany: In the east and north the borders against central and north Germany, in the west the German border to near Vic, in the south a line from Vic south of Bensdorf, Zweibrücken, Kahlhausen to the Rhenish border north of Kusel (to south Germany), this line to Bingen , Eltville, Idstein, Gr. Kärben, Büdingen, Flieden to the Bavarian state border and to the border with central Germany.

Southern Germany: To the north, the borders against western and central Germany and the rest of the German imperial border.

Berlin: The province of Brandenburg without Niederlausitz.

Central Germany: Bounded by: In the south: the Saxon state border, in the east: Southeast Germany and Berlin, in the north: a line from the confluence of the Plauer Canal north of the following cities: Genthin, Mahlwinkel, Ochtmersleben, Klein-Germersleben, Aschersleben, Stolberg, Benechtenstein ( Anhaltischen and Brunswick border) Ellrich; Hanoverian border to Worbis, in the west: Treffurt, Saxony-Weimar-Eisenacher state border to the Bavarian border, in the south: Saxony-Meiningen and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha state border to Ebersdorf, south Kronach, Münchberg, Selb to the German imperial border.

Pomerania: The province of Pomerania.

Northeast Germany: The provinces of East and West Prussia, the administrative district of Bromberg.

Southeast Germany: The province of Silesia, the administrative district of Posen and Niederlausitz (districts: Luckau, Lübben, Calau, Cottbus, Spremberg, Guben, Sorau, Krossen and Züllichau).

"This division was mainly done with consideration of the existing railway connections, where it was possible, the political boundaries were taken."

The big loser of the reallocation was the north, which had complied with the request of the Cassel clubs to join the Rheinisch-Westfälischer Spiel-Verband and thus ceded a relatively large area. Until 1911 the Altmark ( Stendal , Rathenow , Tangermünde ) belonged to Northern Germany. However, the district only existed on paper, only after the transfer to the Association of Central German Ball Game Clubs actually started playing there.

In the far north, the influence of the NFV only theoretically extended to "the German border", because in fact it did not succeed in integrating the clubs from North Schleswig . These had been organized in Nordslesvig Fælles-Idrætsforening since 1903 , which was asked to join the association in 1911, but refused. Thereupon the NFV disqualified the North Schleswig clubs and reported this to the Danish association Dansk Boldspil-Union . After the referendum of 1920 the area became Danish.

Pomerania was given a dubious exceptional position, as up to now only games were organized in Stettin , where the clubs fought each other endlessly. From 1907 to 1911 , the Szczecin clubs joined the Association of Berlin Ball Game Clubs (VBB) as its local branch in Szczecin. After the merger of the three Berlin associations in spring 1911, the membership of the Szczecin associations ended. After that, Stettin attempted to found its own regional association and to appropriate areas of other regional associations. Among other things, one had an eye on Mecklenburg . After this request, due to the chaotic conditions in Szczecin, only met with head shaking and incomprehension elsewhere, Szczecin joined the Baltic Lawn and Winter Sports Association in 1913 . In 1911 , other Pomeranian associations outside of Szczecin had already joined the Baltic Association. Western Pomerania, on the other hand, belonged to the north (NFV) until 1925.

Print media

Since the reporting in the print media at that time, in contrast to England, was often only rough, imprecise, one-sided or wrong, the career - especially of the smaller associations and member clubs - is not always comprehensible. Daily newspapers initially hardly reported on football and occasionally even asked for money to print reports and results. Therefore, over the years, sports and football newspapers have emerged. These did not have their own correspondents and were therefore dependent on local reporters. If these did not exist or were prevented, there were also no local reports from this region or city.

The association newspapers of the regional football associations struggled with the same problem, although they still had the advantage that referees had to report the results to the respective district, where they were collected and then sent to the editorial office. An institution like The Telegraph Exchange in England, in which in the early years incoming telegrams from local correspondents across the country reported the results of games that had just ended, which were then immediately distributed to all newspapers, did not exist in Germany. Even in the 1930s, reporting and reporting of results was often very poor and wrong.

But parts of the sports press were often critical, sometimes very snappy and refreshing, even in the early years. This often led to conflicts with associations and individuals, and occasionally also to a boycott by an association, which then no longer passed on any official announcements and results to the relevant sports newspaper for publication.

Associations and local championships 1890–1933

Association	Area (today's federal states)	Duration
		from	to
Association of German Football Players	Berlin, or all of Germany	1890	1892
German Football and Cricket Association	Berlin, or all of Germany	1891	1902
South-West German Football Union	Southern Germany (especially the southwest)	1893	1895
Thor and Football Association Berlin	Berlin	1894	1895
Hamburg-Altona Football and Cricket Association	Hamburg, Altona and the surrounding area	1894	1907
General German Sports Association	Berlin	1894	1898
Association of Leipzig Ball Game Clubs	Leipzig	1896	1905
Championship of the North	Berlin	1897
Association of German Ball Game Clubs (from 1902 Association of Berlin Ball Game Clubs )	all of Germany from 1902 Berlin and Brandenburg	1897	1911
Ring Magdeburg football clubs	Magdeburg	1897	1898
Association of Southern German Football Associations (from 1914 Southern German Football Association , from 1927 Southern German Athletics and Football Association )	South Hesse, Rhineland, Palatinate, Saarland, Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, Alsace-Lorraine	1897	1933
West German Game Association (1898–1900 Rheinischer Spiel-Verband , 1900–1907 Rheinisch-Westfälischer Spiel-Verband )	West Germany / Osnabrück / Göttingen / North and Central Hesse / Coblenz	1898	1934
Association of Bremen football clubs	Bremen	1899	1907
Karlsruhe Football Association	Karlsruhe	1899	1900
Mannheim Football Association (from 1901 Mannheim Football Association, Pfalzgau Competition Association )	Mannheim from 1901 with surroundings	1899	1902
Frankfurter Association Bund	Frankfurt and temporarily Bockenheim	1900	1908
German Football Association	German Empire	1900	1940 and 1949 – today
Football Association on the Lower Weser	Bremerhaven, Lehe, Lower Weser	1900	1906
Association of Hanoverian football clubs	Hanover	1900	1910
Association of Magdeburg Ball Game Clubs	Magdeburg and the surrounding area	1900	1905
Association of Prague German Football Clubs	Prague	1900	1904
Association of Central German Ball Game Clubs	Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony	1900	1933
Association of Niederlausitzer ball game clubs	Lower Lusatia	1900	1906
Association of Dresden Ball Game Clubs	Dresden	1901	1905
Märkischer Football Association	Berlin and Brandenburg	1901	1911
Association of Munich Football Clubs	Munich	1901	1906
FC Bayern Cup	Munich	1901	1903
Bockenheim Football Association	(Frankfurt) Bockenheim	1902	1903
Association of Hamburg-Altona football clubs	Hamburg and Altona	1902	1903
Association of Thuringian Football Clubs (from 1904 Thuringian Football Association )	Thuringia	1902	1905
Magdeburg Sports Association	Magdeburg	1903	1903
Association of Wroclaw Ball Game Clubs	Wroclaw	1903	1906
Association of Palatinate clubs for exercise games	Palatinate	1903	1905
Association of Hanover Ball Game Clubs	Hanover	1903	1906
Association of Kiel Ball Game Clubs	Kiel and the surrounding area	1903	1907
Association of Chemnitz Football Clubs	Chemnitz	1903	1905
Association of Casseler Ballspielvereine	Cassel	1903	1906
Munich Football Association	Munich	1903	1909
Szczecin Football Association	Szczecin	1904	1905
Football and Athletics Association Berlin	Berlin	1904	1905
Association of Szczecin Ball Game Clubs	Szczecin	1904	1905
Mecklenburg Football Association	Mecklenburg	1904	1907
Association of Königsberg Ball Game Clubs	Koenigsberg	1904	1908
Football Association for the Duchy of Braunschweig	Braunschweig	1904	1907
Kiel Football Association	Kiel	1904	1905
Association of Berlin Athletics Clubs	Berlin	1904	1911
New Leipzig Football Association	Leipzig	1904	1905
Nuremberg-Fuerth Football Association	Nuremberg, Fürth	1904	1906
Berlin Ball Game Association	Berlin	1905	1905 and 1907-1910
Association of Bockenheimer Football Associations	(Frankfurt) Bockenheim	1905	1905 or 1906
North German Football Association	Schleswig-Holstein (excluding North Schleswig), Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Western Pomerania only until 1926)	1905	1933 and 1948 – today
Association of Hallescher Ballspiel-Vereins	Hall	1905	1905
Association of Pomeranian Ball Game Associations (from 1907 to 1911 Association of Berlin Ball Game Associations, Stettin local group )	Szczecin	1905	1913
Association of Plauener Ballspielvereine	Plauen	1905	1907
Association of Wilhelmshaven ball game clubs	Wilhelmshaven	1905	1907
Association of Thuringian football clubs from 1905	South Thuringia	1905 or 1906	1910
Katowice Ball Game Association (Katowice Ball Game Association)	Katowice, Upper Silesia	1906	1906
Southeast German Football Association	Lower and Upper Silesia, Lower and Upper Lusatia, Posen	1906	1933
Schleswig-Holstein Football Association 1906	Schleswig, Flensburg, Husum, Heide, Itzehoe.	1906	1907
Sports Federation 1907	Bonn and the surrounding area	1907	1907
Baltic Lawn and Winter Sports Association (1908–1910 Baltic Lawn Sports Association , from 1927 Baltic Sports Association )	East Prussia, West Prussia, Danzig, Memelland, Pomerania (1911–1930)	1908	1933
Association of Thuringian-Franconian Ball Game Clubs	Thuringia, Bavaria (former Free State of Coburg )	1908	1910
Football Association of the Mark Brandenburg	Berlin	1908	1909
Association of Central Saxon Ball Game Clubs	North Saxony	1909	1910
Association of Thuringian Ball Game Clubs from 1909	South Thuringia	1909	1910
Lower Saxony Football Association 1910	Osnabrück, Bielefeld and the surrounding area	1910	1910
Berlin Football Association	Berlin	1911	1911
North Harz Lawn Sports Association	Goslar, Bad Harzburg and the northern Harz foreland	1911	1911
Association of Brandenburg Ball Game Clubs	Berlin and Brandenburg	1911	1933
Association for Movement Games Leipzig	Leipzig	1911	1911
Rural Football Association (re-established as Rural Football Association in 1919 )	Surroundings of Peine (excluding the city of Peine)	1912	1914 and 1919-1919
Association of rural ball game clubs	Lengede and the surrounding area	1919	1919
Altmark Ball Game Association, Salzwedel-West district	North-western Altmark	1919
Voivodeship Football Association (Football Association of the Silesian Voivodeship)	Königshütte , East Upper Silesia	1922	1924

Association still exists today

• Bold : Association saw itself as the umbrella organization for all of Germany

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} presumed date

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. J. Hansen, Idræt i grænselandet, in: Idrætshistorisk Aarbog 1997, Odense 1998, p. 25 f.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Udo Luy: Results and tables in the Association of Central German Ball Game Clubs 1900 - 1914. , 2015.
3. ↑ Claus Melchior, Hardy Greens: Die Löwen: The football history of TSV Munich from 1860. Publishing house Die Werkstatt, Munich / Göttingen 2012.
4. ↑ Football Chronicle, Football in Silesia 1900 / 01-1932 / 33, results and tables from the highest leagues of the Southeast German Football Association and the individual associations in the region, publisher: DSfFS e. V., Berlin 2007
5. ↑ ^{a b c} football in the Braunschweig region. 60 years of NFV Braunschweig, publisher: NFV Braunschweig, Goslar 2006, p. 13 f.
6. ↑ (newspaper) Salzwedeler Wochenblatt of May 29th, 1919, page 1, 6-year foundation festival of the football club "Blücher", Barnebeck / Founding of the "Altmärkische Ballspiel-Vereinigung Kreis Salzwedel West."
7. ^ Kattowitzer Zeitung, July 17, 1922, p. 5.
8. ^ Ostdeutsche Morgenpost, July 17, 1922, p. 3.
9. ↑ Der Oberschlesischer Kurier, July 18, 1922, p. 4.

literature

• overall for the article and all associations: available contemporary sports newspapers 1893–1933, e.g. B. "The lawn sport" 1902–1928
• History of German football. Volume III of the series of publications of the German Football Association. Carl Koppehel, Verlag Wilhelm Limpert, Frankfurt 1954, 4th expanded edition without a year.