Ice hockey league

This article deals with the third highest German ice hockey league. For the former third highest Austrian ice hockey league of the same name, see Ice Hockey Oberliga (Austria) .

Ice hockey league

Oberliga Nord Oberliga Süd
Current season	2020/21
sport	ice Hockey
abbreviation	OIL
Association	German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB)
League foundation	1948/1999
Teams	25th
Country countries	Germany Netherlands
Title holder	North: Tilburg Trappers South: EV Regensburg
Record champions	EV Fuessen (7)
TV partner	Sprade TV
Website	DEB OL-Nord DEB OL-Süd
↑ DEL2 ↓ Regional leagues

The Oberliga is currently the third highest ice hockey league in Germany and is organized by the German Ice Hockey Association in two regional groups. Historically, the Oberliga in the Federal Republic of Germany was the top division from 1948 to 1958 before it was replaced by the ice hockey Bundesliga . In the German Democratic Republic , the league was the top division from 1952 to 1990.

Oberliga as the highest division in Germany from 1948 to 1958

The ice hockey league was the top ice hockey league in the Federal Republic of Germany between 1948 and 1958 . With the introduction of the ice hockey Bundesliga , the league became the second highest division from 1958.

German champion 1948–1958

year	German champions
1949	EV Füssen
1950	SC Riessersee
1951	Prussia Krefeld
1952	Krefelder EV
1953	EV Füssen
1954	EV Füssen
1955	EV Füssen
1956	EV Füssen
1957	EV Füssen
1958	EV Füssen

See also: German champions (ice hockey)

DDR-Oberliga 1952 to 1990

→ Main article : GDR Oberliga (ice hockey)

In the German Democratic Republic , the league was the top division from the 1952/53 season to the last GDR championship in 1989/90 . From 1970, however, only two teams, Dynamo Berlin and Dynamo Weißwasser , played the major league. For reunification, the two teams were accepted into the Bundesliga for the 1990/91 season .

Oberliga as second / third division from 1958 to 1994

For the 1958/59 season, the ice hockey Bundesliga was introduced as the new top division in German ice hockey. The league became the second highest division. From 1966 to 1970 the upper league was divided into two groups, north and south, with the southern group extending to the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria , the northern group to the rest of the federal territory.

year	German league champions
1959	VfL Bad Nauheim
1960	TuS Eintracht Dortmund
1961	ESV Kaufbeuren
1962	EV Landshut
1963	EV Landshut
1964	TuS Eintracht Dortmund
1965	Prussia Krefeld
1966	Berlin ice skating club
1967	Augsburg EV
1968	SC Riessersee
1969	ESV Kaufbeuren
1969	ESV Kaufbeuren
1970	EV Rosenheim
1971	Prussia Krefeld
1972	Berlin ice skating club
1973	Cologne EC

With the introduction of the 2nd ice hockey Bundesliga in 1973, the league became the third highest division, again divided into the groups North (sometimes referred to as North / West) and South. The promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga were determined in a joint promotion round of the two best teams. From 1981 the best teams of the two groups played in a relegation round with the worst teams in the 2nd Bundesliga for promotion to / staying in the 2nd Bundesliga. From 1985 there was also a middle league for clubs from Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, which was discontinued in 1987 .

year	German league champions
1974	EC Peiting
1975	TSV Straubing
1976	EV Landsberg
1977	ERC Freiburg
1978	RSC Bremerhaven
1979	Deggendorfer SC
1980	Hamburger SV
1981	Eintracht Frankfurt (North) / Augsburger EV (South)
1982	Eintracht Frankfurt
1983	SV Bayreuth
1984	EC Bad Nauheim
1985	SC Solingen
1986	EHC 80 Nuremberg
1987	EC Ratingen (north) / EV Stuttgart (center) / ERC Ingolstadt (south)
1988	ERC Sonthofen
1989	Augsburg EV
1990	EV Ravensburg
1991	SC Memmingen
1992	ETC Timmendorfer Strand
1993	Frankfurt ESC
1994	EC Bad Toelz

1st and 2nd league 1993 to 1999

With the introduction of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) as a professional league in the 1994/95 season , the first division and the second division were introduced in the amateur field . Both leagues were divided into the groups North and South. The teams of the Oberliga 1993/1994 formed the basis for the 1st league. The two first leagues played the German amateur champion in joint play-offs , who could apply for admission to the DEL.

In the 1997/98 season , the lack of interested clubs led to the abolition of the 2nd division north and the simultaneous increase in the 2nd division level in the north with the remaining teams. The 2nd League South continued to exist. As for the season 1998/99 , the Ice Hockey League (from 1999 2 . Hockey league was called), introduced as a single-track second division, the 1st League's third top division was.

1st League				2nd league
season	master	Runner-up	Division	season	master	Runner-up	Division
1994/95	EHC Freiburg	ETC Timmendorfer Strand	II.	1994/95	Grefrather EV	EC Ulm / Neu-Ulm	III.
1995/96	ESC Wedemark	EC Bad Toelz	II.	1995/96	Limburg EG	ERC Ingolstadt	III.
1996/97	EHC Neuwied	TSV Erding	II.	1996/97	SC Bietigheim-Bissingen	Braunlager EHC / Harz	III.
1997/98	EHC Neuwied	EC Bad Nauheim	II.	1997/98	Braunlager EHC / Harz	EV Regensburg	III.
1998/99	REV Bremerhaven	SC Bietigheim-Bissingen	III.	1998/99	EHC Bad Aibling	EC Peiting	IV.

Oberliga 1999 to 2010

For the 1999/2000 season , the first division was renamed Oberliga again. The league was still played in two groups, north and south. The Oberliga Nord was dissolved by the remaining participants for this group in 2001 , the remaining northern clubs Ratinger Ice Aliens and SC Mittelrhein-Neuwied played for one season in the Oberliga Süd.

In the summer of 2002, the organization of the Oberliga and the 2nd Bundesliga was outsourced by the German Ice Hockey Association to the Ice Hockey Game Operating Company, in which the licensees are accepted as shareholders. For the 2002/03 season , the league was increased by the teams of the dissolved Regionalliga Süd and played in the groups South-West for South Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and West Germany and South-East (later called North-East) for North Bavaria and East Germany. However, the league continued to lose clubs for economic reasons, so that it was played on a single track from 2005 . From 2007 the league was again divided into the groups North and South, but additional games were played between the groups. From the 2009/10 season, the complete separation into the groups South and North was planned; after the withdrawal of several northern clubs, the league was played on a single track again in the 2009/10 season.

season	Major league champions
1999/2000	EV Duisburg (North)	EHC Straubing (South)
2000/01	EHC Wolfsburg (North)	EV Regensburg (south)
2001/02	EV Landshut
2002/03	1. EV Weiden
2003/04	REV Bremerhaven
2004/05	Dresden Ice Lions
2005/06	EV Landsberg 2000
2006/07	Heilbronn falcon
2007/08	Dresden Ice Lions
2008/09	Hanover Indians (North)	ESV Kaufbeuren (South)
2009/10	Starbulls Rosenheim

Oberliga 2010 to 2015

Geographical division of the four top division groups from 2010 to 2015; Red: group east, yellow: group south, blue: group north, green: group west

After the division of the major league did not come about in previous years, the DEB, ESBG and regional associations agreed on a reform of the major and regional leagues, which was implemented on March 27, 2010 by amending the DEB's statutes. As of the 2010/11 season, the upper league was no longer hosted by the ESBG and played in four regional groups, North, East, West and South. The upper leagues north and east essentially consisted of the participants in the regional leagues north and east of the 2009/10 season . The Oberliga Süd consisted of seven of the previous eleven teams in the 2009/10 Oberliga season, two promoted teams from the Bayernliga and one relegated team from the 2nd Bundesliga. The Oberliga West was formed from the three league clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse and six teams from the Regionalliga West. The best teams in the groups North, West and East played a joint intermediate round after the preliminary round. The best clubs in the intermediate round and the group south played the champions and promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in a promotion round .

The basic rules were the same in all groups: two (foreign) players requiring a contingent ticket were allowed per team, but no goalkeepers. A maximum of 15 players over the age of 21 could appear on the score sheet. The game was played in a 3-man referee system and with a 3-point rule with overtime or a penalty shoot-out after a draw.

The group south was organized by the DEB and the group west by the LEV NRW. The North Group was initially organized by the LEV Lower Saxony, since 2013 it has also been organized by the DEB. The group East was originally subordinate to the Berlin Ice Sports Association . In 2014 the DEB wanted to integrate the clubs of the Oberliga Ost into the Northern group. After protests by the clubs involved, the Oberliga Ost was taken over by the state association of Saxony-Anhalt in June 2014. In the 2014/15 season , the groups East and West played a joint final under the name Oberliga Mitte . A joint north / south league between the DEB and the regional associations under the project name Oberliga 2017 was already discussed this season .

year	Major league champions	North	east	west	south
2011	SC Riessersee	Rostock piranhas	Saale Bulls Hall	EHC Dortmund	Tölzer lions
2012	Tölzer lions	Rostock piranhas	Saale Bulls Hall	EHC Dortmund	EC Peiting
2013	RT Bad Nauheim	EHC Timmendorfer Strand 06	Saale Bulls Hall	Kassel Huskies	EC Peiting
2014	-	Hanover Scorpions	Icefighters Leipzig	Löwen Frankfurt	VER Same
2015	EHC Freiburg	Hanover Scorpions	Icefighters Leipzig	Foxes Duisburg	EHC Freiburg

Major league since 2015

Geographical division of the Oberliga since 2015: Blue: Group North, Orange: Group South

Participant major leagues

season	North	south
2015/16	18th	11
2016/17	16	12
2017/18	14th	12
2018/19	13	12
2019/20	12	12

With an amendment to the statutes in April 2014, the Oberliga was again fully subordinated to the DEB. Since then, the league has been played in two groups, north and south. In the joint play-offs, the promoted player will be played in the DEL2 .

For the 2015/16 season , the previous clubs in the North, East and West groups could apply for the new Oberliga Nord. The Northern group started with 18 teams and should be reduced to 16 teams from the 2016/17 season. The Dutch record champions Tilburg Trappers moved from the Eredivisie to the Oberliga Nord. The EHV Schönheide 09 was regrouped from the east to the south. The group south consisted of 11 teams.

Since the 2016/17 season , the Oberliga Süd has been linked to the Bayern League via the interlocking round for relegation. While in the season 2016/17 there were 16 clubs in the Oberliga Nord and 12 clubs in the Oberliga Süd, in the following season 2017/18 in the north there were only 14 of the 16 clubs that were targeted, as they were to be promoted Eligible clubs from the regional leagues refrained from promotion due to financial reasons.

Since then, the champions of the regional leagues West, North and East have been eligible for promotion to the Oberliga Nord (in the event that the champions of the Regional League East are not accepted into the Oberliga Süd due to their geographic location ). For the Oberliga Süd, the champions of the Regionalliga Südwest and the first two teams from the interlocking round of the Bayernliga are eligible for promotion.

For the 2018/19 season , due to a lack of participants in the Oberliga Nord - including Tilburg - only 13 clubs and in the Oberliga Süd 12 clubs competed in the championship.

year	Major league champions	North	south
2016	Tilburg Trappers	Foxes Duisburg	EV Regensburg
2017	Tilburg Trappers	Herner EV 2007	Tölzer lions
2018	Tilburg Trappers	Tilburg Trappers	Deggendorfer SC
2019	EV Landshut	Tilburg Trappers	EC Peiting
2020	-	Tilburg Trappers	EV Regensburg

→ Current season:

Ice hockey league 2019/20

See also

• Ice hockey league system in Germany

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.hockeyarchives.info/Allemagne1974.htm
2. ↑ Major league reform and change of age group decided. In: hockeyweb.de. maka-media GmbH, March 28, 2010, accessed on January 18, 2013 . 
3. ↑ New league structure - regional associations prevail. In: lev-niedersachsen.de. Lower Saxony Ice Sports Association, March 28, 2010, accessed on January 15, 2014 . 
4. ↑ DEB and LEVs start the Oberliga 2017 project . In: https://www.eishockey.info . August 15, 2014, accessed January 24, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Friedhelm Thelen: The “Miracle of Frankfurt”: New DEB statutes are in place. In: hockeyweb.de. maka-media GmbH, April 19, 2015, accessed on April 21, 2016 . 
6. ↑ EHV Schönheide 09 starts in the Oberliga Süd. In: hockeyweb.de. maka-media GmbH, June 4, 2015, accessed on April 25, 2016 .