Football competitions are referred to as district selection competitions, in which selected teams of the football districts founded in 1933 competed against each other in cup mode. They replaced the national cup that was played until 1933 after the regional associations dissolved in 1933 under pressure from the National Socialists. From 1935 the competition was held under the name Reichsbundpokal
The federal cup was introduced in 1908 as the Crown Prince Cup , in which the national teams of the various regional football associations played. After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, the regional associations dissolved and were replaced by 16 football districts. In June 1933, the German Football Association decided to hold a football cup competition for a cup donated by Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler , in which teams from all 16 districts should take part. The games of this Adolf Hitler Cup took place during the summer break in July 1933. In the summer of 1934, this regional selection competition was held again, since the games were played during the German fighting games in Nuremberg from the semi-finals onwards, and this is called the Kampfspiel-Pokal .
From 1935, the Gau selection competition was held during the season. In 1935 still called the Federal Cup, the National Socialists were bothered by the lack of conformity with their state structure, so that the competition was called the Reichsbund Cup from 1935/36 . The competition was held for the last time in 1941/42 due to the war. With the national cup there was another attempt by the DFB in 1949/50 to initiate a similar competition.
In the 1938 season there was another district selection competition as part of the 1938 German Gymnastics and Sports Festival in Breslau , but it was not held as a Reichsbund Cup. These games took place within a week as part of the sports festival.
mode
In the Reichsbund Cup , the selected teams faced each other in the knockout system . The game was played for 90 minutes, if it was then a draw, an extension of a maximum of 2 × 15 minutes was planned, but with the golden goal rule. If there is still a tie after extra time, a replay has been scheduled. Until 1938, when there were 16 football districts, all teams appeared in the round of 16. With the war-related expansion of the number of Gaue, previous qualifying games were set in later tournaments. In 1941/42, however, all 20 districts that existed at the time faced each other in the preliminary round, the ten winners played an intermediate round. Of these five winners, two teams then had to play another playoff game to determine the fourth semi-finalist. At the Kampfspiel-Pokal in 1934 and at the German Gymnastics and Sports Festival in 1938 , there was a game for third place.
The most successful selection team with two title wins and three further finals came from the Gau Bavaria , closely followed by the selection team from Saxony with also two title wins. The fact that a successful club game does not necessarily lead to success in the Reichsbund Cup is proven by the Westphalian team , which despite numerous players from FC Schalke 04 , which dominated in the 1930s (during this time the club won the German soccer championship six times ), did not even make it into the Could advance to the semi-finals. In 1935/36 the entire selection team consisted of players from Schalke 04, which was a novelty in this competition. Nevertheless, Westphalia retired in the first round of this season.
Willibald Kreß Walter Rose (28 games each)
