1955 German football championship

1955 German championship

Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft
The Meisterschale trophy
Country	West Germany
Dates	4 May – 26 June
Teams	9
Champions	Rot-Weiss Essen 1st German title
Runners-up	1. FC Kaiserslautern
European Cup	Rot-Weiss Essen
Matches played	29
Goals scored	107 (3.69 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Franz Islacker (10 goals)
← 1954 1956 →

The 1955 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in West Germany in 1954-55. Rot-Weiss Essen were crowned champions for the first time after a group stage and a final.

It was Rot-Weiss Essen's first (and only) appearance in the German final, while Kaiserslautern were making their fifth appearance. It was also the fourth time Kaiserlautern had reached the final in five years, following their championship wins in 1951 and 1953, and their defeat in 1954.

The format used to determine the German champions was different from that which was used in the 1954 season. Nine teams qualified for the tournament, with those who qualified as a runner-up having to play qualifying matches. The remaining eight teams were split into two groups of four, and played two rounds of matches with games played home and away. The two group winners then played the national final.

Qualified teams

The teams qualified through the 1954–55 Oberliga season:

Competition

First qualifying round

SV Sodingen v SSV Reutlingen 05

4 May 1955	SV Sodingen	3 – 0	SSV Reutlingen 05	Ludwigshafen
	Wächter  27' Demski  34' Linka  71'			Stadium: Südweststadion Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Tretter (Ammer)

Bremerhaven 93 v VfR Wormatia Worms

4 May 1955	Bremerhaven 93	3 – 3 a.e.t.	VfR Wormatia Worms	Düsseldorf
	Lang  38' Mokroß  40' Kapteina  46'		Rupprecht  17' Mechnig  47' Lill  65' (o.g.)	Stadium: Rheinstadion Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Ternieden (Oberhausen)

Replay

Bremerhaven 93 v VfR Wormatia Worms

5 May 1955	Bremerhaven 93	3 – 2	VfR Wormatia Worms	Düsseldorf
	Kapteina  53', 68' Machniki  83'		Müller  57' Sehrt  85'	Stadium: Rheinstadion Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Ternieden (Oberhausen)

Second qualifying round

VfR Wormatia Worms v SSV Reutlingen 05

8 May 1955	VfR Wormatia Worms	2 – 1	SSV Reutlingen 05	Koblenz
	Weiß  38' Schroer  60'		Grziwok  62'	Stadium: Stadion Oberwerth Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Treichel (Berlin)

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification		FCK	HSV	SOD	V89
1	1. FC Kaiserslautern	6	3	3	0	20	8	2.500	9	Advance to final		—	2–2	2–2	10–0
2	Hamburger SV	6	3	2	1	8	5	1.600	8			1–2	—	1–0	1–0
3	SV Sodingen	6	2	3	1	13	9	1.444	7			2–2	1–1	—	5–1
4	Viktoria Berlin	6	0	0	6	4	23	0.174	0			1–2	0–2	2–3	—

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Hamburger SV v SV Sodingen

15 May 1955	Hamburger SV	1 – 0	SV Sodingen

Viktoria 89 Berlin v 1. FC Kaiserslautern

15 May 1955	Viktoria 89 Berlin	1 – 2	1. FC Kaiserslautern

1. FC Kaiserslautern v Hamburger SV

19 May 1955	1. FC Kaiserslautern	2 – 2	Hamburger SV

SV Sodingen v Viktoria 89 Berlin

19 May 1955	SV Sodingen	5 – 1	Viktoria 89 Berlin	Gelsenkirchen
	Adamik  21' Harpers  53' Wächter  65', 82' Wenker  80'		Nocht  70'	Stadium: Glückauf-Kampfbahn Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Asmussen (Flensburg)

SV Sodingen v 1. FC Kaiserslautern

22 May 1955	SV Sodingen	2 – 2	1. FC Kaiserslautern

Hamburger SV v Viktoria 89 Berlin

22 May 1955	Hamburger SV	1 – 0	Viktoria 89 Berlin

1. FC Kaiserslautern v SV Sodingen

30 May 1955	1. FC Kaiserslautern	2 – 2	SV Sodingen

Viktoria 89 Berlin v Hamburger SV

30 May 1955	Viktoria 89 Berlin	0 – 2	Hamburger SV

Hamburger SV v 1. FC Kaiserslautern

5 June 1955	Hamburger SV	1 – 2	1. FC Kaiserslautern

Viktoria 89 Berlin v SV Sodingen

5 June 1955	Viktoria 89 Berlin	2 – 3	SV Sodingen

SV Sodingen v Hamburger SV

11 June 1955	SV Sodingen	1 – 1	Hamburger SV

1. FC Kaiserslautern v Viktoria 89 Berlin

11 June 1955	1. FC Kaiserslautern	10 – 0	Viktoria 89 Berlin

Final

26 June 1955

Rot-Weiss Essen	4 – 3	1. FC Kaiserslautern
Islacker  18'  43'  85' Röhrig  27'		Wenzel  11'  56' Baßler  72'

Niedersachsenstadion, Hannover

Attendance: 76,000

Referee: A.Meißner

ROT-WEISS ESSEN: GK Fritz Herkenrath DF Heinz Wewers DF Willi Köchling DF Joachim Jänisch MF Paul Jahnel MF Willi Grewer FW August Gottschalk FW Bernhard Termath FW Johannes Röhrig FW Helmut Rahn FW Franz Islacker Manager: Fritz Szepan

KAISERSLAUTERN: GK Willi Hölz DF Werner Baßler DF Werner Mangold DF Werner Liebrich DF Werner Kohlmeyer MF Otto Render MF Fritz Walter MF Horst Eckel FW Willi Wenzel FW Karl Wanger FW Erwin Scheffler Manager: Richard Schneider

Sources

• 1954-55 at Weltfussball.de
• Germany - Championship 1955 at RSSSF.com
• German championship 1955 at Fussballdaten.de