1934 German football championship

1934 German championship
Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft
Replica of the Viktoria trophy
Tournament details
CountryGermany
Dates8 April – 24 June
Teams16
Final positions
ChampionsSchalke 04
1st German title
Runner-up1. FC Nürnberg
Tournament statistics
Matches played51
Goals scored219 (4.29 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Otto Siffling (11 goals)
← 1933
1935 →

The 1934 German football championship, the 27th edition of the competition, was won by Schalke 04 by defeating 1. FC Nürnberg 2–1 in the final. It was Schalke's first championship, with five more titles to follow until 1942 and a seventh one in 1958. For Nuremberg, with five German championships to its name at the time, it marked the first time it lost a final but the club would go on to win its next title, the 1936 edition, after defeating Schalke in the semi-finals.[1][2][3]

Schalke won the 1934 championship final late in the game after Nuremberg had gone 1–0 ahead In the 54th minute. Schalke equalised in the 87th and scored the winning goal three minutes later through Ernst Kuzorra.[4]

Waldhof Mannheim's Otto Siffling became the top scorer of the 1934 championship with eleven goals, the first player to score double-digit figures since interception of the competition in 1903.[5]

Under the new Gauliga system, introduced after the Nazis came to power in 1933, the sixteen 1933–34 Gauliga champions competed in a group stage of four groups of four teams each, with the group winners advancing to the semi-finals. The two semi-final winners then contested the 1934 championship final.[6] While the number of teams in the competition, sixteen, had remained the same as in the previous seasons, the modus had changed compare to 1933, when all games were played in the knock-out format and the competition was shorter.[7]

  1. ^ "(West) Germany -List of champions". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  2. ^ "FC Schalke 04 » Steckbrief" [FC Schalke 04 honours]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. ^ "1. FC Nürnberg » Steckbrief" [1. FC Nuremberg honours]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Final was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Deutsche Meisterschaft » Torschützenkönige" [German championship: Top goal scorer]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  6. ^ "German championship 1934". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  7. ^ "German championship 1933". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 3 January 2016.