1955 German football championship

1955 German championship final

Event	German football championship
Rot-Weiss Essen 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4 3
Date	26 June 1955
Venue	Niedersachsenstadion, Hannover
Referee	Albert Meißner
Attendance	76,000

The 1955 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of 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 qualification 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:

Club	Qualified from
Hamburger SV	Oberliga Nord champions
Bremerhaven 93	Oberliga Nord runners-up
Rot-Weiss Essen	Oberliga West champions
SV Sodingen	Oberliga West runners-up
Viktoria 89 Berlin	Oberliga Berlin champions
1. FC Kaiserslautern	Oberliga Südwest champions
VfR Wormatia Worms	Oberliga Südwest runners-up
Kickers Offenbach	Oberliga Süd champions
SSV Reutlingen 05	Oberliga Süd runners-up

Competition

Qualifying Round

First 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)

First Round 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 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

Matches

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

Table

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	DIF	PTS
1. FC Kaiserslautern	6	3	3	0	20	8	12	9
Hamburger SV	6	3	2	1	8	5	3	8
SV Sodingen	6	2	3	1	13	9	4	7
Viktoria 89 Berlin	6	0	0	6	4	23	-19	0

Group 2

Matches

VfR Wormatia Worms v Kickers Offenbach

15 May 1955	VfR Wormatia Worms	1 – 0	Kickers Offenbach

Rot-Weiss Essen v Bremerhaven 93

15 May 1955	Rot-Weiss Essen	4 – 0	Bremerhaven 93

Kickers Offenbach v Rot-Weiss Essen

19 May 1955	Kickers Offenbach	1 – 3	Rot-Weiss Essen

Bremerhaven 93 v VfR Wormatia Worms

19 May 1955	Bremerhaven 93	1 – 0	VfR Wormatia Worms

Bremerhaven 93 v Kickers Offenbach

22 May 1955	Bremerhaven 93	2 – 0	Kickers Offenbach

Rot-Weiss Essen v VfR Wormatia Worms

22 May 1955	Rot-Weiss Essen	1 – 1	VfR Wormatia Worms

Kickers Offenbach v Bremerhaven 93

30 May 1955	Kickers Offenbach	4 – 0	Bremerhaven 93

VfR Wormatia Worms v Rot-Weiss Essen

30 May 1955	VfR Wormatia Worms	1 – 3	Rot-Weiss Essen

Rot-Weiss Essen v Kickers Offenbach

5 June 1955	Rot-Weiss Essen	4 – 1	Kickers Offenbach

VfR Wormatia Worms v Bremerhaven 93

5 June 1955	VfR Wormatia Worms	1 – 1	Bremerhaven 93

Bremerhaven 93 v Rot-Weiss Essen

11 June 1955	Bremerhaven 93	1 – 1	Rot-Weiss Essen

Kickers Offenbach v VfR Wormatia Worms

11 June 1955	Kickers Offenbach	5 – 2	VfR Wormatia Worms

Table

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	DIF	PTS
Rot-Weiss Essen	6	4	2	0	16	5	11	10
Bremerhaven 93	6	2	2	2	5	10	-5	6
Kickers Offenbach	6	2	0	4	11	12	-1	4
VfR Wormatia Worms	6	1	2	3	6	11	-5	4

Final

Rot-Weiss Essen v 1. FC Kaiserslautern

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