Gauliga Mittelrhein

The Gauliga Mittelrhein was the highest football league in the central and southern part of the Prussian Rhine Province from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the "Gaue" "Köln-Aachen" and "Moselland" replaced the Prussian province in the Middle Rhine (German: "Mittelrhein") region.
From 1941, the "Gauliga Mittelrhein" was split into two separate leagues, the "Gauliga Köln-Aachen" and the "Gauliga Moselland". From this time, it also included clubs from the occupied Luxembourg and the Belgian region of Eupen-Malmedy.
Overview.
Gauliga Mittelrhein.
The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the "Bezirksligas" and "Oberligas" as the highest level of play in German football competitions.
In its first season, the league had eleven clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship. The bottom three teams were relegated. The season after, the league was reduced to ten teams and remained at this strength until 1939. From 1937, it also included Alemannia Aachen which had previously belonged to the "Gauliga Niederrhein".
Due to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the league was split into two regional groups, a northern division of seven and a southern of six clubs. The two group champions then played a home-and-away final for the "Gauliga" championship.
In its last season, 1940–41, the league returned to a single-division, ten-team format. At the end of this season, the league was split into two separate "Gauligas", divided along the administrative divisions of the two "Gaue".
Gauliga Köln-Aachen.
The territory of the new "Gauliga Köln-Aachen" was made up of the area of the "Gau Köln-Aachen" and the Eupen-Malmedy region, the German-speaking part of Belgium which had been annexed to the "Gau" after the German victory in 1940. However, no club from this formerly Belgian region played at highest level during the war.
The league started with nine clubs in a single division in 1941 and expanded to ten for the 1942-43 season. In its last completed season, 1943–44, it returned to a strength of nine teams. Due to the arrival of the war in the region and the conquest of Aachen by the allied forces, the last season probably not started anymore at all.
Gauliga Moselland.
The territory of the new "Gauliga Moselland" was made up of the area of the "Gau Moselland" and Luxembourg, which had been annexed by Germany and added to the "Gau" after the German victory in 1940.
The league started out with two regional divisions of six clubs each with a home-and-away final to determine the "Gauliga" champion. The western group compromised two clubs from the city of Trier and four Luxembourgian clubs. The league modus remained the same for the 1942-43 season but the number of clubs from Luxembourg increased to five.
In the 1943-44 season, the eastern group comprised five teams while the western had seven clubs. With the arrival of allied forces in the region in late 1944, football was of low priority and the last season, 1944-45 was probably not started any more.
Aftermath.
With the end of the Nazi era, the "Gauligas" ceased to exist and the northern part of the region found itself in the British occupation zone while the south became part of the French zone. The annexed regions of Belgium and Luxembourg were taken from Germany again after 1945.
The Oberliga Südwest was introduced as the highest football league in the French occupation zone in 1945, replacing the "Gauliga". The territory of the pre-1940 "Gau Moselland" became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
In the British zone, which the former "Gau Köln-Aachen" was part of, top-level football did not resume straight away, unlike in Southern Germany, and only in 1947 was a new, highest league introduced, the Oberliga West, which covered all of the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Founding members of the league.
The eleven founding members and their league positions in the 1932-33 season were:
Winners and runners-up of the league.
The winners and runners-up of the league:
Placings in the league 1933-44.
The complete list of all clubs participating in the league:
Clubs from Luxembourg in the Gauliga Moselland.
From 1941, clubs from the occupied country of Luxembourg took part in the German "Gauliga" system. The most successful of those was the "FV Stadt Düdelingen", who reached the German championship finals round, losing to the FC Schalke 04 0-2 in 1942.
The following clubs played in the Gauliga under their Germanised names: