1955 German championship
Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft
Tournament details
CountryWest Germany
Dates4 May – 26 June
Teams9
Final positions
ChampionsRot-Weiss Essen
1st German title
Runner-up1. FC Kaiserslautern
European CupRot-Weiss Essen
Tournament statistics
Matches played29
Goals scored107 (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:

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

First qualifying round

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)
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

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

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.
15 May 1955 Hamburger SV 1 – 0 SV Sodingen
15 May 1955 Viktoria 89 Berlin 1 – 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern
19 May 1955 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2 – 2 Hamburger SV
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)
22 May 1955 SV Sodingen 2 – 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern
22 May 1955 Hamburger SV 1 – 0 Viktoria 89 Berlin
30 May 1955 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2 – 2 SV Sodingen
30 May 1955 Viktoria 89 Berlin 0 – 2 Hamburger SV
5 June 1955 Hamburger SV 1 – 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern
5 June 1955 Viktoria 89 Berlin 2 – 3 SV Sodingen
11 June 1955 SV Sodingen 1 – 1 Hamburger SV
11 June 1955 1. FC Kaiserslautern 10 – 0 Viktoria 89 Berlin

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification RWE B93 KOF W08
1 Rot-Weiss Essen 6 4 2 0 16 5 3.200 10 Advance to final — 4–0 4–1 1–1
2 Bremerhaven 93 6 2 2 2 5 10 0.500 6 1–1 — 2–0 1–0
3 Kickers Offenbach 6 2 0 4 11 12 0.917 4 1–3 4–0 — 5–2
4 Wormatia Worms 6 1 2 3 6 11 0.545 4 1–3 1–1 1–0 —
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.
15 May 1955 VfR Wormatia Worms 1 – 0 Kickers Offenbach
15 May 1955 Rot-Weiss Essen 4 – 0 Bremerhaven 93
19 May 1955 Kickers Offenbach 1 – 3 Rot-Weiss Essen
19 May 1955 Bremerhaven 93 1 – 0 VfR Wormatia Worms
22 May 1955 Bremerhaven 93 2 – 0 Kickers Offenbach
22 May 1955 Rot-Weiss Essen 1 – 1 VfR Wormatia Worms
30 May 1955 Kickers Offenbach 4 – 0 Bremerhaven 93
30 May 1955 VfR Wormatia Worms 1 – 3 Rot-Weiss Essen
5 June 1955 Rot-Weiss Essen 4 – 1 Kickers Offenbach
5 June 1955 VfR Wormatia Worms 1 – 1 Bremerhaven 93
11 June 1955 Bremerhaven 93 1 – 1 Rot-Weiss Essen
11 June 1955 Kickers Offenbach 5 – 2 VfR Wormatia Worms

Final

Rot-Weiss Essen4 – 31. 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 Germany Fritz Herkenrath
DF Germany Heinz Wewers
DF Germany Willi Köchling
DF Germany Joachim Jänisch
MF Germany Paul Jahnel
MF Germany Willi Grewer
FW Germany August Gottschalk
FW Germany Bernhard Termath
FW Netherlands Johannes Röhrig
FW Germany Helmut Rahn
FW Germany Franz Islacker
Manager:
Germany Fritz Szepan
KAISERSLAUTERN:
GK Germany Willi Hölz
DF Germany Werner Baßler
DF Germany Werner Mangold
DF Germany Werner Liebrich
DF Germany Werner Kohlmeyer
MF Germany Otto Render
MF Germany Fritz Walter
MF Germany Horst Eckel
FW Germany Willi Wenzel
FW Germany Karl Wanger
FW Germany Erwin Scheffler
Manager:
Germany Richard Schneider

Sources

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