1956 German football championship

The 1956 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in West Germany in 1955-56. Borussia Dortmund were crowned champions for the first time in their second final appearance, having previously lost the 1949 German football championship final to VfR Mannheim.^[1][2]

1956 German championship

Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft
Tournament details
Country	West Germany
Dates	5 May – 24 June
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	Borussia Dortmund 1st German title
Runner-up	Karlsruher SC
European Cup	Borussia Dortmund
Tournament statistics
Matches played	29
Goals scored	124 (4.28 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Alfred Niepieklo (10 goals)
← 1955 1957 →

On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1956–57 European Cup, where it went out to Manchester United 3–2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

Qualified teams

The clubs qualified through the 1955–56 Oberliga season:

Club	Qualified from
Hamburger SV	Oberliga Nord champions
Hannover 96	Oberliga Nord runners-up
Borussia Dortmund	Oberliga West champions
Schalke 04	Oberliga West runners-up
Viktoria 89 Berlin	Oberliga Berlin champions
1. FC Kaiserslautern	Oberliga Südwest champions
TuS Neuendorf	Oberliga Südwest runners-up
Karlsruher SC	Oberliga Süd champions
VfB Stuttgart	Oberliga Süd runners-up

Competition

First qualifying round

The four qualified runners-up played two qualifying rounds to determine the three clubs which advanced to the group stage. The deciding game for the third qualified team had to be replayed after a three-all draw after extra time in the first match.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Schalke 04	2–1 aet	Hannover 96
VfB Stuttgart	8–0	TuS Neuendorf

Second qualifying round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Hannover 96	3–3 aet	TuS Neuendorf

Replay

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Hannover 96	3–2	TuS Neuendorf

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification		KSC	S04	FCK	H96
1	Karlsruher SC	6	3	1	2	7	5	1.400	7	Advance to final		—	3–2	0–1	0–0
2	Schalke 04	6	3	1	2	16	12	1.333	7			0–3	—	3–1	3–1
3	1. FC Kaiserslautern	6	3	1	2	16	13	1.231	7			0–1	4–4	—	5–3
4	Hannover 96	6	1	1	4	8	17	0.471	3			2–0	0–4	2–5	—

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

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification		BVB	HSV	VFB	V89
1	Borussia Dortmund	6	4	1	1	19	4	4.750	9	Advance to final		—	5–0	4–1	1–1
2	Hamburger SV	6	4	1	1	14	10	1.400	9			2–1	—	0–0	5–1
3	VfB Stuttgart	6	1	2	3	9	14	0.643	4			0–2	2–4	—	3–1
4	Viktoria Berlin	6	0	2	4	7	21	0.333	2			0–6	1–3	3–3	—

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

Final

24 June 1956

Borussia Dortmund	4 – 2	Karlsruher SC
Niepieklo   15' Kelbassa   26' Preißler   53' Peters   57'		Kunkel   10' Burgsmüller   66' (o.g.)

Olympiastadion, Berlin

Attendance: 75,000

Referee: Dusch (Kaiserslautern

BORUSSIA DORTMUND: GK   Heinz Kwiatkowski DF   Herbert Sandmann DF   Max Michallek DF   Wilhelm Burgsmüller DF   Helmut Bracht MF   Elwin Schlebrowski MW   Alfred Niepieklo MF   Alfred Kelbassa FW   Alfred Preißler FW   Wolfgang Peters FW   Helmut Kapitulski Manager:   Helmut Schneider

KARLSRUHE: GK   Rudi Fischer DF   Siegfried Geesmann DF   Max Fischer DF   Walter Baureis MF   Kurt Sommerlatt MF   Heinz Ruppenstein MF   Herbert Dannenmeier FW   Oswald Traub FW   Ernst Kunkel FW   Heinz Beck FW   Bernhard Termath Manager:   Adolf Patek

References

1. (West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 19 December 2015
2. Borussia Dortmund » Steckbrief (in German) Weltfussball.de – Borussia Dortmund honours, accessed: 19 December 2015

External links

• 1955-56 at Weltfussball.de
• Germany - Championship 1956 at RSSSF.com
• German championship 1956 at Fussballdaten.de