The DDR-Liga (English: GDR League or East German League) was, prior to German reunification in 1990, the second level of football competition in the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik or German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany), being roughly equivalent to the 2. Bundesliga in West Germany.
Overview
1950-1955 The league was established with two divisions of ten teams each in 1950 as the level of play below the DDR-Oberliga, and as such was the second tier of the East German football league system. It remained the second tier in various configurations throughout its existence until it was disbanded in 1991.
The champion of each division was directly promoted to the Oberliga. While not having geographical "tags" attached to the division, Staffel 1 was originally equivalent to a Northern Division while Staffel 2 was the Southern Division. The system was not static however, clubs were often moved between groups to balance out league numbers, and sometimes also for political reasons. In the same way, clubs were also moved between cities out of a variety of reasons.
In its second season, the divisions were expanded to twelve teams each, the year after to thirteen and in 1953 to fourteen.
The year 1954 saw the creation of a third group, Staffel 3, making geographical categorizing more difficult, but essentially One was north, Two was south and Three was central.
1955-1971 The league system changed completely in 1955. East Germany followed the example of the Soviet Union and switched to a calendar year system, resulting in a shortened autumn competition for 1955 only with a single division, fourteen-team format. From the 1956 season the league continued to operate as a single division format with the top two teams gaining promotion.
After the 1960 season, the league reverted to the traditional system of playing from autumn to spring. This meant that the 1961-62 season, as a transition season, went through three rounds and each of the fourteen clubs played 39 games.
The year after, the league returned to two divisions, North and South, still with fourteen clubs each and the winners gaining promotion.
In 1963, the two divisions were expanded to sixteen clubs each.
1971-1984 After a lengthy period without changes to the system, the DDR-Ligas were revamped in 1971 when their number was increased to five with eleven teams in the C and D group and twelve teams in the other three. The year after, all five divisions had twelve clubs. The new system meant that not all league winners could be directly promoted. Instead, the five champions played a promotion round with the top two teams gaining entry to the Oberliga.
To a large extent, the five new divisions represented the pre-1950 states of East Germany, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia, which were all re-formed with the German reunification in 1990.
Until 1976, reserve teams of Oberliga clubs were permitted in the DDR-Liga. They were then banned from entering the second tier in order to increase the appeal of the leagues as attendance for matches involving reserve teams in Germany never were particularly high. This also resulted in the promotion round now definitely being played by the league champions. Previously, when one of the five divisions was won by a reserve team, the best placed first team from the division was entered in the promotion round.
1984-1991 The year 1984 saw the DDR-Liga revert to a two-group system, now with eighteen clubs per division and direct promotion for the champions again. Also, reserve teams were re-admitted to the league but still barred from promotion to the Oberliga.
The 1989-90 season was the last under the old East German system; in the following season the league operated under the name of NOFV-Liga, meaning Nordostdeutscher Fußballverband-Liga (English: Northeast German FA League). The majority of clubs moved away from their, mostly communist, background and adopted new or pre-DDR names. In its final season, 1990–91, the league was under the authority of the German Football Association (DFB), the (West) German Football Association. Reduced to sixteen clubs per division and without reserve teams now, the clubs played for qualification in the united German football league system from 1991. With the exception of the bottom two teams in each league, all clubs went to the new NOFV-Oberligas, the new tier 3 leagues in what were East Germany and West Berlin.
Current leagues
The NOFV-Oberliga Nord, the equivalent of the DDR-Liga Staffel A, and the NOFV-Oberliga Süd, the former DDR-Liga Staffel B, are in a geographical sense the continuation of the old leagues, covering the same regions, albeit not at the tier 2 level anymore, but as a tier 5 competition.
Leagues below the DDR-Liga
For the most part of the existence of the DDR-Liga, the leagues below it were the 15 Bezirksligas. Those were introduced in 1952. For a brief period from 1955 to 1963, the 2nd DDR-Liga formed the third tier of the East German pyramid. This league, consisting of five regional divisions, was abolished again in 1963 and the Bezirksligas became the level immediately below the DDR-Liga again. In its last season, the newly recreated states of former East Germany introduced their own regional leagues, with the exception of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. Those still exist today. The Bezirksligas however have mostly either disappeared, changed their name or exist in a different format.
The fifteen Bezirksligas were:
Bezirksliga Schwerin Bezirksliga Rostock Bezirksliga Neubrandenburg Bezirksliga Magdeburg Bezirksliga Potsdam Bezirksliga Berlin Bezirksliga Halle Bezirksliga Frankfurt/Oder Bezirksliga Cottbus Bezirksliga Gera Bezirksliga Erfurt Bezirksliga Suhl Bezirksliga Dresden Bezirksliga Leipzig Bezirksliga Karl-Marx-Stadt
Champions of the DDR-Liga
1950–1955 SeasonStaffel 1Staffel 21950–51Anker Wismar Wismut Aue1951–52Empor LauterMotor Jena1952–53Fortschritt Meerane Einheit Ost Leipzig1953–54Chemie Karl-Marx-StadtVorwärts Berlin
1955–1971 SeasonStaffel 1Staffel 2Staffel 31954–55Lok Stendal Fortschritt WeißenfelsMotor Dessau
SeasonDDR-Liga1955Fortschritt Meerane1956Motor Jena1957SC Dynamo Berlin1958Chemie Zeitz1959Chemie Halle1960Turbine Erfurt1961–62SG Dynamo Dresden
SeasonStaffel NordStaffel Süd1962–63Lok Stendal Motor Steinach1963–64SC NeubrandenburgSG Dynamo Dresden1964–65Chemie Halle Turbine Erfurt1965–661. FC Union BerlinWismut Gera1966–671. FC Magdeburg Rot-Weiß Erfurt1967–68BFC Dynamo Stahl Riesa1968–69BSG Stahl EisenhüttenstadtSG Dynamo Dresden1969–701. FC Union Berlin 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig1970–71Vorwärts StralsundFC Karl-Marx-Stadt
1971–1984 SeasonStaffel AStaffel BStaffel CStaffel DStaffel E1971–72TSG WismarBFC Dynamo IIChemie Leipzig Motor WerdauRot-Weiß Erfurt1972–73Vorwärts Stralsund BFC Dynamo II *Vorwärts LeipzigDynamo Dresden II *Chemie Zeitz1973–74Vorwärts Stralsund 1. FC Union Berlin Hallescher FC Chemie Chemie Böhlen Wismut Gera1974–75SG Dynamo Schwerin1. FC Union BerlinChemie Leipzig Energie Cottbus Wismut Gera1975–76Hansa Rostock 1. FC Union BerlinHallescher FC Chemie II Motor WerdauFC Carl Zeiss Jena II1976–77Vorwärts StralsundStahl HennigsdorfChemie Leipzig Chemie BöhlenWismut Gera1977–78Hansa Rostock Vorwärts NeubrandenburgChemie LeipzigLok DresdenStahl Riesa1978–79TSG Bau RostockVorwärts Frankfurt Chemie LeipzigEnergie CottbusMotor Suhl1979–80Hansa Rostock Dynamo Fürstenwalde Chemie Böhlen Energie CottbusWismut Gera1980–81Schiffahrt/Hafen Rostock1. FC Union Berlin Chemie SchkopauEnergie CottbusMotor Suhl1981–82Vorwärts Stralsund1. FC Union BerlinChemie BöhlenStahl Riesa Motor Nordhausen1982–83Schiffahrt/Hafen RostockStahl BrandenburgChemie LeipzigStahl RiesaWismut Gera1983–84Vorwärts Neubrandenburg Stahl BrandenburgVorwärts DessauSachsenring Zwickau Motor Suhl
1984–1991 SeasonStaffel AStaffel B1984–851. FC Union Berlin Sachsenring Zwickau1985–86BFC Dynamo II *Fortschritt Bischofswerda1986–87Hansa Rostock Hallescher FC Chemie1987–88Energie Cottbus Sachsenring Zwickau1988–89Stahl EisenhüttenstadtFortschritt Bischofswerda1989–90FC Vorwärts FrankfurtChemie Böhlen1990–911. FC Union BerlinFSV Zwickau
bold denotes club gained promotion. In 1973, the runners-up Energie Cottbus (Staffel B) and Stahl Riesa (Staffel D) were promoted as the champions of these two leagues were reserve teams and therefore ineligible for promotion. In 1986, the runner-up Energie Cottbus was promoted instead.
Placements in the DDR-Liga 1985-1991
DDR-Liga Staffel A
DDR-Liga Staffel A 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 FC Hansa Rostock ♦ ♦ 1 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Energie Cottbus 3 2 ♦ 1 ♦ ♦ ♦ Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt 2 10 7 15 1 ♦ ♦ Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 3 1 ♦ Fortschritt Bischofswerda B B ♦ B B ♦ 4 1. FC Union Berlin 1 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 2 1 Chemie Leipzig ♦ 3 10 B B B Chemie Guben 18 11 2 Rotation Berlin 5 9 11 2 6 4 3 Bergmann-Borsig Berlin 8 5 Post Neubrandenburg 12 15 15 6 11 9 6 Aktivist Schwarze Pumpe 9 11 B 12 5 5 7 Lok Altmark Stendal 16 18 8Stahl Hennigsdorf 15 14 9 Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg 11 16 5 16 10 KKW Greifswald 6 9 7 12 6 11 Schiffahrt/Hafen Rostock 16 17 7 7 12 Lok / Armaturen / Rot-Weiß Prenzlau 12 13 17 16 13 Motor Eberswalde 14 SG Dynamo Schwerin 14 13 12 8 9 13 15 Motor Stralsund 10 16 Vorwärts Dessau B 5 3 B B B B Chemie Buna-Schkopau 13 B B B B B Chemie Velten * 3 SG Dynamo Fürstenwalde * 6 14 2 9 2 12 Kabelwerk Oberspree Berlin 14 15 Motor Ludwigsfelde 14 4 13 17 Motor Schönebeck B 13 10 18 BFC Dynamo II * 8 1 5 3 4 Vorwärts Stralsund * 7 4 4 10 8 Aktivist Brieske-Senftenberg 16 Motor Babelsberg 3 8 8 11 17 Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder II * 10 7 6 14 FC Hansa Rostock II 18 ISG Schwerin Süd 17 16 Stahl Walzwerk Hettstedt 17 TSG Bau Rostock 15 18 Chemie Wolfen 18
Names shown are the ones the clubs carried over most of these seasons, not necessarily the ones they carried in the last two seasons or their current ones. ♦ denotes club played in the DDR-Oberliga. B denotes club played in the Staffel B that season. In 1990, BSG Chemie Velten and SG Dynamo Fürstenwalde withdrew from the league. In 1989, BFC Dynamo II and Vorwärts Stralsund withdrew from the league. In 1988, Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder II had to withdraw from the league because the first team was relegated.
DDR-Liga Staffel B DDR-Liga Staffel B 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 Chemie Halle 2 2 1 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ FC Sachsen Leipzig * ♦ Wismut Aue ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 2 Fortschritt Bischofswerda 5 1 ♦ 5 1 ♦ A Sachsenring Zwickau 1 ♦ 2 1 ♦ 4 1 Stahl Riesa ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 11 3 11Chemie Leipzig * ♦ A A 6 6 2 Motor Suhl ♦ 14 11 10 3 9 12 Chemie Böhlen * 4 3 3 13 7 1 Aktivist Schwarze Pumpe A A 4 A A A A Vorwärts Dessau 6 A A 3 2 5 16 Stahl Thale 2 14 6 3 Motor Karl Marx Stadt 11 17 15 10 4 Robotron Sömmerda 18 11 4 8 5 Wismut Gera 9 12 8 9 5 11 6 Chemie Markkleeberg 8 13 10 8 8 17 7 TSG Meißen 7 8 Aktivist Borna 17 9 Motor Weimar 9 13 14 13 12 10 Motor Nordhausen 7 10 5 15 16 13 Kali Werra Tiefenort 17 15 17 15 Chemie Ilmenau 15 18 13 16 Motor Schönebeck 6 A A A Chemie Buna-Schkopau A 11 7 7 12 14 SG Dynamo Eisleben 15 7 16 15 Aufbau dkk Krumhermersdorf 16 16 Union Mühlhausen 18SG Dynamo Dresden II * 3 6 12 4 9 Motor Grimma 14 4 9 12 18 Fortschritt Weida 16 FC Carl Zeiss Jena II 10 5 14 18 Glückauf Sondershausen 13 8 17 FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt II 12 16 Wismut Aue II 18
Names shown are the ones the clubs carried over most of these seasons, not necessarily the ones they carried in the last two seasons or their current ones. ♦ denotes club played in the DDR-Oberliga. A denotes club played in the Staffel A that season. In 1990, Chemie Leipzig and Chemie Böhlen merged to form FC Sachsen Leipzig. In 1989, SG Dynamo Dresden II withdrew from the league.
See also Regionalliga Nordost NOFV-Oberliga NOFV-Oberliga Süd NOFV-Oberliga Mitte NOFV-Oberliga Nord
External links The DDR-Oberliga at Fussballdaten.de Results and tables of the DDR-Liga
Sources Das deutsche Fussball Archiv DDR-Liga at RSSSF.com