The 1961–62 Oberliga was the seventeenth season of the Oberliga, the first tier of the football league system in West Germany. The league operated in five regional divisions, Berlin, North, South, Southwest and West. The five league champions and the runners-up from the west, south, southwest and north then entered the 1962 German football championship which was won by 1. FC Köln. It was 1. FC Köln's first-ever national championship.1. FC Köln » Steckbrief Weltfussball.de – 1. FC Köln honours, accessed: 19 December 2015
Hamburger SV equaled the Oberliga start record set in 1952–53 by 1. FC Köln and repeated by Hannover 96 the season after, winning its first eleven games, a mark never surpassed.kicker Allmanach 1990, page: 245
A similar league, the DDR-Oberliga, existed in East Germany, set at the first tier of the East German football league system. The 1961–62 DDR-Oberliga was won by ASK Vorwärts Berlin.East Germany 1946-1990 rsssf.org, accessed: 13 December 2015
Oberliga Nord The 1961–62 season saw two new clubs in the league, Bremer SV and Eintracht Nordhorn, both promoted from the Amateurliga. The league's top scorers were Uwe Seeler (Hamburger SV) and Gerd Koll (Holstein Kiel) with 28 goals each.
Oberliga Berlin The 1961–62 season saw one new club in the league, Union 06 Berlin, promoted from the Amateurliga Berlin. The league's top scorers were Wolfgang Seeger (Tennis Borussia Berlin) and Lutz Steinert (Hertha BSC) with 18 goals each.
Oberliga West The 1961–62 season saw two new clubs in the league, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Schwarz-Weiß Essen, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga West. The league's top scorer was Manfred Rummel of Schwarz-Weiß Essen with 26 goals.
Oberliga Südwest The 1961–62 season saw two new clubs in the league, BSC Oppau and VfR Kaiserslautern, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Südwest. The league's top scorer was Rudi Dörrenbächer of Borussia Neunkirchen with 37 goals, the highest total for any scorer in the five Oberligas in 1961–62.
Oberliga Süd The 1961–62 season saw two new clubs in the league, BC Augsburg and Schwaben Augsburg, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Süd. The league's top scorer was Lothar Schämer of Eintracht Frankfurt with 26 goals.100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband, page: 165
German championship
The 1962 German football championship was contested by the nine qualified Oberliga teams and won by 1. FC Köln, defeating 1. FC Nürnberg in the final. The runners-up of the Oberliga Nord and West played a pre-qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-or-away round in two groups of four. The two group winners then advanced to the final.Das Finale der Deutschen Meisterschaft 1961/1962 Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 8 December 2015
Qualifying
Group 1
Group 2
Final
References
Sources 30 Jahre Bundesliga 30th anniversary special, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1993 kicker-Almanach 1990 Yearbook of German football, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1989, DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945 publisher: DSFS, published: 2005 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997
External links The Oberligas on Fussballdaten.de