The 1963 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1962–63. Borussia Dortmund were crowned champions for the third time after a group stage and a final, having previously won the championship in 1956 and 1957.(West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 22 December 2015
Defending champions 1. FC Köln made its third appearance in the final, having won the previous year's championship and lost in 1960, but lost 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund.
On the strength of this title, Borussia Dortmund participated in the 1963–64 European Cup, where the team lost to Inter Milan in the semi-finals.
The format used to determine the German champion was similar to the one used in the 1962 season. Nine clubs qualified for the tournament, with the runners-up of the South and the North having to play a qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-and-away round in two groups of four, with the two group winners entering the final. In the previous year, a single round had been played in the group stages because of the 1962 FIFA World Cup, in order to reduce the schedule and not hinder West Germany at the tournament in Chile, where West Germany was knocked out by Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals.
The 1963 edition was the last edition before the introduction of the Bundesliga, and the last one to have a championship final match. From 1963-64 onwards, the German championship would have a consistent format with 18 teams and 34 matches, in a double round-robin tournament (except in 1991-92, when due to German reunification the league had 20 teams and 38 matches).
Qualified teams The following teams qualified through the 1962–63 Oberliga season: Club Qualified from Hamburger SV Oberliga Nord champions SV Werder Bremen Oberliga Nord runners-up 1. FC Köln Oberliga West champions Borussia Dortmund Oberliga West runners-up Hertha BSC Berlin Oberliga Berlin champions 1. FC Kaiserslautern Oberliga Südwest champions Borussia Neunkirchen Oberliga Südwest runners-up TSV 1860 Munich Oberliga Süd champions 1. FC Nürnberg Oberliga Süd runners-up
Competition
Qualifying round
Group 1
Group 2
Final
BORUSSIA DORTMUND: GK 1 Bernhard Wessel DF 2 Wolfgang Paul DF 3 Gerd Cyliax DF 4 Wilhelm Burgsmüller (c) DF 5 Helmut Bracht MF6 Reinhold Wosab MF7 Alfred Schmidt MF8 Dieter Kurrat MF9 Lothar Geisler FW10 Jürgen Schütz FW11 Friedhelm Konietzka Manager: Hermann Eppenhoff1. FC KÖLN: GK1 Fritz Ewert DF2 Leo Wilden DF3 Karl-Heinz Schnellinger DF4 Anton Regh DF5 Fritz Pott MF6 Hans Sturm MF7 Helmut Benthaus FW8 Karl-Heinz Thielen FW9 Hans Schäfer FW10 Karl-Heinz Ripkens FW11 Heinz Hornig Manager: Zlatko Čajkovski
References
Sources kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, p. 165,177 - German championship 1963
External links German Championship 1962-63 at Weltfussball.de Germany - Championship 1962-63 at RSSSF.com German championship 1963 at Fussballdaten.de