The 1962 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1961–62. 1. FC Köln were crowned champions for the first time after a group stage and a final, having previously reached the final in 1960, where they lost to Hamburger SV.(West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 22 December 2015
On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1962–63 European Cup, where Köln lost to Dundee F.C. in the preliminary round.
Runners-up 1. FC Nürnberg made its twelfth and last appearance in the national title game, having won the previous year's championship.
The format used to determine the German champion was similar to the one used in the 1961 season. Nine clubs qualified for the tournament, with the runners-up of West and North having to play a qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a single round in two groups of four, with the two group winners entering the final. In previous years, a home-and-away round had been played in the group stages but because of the 1962 FIFA World Cup, where Germany participated in, the schedule was reduced, as had been the case in previous world cup years.
Qualified teams The teams qualified through the 1961–62 Oberliga season: Club Qualified from Hamburger SV Oberliga Nord champions SV Werder Bremen Oberliga Nord runners-up 1. FC Köln Oberliga West champions Schalke 04 Oberliga West runners-up Tasmania 1900 Berlin Oberliga Berlin champions Borussia Neunkirchen Oberliga Südwest champions FK Pirmasens Oberliga Südwest runners-up 1. FC Nürnberg Oberliga Süd champions Eintracht Frankfurt Oberliga Süd runners-up
Competition
Qualifying round
Group 1
Group 2
Final Date Match Result Stadium Attendance 12 May 1962 1. FC Köln – 1. FC Nürnberg 4–0 (2–0) Berlin, Olympiastadion 82,000
1. FC Köln: 1 Fritz Ewert 2 Leo Wilden 3 Karl-Heinz Schnellinger 4 Fritz Pott 5 Matthias Hemmersbach 6 Christian Breuer 7 Hans Sturm 8 Ernst-Günter Habig 9 Karl-Heinz Thielen 10 Hans Schäfer 11 Christian Müller Manager: Zlatko Čajkovski1. FC Nürnberg: 1 Roland Wabra 2 Ferdinand Wenauer 3 Helmut Hilpert 4 Reinhold Gettinger 5 Paul Derbfuß 6 Stefan Reisch 7 Josef Zenger 8 Heinz Strehl 9 Max Morlock 10 Gustav Flachenecker 11 Richard Albrecht Manager: Herbert Widmayer
References
Sources kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, page 165 & 177 - German championship 1962
External links German Championship 1961-62 at Weltfussball.de Germany - Championship 1961-62 at RSSSF.com German championship 1962 at Fussballdaten.de