The 1960 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1959–60. Hamburger SV were crowned champions for the third time after a group stage and a final, having previously won the title in 1923 and 1928. It was the club's third appearance in the final in four years, having lost the 1957 and 1958 final.(West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 22 December 2015 On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1960-61 European Cup, where HSV lost to FC Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Hamburg's Uwe Seeler was the 1960 championships top scorer with 13 goals, the highest total for any top scorer in the competition after the Second World War.
Runners-up 1. FC Köln made its first appearance in the national title game. The 1960 German championship saw an attendance record for the Oberliga era with 87,739 seeing Tasmania 1900 Berlin hosting 1. FC Köln.kicker Allmanach 1990, page: 245
The format used to determine the German champion was the same as the one used in the 1959 season. Nine clubs qualified for the tournament, with the runners-up of West and South 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.
Qualified teams The teams qualified through the 1959–60 Oberliga season: Club Qualified from Hamburger SV Oberliga Nord champions SV Werder Bremen Oberliga Nord runners-up 1. FC Köln Oberliga West champions Westfalia Herne Oberliga West runners-up Tasmania 1900 Berlin Oberliga Berlin champions FK Pirmasens Oberliga Südwest champions Borussia Neunkirchen Oberliga Südwest runners-up Karlsruher SC Oberliga Süd champions Kickers Offenbach Oberliga Süd runners-up
Competition
Qualifying round Date Match Result Stadium Attendance 7 May 1960 Westfalia Herne – Kickers Offenbach 1-0 (1–0) Hannover, Niedersachsenstadion 45,000
Group 1
+ Group phase - Group 1MatchFinal resultBorussia Neunkirchen - Hamburger SV 0:4 Karlsruher SC - Westfalia Herne 5:4 Hamburger SV - Karlsruher SC 3:3 Westfalia Herne - Borussia Neunkirchen 2:1 Karlsruher SC - Borussia Neunkirchen 2:4 Westfalia Herne - Hamburger SV 3:4 Hamburger SV - Westfalia Herne 2:1 Borussia Neunkirchen - Karlsruher SC 2:2 Karlsruher SC - Hamburger SV 4:3 Borussia Neunkirchen - Westfalia Herne 2:1Hamburger SV - Borussia Neunkirchen 6:0 Westfalia Herne - Karlsruher SC 2:2
Group 2
+ Group phase - Group 2 MatchFinal resultWerder Bremen - 1. FC Köln 1:2 FK Pirmasens - Tasmania 1900 Berlin 1:2 Tasmania 1900 Berlin - Werder Bremen 2:1 1. FC Köln - FK Pirmasens 4:0 Tasmania 1900 Berlin - 1. FC Köln 1:2 FK Pirmasens - Werder Bremen 4:6 1. FC Köln - Tasmania 1900 Berlin 3:0 Werder Bremen - FK Pirmasens 3:1 FK Pirmasens - 1. FC Köln 1:1 Werder Bremen - Tasmania 1900 Berlin 2:1 1. FC Köln - Werder Bremen 2:5 Tasmania 1900 Berlin - FK Pirmasens 5:2
Final Date Match Result Stadium Attendance 25 June 1960 Hamburger SV – 1. FC Köln 3–2 (0–0) Frankfurt, Waldstadion 71,000
Hamburger SV: 1 Horst Schnoor 2 Jürgen Werner 3 Erwin Piechowiak 4 Jochen Meinke 5 Gerhard Krug 6 Klaus Neisner 7 Dieter Seeler 8 Klaus Stürmer 9 Uwe Seeler 10 Charly Dörfel 11 Horst Dehn Manager: Günter Mahlmann1. FC Köln: 1 Fritz Ewert 2 Karl-Heinz Schnellinger 3 Leo Wilden 4 Georg Stollenwerk 5 Hans Sturm 6 Josef Röhrig 7 Christian Breuer 8 Karl-Heinz Thielen 9 Hans Schäfer 10 Helmut Rahn 11 Christian Müller Manager: Oswald Pfau
References
Sources kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, page 165 & 177 - German championship 1960
External links German Championship 1959-60 at Weltfussball.de Germany - Championship 1959-60 at RSSSF.com German championship 1960 at Fussballdaten.de