The Hessenliga (until 2008 Oberliga Hessen) is the highest football league in the state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the third tier.

Overview The league was formed in 1945, and except for its first two seasons, it has always played as one single division. The league was called Landesliga-Hessen until 1950 and actually formed the second tier of southern German football. With the introduction of the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1950, the Landesliga-Hessen was renamed Amateurliga Hessen. In 1978, it was called Amateur Oberliga Hessen, and finally, in 1994 it was renamed Oberliga Hessen.

Since the introduction of the Regionalliga Süd in 1994, the winner of the Oberliga Hessen is automatically promoted to this league. Until 1994 the winners of the Oberligas had to play-off for the four promotion spots to the 2. Bundesliga with the other Oberliga winners.

In 1994, with the introduction of the Regionalliga, six clubs from Hesse were qualified for the new league, based on their performance over the last three seasons, these clubs being:

Kickers Offenbach SV Wehen Wiesbaden SG Egelsbach Rot-Weiss Frankfurt KSV Hessen Kassel SV Darmstadt 98

Originally, FSV Frankfurt, champions of 1994, would have also been qualified but gained promotion to the 2. Bundesliga instead.

The Oberliga Hessen still remained below the Regionalliga Süd after the reduction of the number of Regionalligas from four to two in 2000 but this reduction meant that the Oberliga champions in that year were not promoted.

With the changes in the league system in 2008, four clubs from the Hessenliga were promoted to Regionalliga Süd after the 2007–08 season, nominally the top four teams, however, there were also financial requirements to receive a Regionalliga licence. The four clubs were: SV Darmstadt 98 SV Wehen II Viktoria Aschaffenburg Eintracht Frankfurt II

The Hessenliga is fed by the three Verbandsligen. The winners of those are directly promoted to the Hessenliga, the three runners-up play-off for one more promotion spot.

Feeder leagues to the Hessenliga: Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord Verbandsliga Hessen-Mitte Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd

The Hessenliga also, at times, accommodated teams from Bavaria, Viktoria Aschaffenburg and FC Bayern Alzenau. In the 2011–12 season, Viktoria played in the league while Alzenau played one level above in the Regionalliga.

From 2012 onwards, the league became a feeder league to the new Regionalliga Südwest, together with the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg and the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar. The previous league the Hessenliga was set below at, the Regionalliga Süd, was disbanded after the 2011–12 season.DFB-Bundestag beschließt Reform der Spielklassen DFB. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2011.

Champions The league champions since 1945:

Season Club1945–46SV WiesbadenViktoria Aschaffenburg1946–471. Rödelheimer FC 02Rot-Weiss Frankfurt1947–481. Rödelheimer FC 021948–49KSV Hessen Kassel1949–50SV Darmstadt 981950–51Olympia Lampertheim1951–52Olympia Lampertheim1952–53FC Hanau 931953–54Borussia Fulda1954–55SpVgg Bad Homburg1955–56SpVgg Neu-Isenburg1956–57Borussia Fulda1957–58VfB Friedberg1958–59VfL Marburg1959–60Borussia Fulda1960–61FC Hanau 931961–62SV Darmstadt 981962–63VfB Gießen1963–64SV Darmstadt 981964–65Opel Rüsselsheim1965–66Germania Wiesbaden1966–67SV Wiesbaden1967–68Rot-Weiss Frankfurt1968–69FSV Frankfurt1969–70Eintracht Frankfurt II1970–71SV Darmstadt 98

Season Club1971–72VfR Bürstadt1972–73FSV Frankfurt1973–74Viktoria Aschaffenburg1974–75FSV Frankfurt1975–76KSV Baunatal1976–77VfR Bürstadt1977–78FC Hanau 931978–79VfR Bürstadt1979–80KSV Hessen Kassel1980–81Viktoria Griesheim1981–82FSV Frankfurt1982–83VfR Bürstadt1983–84VfR Bürstadt1984–85Viktoria Aschaffenburg1985–86Kickers Offenbach1986–87Kickers Offenbach1987–88Viktoria Aschaffenburg1988–89KSV Hessen Kassel1989–90Rot-Weiss Frankfurt1990–91KSV Hessen Kassel1991–92Viktoria Aschaffenburg1992–93Kickers Offenbach1993–94FSV Frankfurt1994–95SC Neukirchen1995–96Borussia Fulda1996–97SV Wehen1997–98FSV Frankfurt

Season Club1998–99SV Darmstadt 981999–00KSV Klein-Karben2000–01Borussia Fulda2001–02Eintracht Frankfurt II2002–031. FC Eschborn2003–04SV Darmstadt 982004–051. FC Eschborn2005–06KSV Hessen Kassel2006–07FSV Frankfurt2007–08SV Darmstadt 982008–09SC Waldgirmes2009–10FSV Frankfurt II2010–11FC Bayern Alzenau2011–121. FC Eschborn2012–13KSV Baunatal2013–14TGM SV Jügesheim2014–15TSV Steinbach2015–162016–17SC Hessen Dreieich2017–18SC Hessen Dreieich2018–19FC Gießen2019–20TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf2020–21None2021–22SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz2022–23Eintracht Frankfurt II2023–24FC Gießen2024–25FSV Fernwald

The record number of league championships is held by FSV Frankfurt, with eight titles (including one won by their reserve team, FSV Frankfurt II). In 2014, the champions TGM SV Jügesheim declined promotion and no other team that applied for a Regionalliga licence finished high enough in the league to qualify. In 2017, the champions Hessen Dreieich declined promotion. The runners-up, TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf, were promoted instead. In 2021 there was no champion or promotion because of the decision to curtail the season during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. In 2017, the champions FSV Fernwald declined promotion. The runners-up, Bayern Alzenau, were promoted instead.

League placings

The complete list of clubs and placings in the league since being renamed to Hessenliga in 2008: Club0910111213141516171819202122232425 TSV Steinbach Haiger 1 R R R R R R R R R R Viktoria Aschaffenburg R10 R R R 1 R 2 1 R R R R R R R KSV Hessen Kassel R R R R R R R R R R32 R R R R R SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz142373541 1 R R R Eintracht Frankfurt II R R R R R R 1 R R FC Gießen2 1 R4 1 R R R2 1 R FSV Fernwald1213937101810748 1 FC Bayern Alzenau2 R 1 R R14415422 R R111242 Türk Gücü Friedberg1311514323 Rot-Weiß Walldorf93127104 Eintracht Stadtallendorf84815911952 R R 1 R25125 SV Darmstadt 98 II6 KSV Baunatal5332 1 R R129107121316637 FC Eddersheim17831941168 Hünfelder SV1091681915181979 SC Waldgirmes 1221414591078131110 SV Adler Weidenhausen14911 Hanauer SC 1960512 FC Hanau 931441581313 VfB Marburg12181414 SV Unter-Flockenbach1715 FSV Rot-Weiß Wolfhagen16 SV Steinbach141716111791517 TuS Hornau18 TSV Steinbach Haiger II2019 Viktoria Griesheim1016148131411817131516 1. FC Erlensee2051017 TuS Dietkirchen1515101618 SV Neuhof1714918 SpVgg Hadamar134631066466619 SC Hessen Dreieich13 1 1 R723 FV Bad Vilbel10131218 VfB Ginsheim8651620 SV Zeilsheim921 SV Buchonia Flieden1613113158171214822 FSC Lohfelden19961212411912 FC Ederbergland1715121316 SpVgg 03 Neu-Isenburg1117 Borussia Fulda171157 Rot-Weiss Frankfurt11714172315 OSC Vellmar9156711211141016 Sportfreunde Seligenstadt8798 Rot-Weiß Darmstadt11812131615 Viktoria Kelsterbach16 Viktoria Urberach311751517 1. FC Eschborn684 1 R3106 SV Wiesbaden957 SpVgg Oberrad1316 SV Wehen II R R R6576 1. FC Schwalmstadt141717 TGM SV Jügesheim102 1 FSV Frankfurt II 1 R R R5 Kickers Offenbach II455121318 FSV Braunfels16 1. FCA Darmstadt121618 Eintracht Wetzlar1018 RSV Würges14615 KSV Klein-Karben716 Germania Ober-Roden1517 TSG Wörsdorf1318 SVA Bad Hersfeld19 KSV Hessen Kassel II18 1 Formerly TSV Lehnerz 2 Formerly Teutonia Watzenborn-Steinberg

Key Symbol Key OL B Oberliga Süd (1945–63) Bundesliga (1963–present) 2O RL 2B 2nd Oberliga Süd (1950–63) Regionalliga Süd (1963–74) 2. Bundesliga (1974–present) 3L 3. Liga (2008–present) R Regionalliga Süd (1994–2012) Regionalliga Südwest (2012–present) 1 League champions PlacePlayed in the a different Oberliga division Place League Blank Played at a league level below this league

References

Sources Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS. Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. Kicker Sports Magazine. Süddeutschlands Fußballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897–1988 History of Southern German football in tables, by Ludolf Hyll Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945–2005 History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.

External links Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables Weltfussball.de Round-by-round results and tables of the Oberliga Hessen from 1994 onwards The Hesse football leagues on Fussball.de Hessian Football Association (HFV)