The 1959 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1958–59. Eintracht Frankfurt were crowned champions for the first time after a group stage and a final.(West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.org, accessed: 22 December 2015
It was Eintracht's second appearance in the German final, having previously lost to FC Bayern Munich in 1932. The team won all seven games it played in the finals. On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1959–60 European Cup, where it became the first German club to reach the final.
For the losing finalist, Kickers Offenbach, it was its second time to reach the national title game, having lost to VfB Stuttgart in 1950. It was also the only time the final was contested by two clubs from the state of Hesse.
The format used to determine the German champion was very similar to the one used in the 1957 and 1958 season. Nine clubs qualified for the tournament, with the runners-up of North and Southwest 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 previous seasons, only a single round had been played in the group stage, increasing the number of group games per team from three to six from 1959.
Qualified teams The teams qualified for the finals through the 1958–59 Oberliga season: Club Qualified from Hamburger SV Oberliga Nord champions SV Werder Bremen Oberliga Nord runners-up Westfalia Herne Oberliga West champions 1. FC Köln Oberliga West runners-up Tasmania 1900 Berlin Oberliga Berlin champions FK Pirmasens Oberliga Südwest champions Borussia Neunkirchen Oberliga Südwest runners-up Eintracht Frankfurt Oberliga Süd champions Kickers Offenbach Oberliga Süd runners-up
Competition
Qualifying round
Group 1
Group 2
Date Match Result Stadium Attendance 16 May 1959 Westfalia Herne – Tasmania 1900 Berlin 1–0 (1–0) Dortmund, Stadion Rote Erde 30,000 16 May 1959 Kickers Offenbach – Hamburger SV 3–2 (0–2) Frankfurt am Main, Waldstadion 80,000 23 May 1959 Hamburger SV – Westfalia Herne 4–2 (2–0) Hamburg, Volksparkstadion 70,000 23 May 1959 Tasmania 1900 Berlin – Kickers Offenbach 2–2 (0–2) Berlin, Olympiastadion 70,000 30 May 1959 Tasmania 1900 Berlin – Hamburger SV 0–2 (0–0) Berlin, Olympiastadion 90,000 30 May 1959 Westfalia Herne – Kickers Offenbach 1–4 (0–1) Dortmund, Stadion Rote Erde 45,000 7 June 1959 Hamburger SV – Tasmania 1900 Berlin 3–0 (0–0) Hamburg, Volksparkstadion 65,000 7 June 1959 Kickers Offenbach – Westfalia Herne 2–1 (0–0) Frankfurt am Main, Waldstadion 56,000 13 June 1959 Westfalia Herne – Hamburger SV 3–1 (1–1) Dortmund, Stadion Rote Erde 42,000 13 June 1959 Kickers Offenbach – Tasmania 1900 Berlin 3–2 (0–1) Frankfurt am Main, Waldstadion 35,000 20 June 1959 Hamburger SV – Kickers Offenbach 1–0 (0–0) Hamburg, Volksparkstadion 65,000 20 June 1959 Tasmania 1900 Berlin – Westfalia Herne 2-0 (0–0) Berlin, Olympiastadion 22,000
Final
References
Sources kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, page 165 & 177 - German championship 1959
External links German Championship 1958-59 at Weltfussball.de Germany - Championship 1958-59 at RSSSF.com German championship 1959 at Fussballdaten.de