The 1949 German football championship, the 39th edition of the German football championship, was the culmination of the 1948–49 football season in Germany. VfR Mannheim were crowned champions for the first time after a one-leg knock-out tournament. It was both sides' first appearance in the final.VfR Mannheim » Steckbrief Weltfussball.de – VfR Mannheim honours, accessed: 22 December 2015
The tournament was expanded so that ten teams were to take part in the final stage which was played as a one-leg knock-out tournament, with the matches played on neutral ground. The five regional Oberliga winners, along with VfR Mannheim and Wormatia Worms, automatically qualified for the quarter finals, while the remaining three teams played qualifying rounds to clinch the eighth place.
The 1949 championship was the first to see a new trophy for the champions awarded. The pre-Second World War trophy, the Viktoria, had disappeared during the final stages of the war and would not resurface until after the German reunification. The new trophy, the Meisterschale, was not ready for the 1948 season but was finished in time to be awarded to the 1949 champions.Die "Viktoria" DFB website – The "Viktoria", accessed: 30 December 2015Meisterschale DFB website, accessed: 30 December 2015
Qualified teams The clubs qualified through the 1948–49 Oberliga season: Club Qualified from Hamburger SV Oberliga Nord champions FC St. Pauli Oberliga Nord runners-up Borussia Dortmund Oberliga West champions Rot-Weiss Essen Oberliga West runners-up Berliner SV 92 Oberliga Berlin champions 1. FC Kaiserslautern Oberliga Südwest champions VfR Wormatia Worms Oberliga Südwest runners-up Kickers Offenbach Oberliga Süd champions VfR Mannheim Oberliga Süd runners-up FC Bayern Munich Oberliga Süd third place
Competition
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Replay
Quarter-finals
Replays
Semi-finals
Replay
Third place play-off
Final
VFR MANNHEIM: GK Hermann JöckelDF Kurt KeuerleberDF Philip HenningerDF Eugen RößlingMF Fritz BolleyerMF Jakob MüllerMF Rudi MaierFW Ernst LöttkeFW Ernst LanglotzFW Rudolf de la VigneFW Kurt StiefvaterManager: Hans SchmidtBORUSSIA DORTMUND: GK Günther RauDF Max MichallekDF Paul KoschmiederDF Erwin HalfenDF Heinrich RuhmhoferMF Friedel IbelMF Wilhelm BuddenbergFW Edmund KasperskiFW Werner ErdmannFW Erich SchankoFW Alfred PreißlerManager: Eduard Havlicek
References
External links 1948-49 at Weltfussball.de Germany - Championship 1949 at RSSSF.com German championship 1949 at Fussballdaten.de