The 1962–63 Oberliga was the eighteenth Oberliga season, the first tier of the football league system in West Germany. The league operated in five regional divisions, Berlin, North, South, Southwest and West. The five league champions and the runners-up from the west, south, southwest and north then entered the 1963 German football championship which was won by Borussia Dortmund. It was Borussia Dortmund's third national championship, having previously won it in 1956 and 1957.Borussia Dortmund » Steckbrief Weltfussball.de – Borussia Dortmund honours, accessed: 19 December 2015
It was the last season of the Oberliga as a tier one league as, following the 1962–63 season, the Bundesliga was introduced which the best Oberliga teams qualified for. Qualification for the new Bundesliga was determined by taking the previous ten seasons into account.DSFS Liga-Chronik, p. B 11
A similar league, the DDR-Oberliga, existed in East Germany, set at the first tier of the East German football league system. The 1962–63 DDR-Oberliga was won by SC Motor Jena.East Germany 1946-1990 rsssf.org, accessed: 13 December 2015
Oberliga Nord The 1962–63 season saw two new clubs in the league, VfB Lübeck and Arminia Hannover, both promoted from the Amateurliga. The league's top scorer was Dieter Meyer of Werder Bremen with 37 goals.
Oberliga Berlin The 1962–63 season saw one new club in the league, SC Tegel, promoted from the Amateurliga Berlin. The league's top scorer was Hans-Joachim Altendorff of Hertha BSC with 41 goals, the highest total for any scorer in the five Oberligas in 1962–63.
Oberliga West The 1962–63 season saw two new clubs in the league, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Wuppertaler SV, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga West. The league's top scorer was Jürgen Schütz of Borussia Dortmund with 25 goals.
Oberliga Südwest The 1962–63 season saw two new clubs in the league, SV Niederlahnstein and VfR Frankenthal, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Südwest. The league's top scorer was Dieter Krafczyk of 1. FC Saarbrücken with 29 goals.
Oberliga Süd The 1962–63 season saw two new clubs in the league, KSV Hessen Kassel and TSG Ulm 1846, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Süd. The league's top scorers were Kurt Haseneder (1. FC Nürnberg), Rudolf Brunnenmeier (TSV 1860 München) and Rainer Ohlhauser (FC Bayern Munich), all three with 24 goals.100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband, page: 165
German championship
The 1963 German football championship was contested by the nine qualified Oberliga teams and won by Borussia Dortmund, defeating 1. FC Köln in the final. The runners-up of the Oberliga Nord and Süd played a pre-qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-and-away round in two groups of four. The two group winners then advanced to the final.Das Finale der Deutschen Meisterschaft 1962/1963 Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 8 December 2015
Qualifying
Group 1
Group 2
Final
References
Sources 30 Jahre Bundesliga 30th anniversary special, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1993 kicker-Almanach 1990 Yearbook of German football, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1989, DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945 publisher: DSFS, published: 2005 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997
External links The Oberligas on Fussballdaten.de