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49-675: After the German occupation, a Gauliga Sudetenland championship was organized by the Nazi Sports Office in 1938–39 in the form of a knock-out competition involving the four regional champions, the Bezirksmeister . The winner of this competition qualified for the German championship . Throughout the league's existence, only ethnically German clubs were permitted to take part in the Gauliga . Except for

98-772: A major role in the structure and coordination of the Summer Olympics in Berlin. The Olympic Games, the first in history to have live television coverage, provided an ideal setting to showcase the Nazi regime and what Hitler deemed to be his exploits. As Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games, Carl Diem, the former secretary of the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA),

147-577: A post von Tschammer craved but was not able to obtain. The German eagle with the swastika on the chest, worn as a badge by the athletes of the 1936 German Olympics team , became the official symbol of the Nazi Sports Body; "the swastika on the eagle's chest displays ... the ideology of the DRL" ("Das Hakenkreuz aber, welches der Adler in seinen Schwingen trägt, bekennt, aus welcher Gesinnung ... im DRL gearbeitet wird) . The verbal salutation "Heil Hitler!"

196-404: A wider national purpose. This was in line with the ideals of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , the "Father of physical exercises", who connected the steeling of one's own body to a healthy spirit and promoted the idea of a unified, strong Germany. A more controversial aim was the demonstration of Aryan physical superiority . Von Tschammer's impressively staged events of sports pageantry not only enhanced

245-775: The Haus des Deutschen Sports (House of the German Sports) in the Reichssportfeld (Sports Field of the Reich) in Berlin. World War II radically altered the role of the NSRL in Germany and the areas under its leadership. The military re-armament and dire war preparations would make the influence of physical exercises in Nazi German society wane in favour of militarism. The massive sports pageantry events in

294-580: The SS and that he was known for his anti-Semitic views. Other sources, however, state that he joined the Nazi party relatively early, displaying Nazi zeal, in order to protect his wife who was of Jewish origin. Breitmeyer was an Oberregierungsrat candidate to be a member of the Reichstag (MdR, Mitglied des Reichstags) in 1938. At the time of his death in 1944 he was an SA ( Sturmabteilung ) Brigadeführer , ranked as Generalmajor (the equivalent of major-general in

343-428: The 1938-39 edition, when clubs still operated under their original names, almost all teams had to adopt the prefix NTSG standing for Nationalsozialistische Turnergemeinde and were under direct Nazi control. The only clubs outside this system were the military clubs. In March 1939, Nazi Germany went to occupy the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. It formed the German controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and

392-704: The Czech teams of the territories occupied by Germany , Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren , was formed by the NSRL in 1943. The last big sports event organized in its trademark grandiose style by the NSRL was the Deutsches Turn- und Sportfest (German Gym and Sports Celebration) in Breslau (now Wrocław) in July 1938. This highly nationalistic sports event commemorated the 125th anniversary of the German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon and

441-681: The DRA. After the Enabling Act , which legally gave Hitler dictatorial control of Germany in March 1933, all sports organizations connected to the Social Democratic Party , the Communist Party , and even to the church, were banned. This ban affected especially the sports clubs of industrial workers, most of which were called to split up on their own (Selbstauflösung) before the first semester of 1933

490-693: The DRL's Statutes: The purpose of the League of the Reich for Physical Exercise is the training of the body and character of Germans grouped together in member organizations through planned physical exercises and care of the national conscience (Volksbewußtsein) in the spirit of the National Socialist state . Regarding method and purpose, and keeping aside the ideology, the well-ordered and solemn DRL/NSRL system proved itself efficient. The 1936 Summer Olympics, as well as other key events, provided ample opportunity to test

539-472: The DRL) matches between a German team and a British team from Worcester took place in Berlin. Austria's annexation by Germany in March 1938 brought the budding Austrian Nationalliga to an early end. Numerous football teams were disbanded and some players fled the country. All Austrian sports associations were absorbed by the system of the DRL as Gau XVII section under Gaufachwart Hans Janisch. The Hitler salute

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588-520: The DRL/NSRL was at its height. As a sports governing body seeking to control and integrate all sport activities in Germany, the DRL/NSRL provided a highly organized structure. This structuralization, whose nationalistic seriousness was often outright theatrical, was in line with the Nazi Party's goal of reminding Germans constantly that they were members of a large extended country. According to Paragraph 2 of

637-460: The NS Reichsbund für Leibesübungen along with all its facilities and departments. The disbandment of the NSRL meant that all the sports organizations of Germany had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction of both West Germany and East Germany . Even after German reunification in 1990, there has never been such a powerful and all-encompassing sports organization in Germany as

686-531: The NSRL as a league were served by sports federations some of which still exist: (1) The "Summer Games" include the following games known collectively as " Turnspiele " in German: Schlagball (a German bat-and-ball sport), Fistball , Korbball  [ de ] (closely related to korfball ), Schleuderball and Ringtennis . The regional structure of the NSRL followed the Nazi Party model. Often two or more gaue were included in one region where it

735-459: The NSRL sold lottery tickets as a source of self-financement. Von Tschammer's influence and power within the NSDAP also began rapidly eroding despite having been a committed topmost Nazi leader. He would, however, never witness Germany's defeat and humiliation in the war, for he died from pneumonia in Berlin in March 1943. Arno Breitmeyer , a fellow SA officer became the new Reichssportführer . As

784-771: The NSRL. Von Tschammer trusted the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Karl Ritter von Halt , whom he named President of the Committee for the organization of the Winter Games. As a result of the prestige acquired in this event, Karl Ritter von Halt would be elected member of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1937,

833-521: The Organizing Committee of the Berlin Olympic Games. Hans von Tschammer und Osten was a SA group leader and promoter of Nazism . In the name of gleichschaltung he disbanded the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen on 5 May 1933 (officially on 10 May). Von Tschammer was then elevated to Reichssportführer on 19 July and the whole sports sphere in Germany was placed under his power. The Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (DRL)

882-571: The already powerless German Football Association was finally wound up. Following the 1938 Munich Agreement and the liquidation of Czechoslovakia as a state, the ethnic Sudeten German football teams played in the Gauliga Sudetenland . The NSRL formed two groups in 1939, which were raised to three in 1941. None of these teams were able to make it to the final stages of the German football champions . Czech clubs continued to play their own Bohemia/Moravia championship A separate Gauliga for

931-608: The chief editor of NS-Sport , the official organ of the Reich Sports Office. Other DRL/NSRL publications included Dietwart , a sports magazine with excellent illustrations and Sport und Staat (Sports and State), a massive four-volume Nazi propaganda report on the organized sports activities in Nazi Germany. Sport und Staat was made by Arno Breitmeyer and Hitler's personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann . This lavishly illustrated work had many pictures and information about

980-525: The controversial measures taken by the Sports Office of the Reich at the time, the staging of the massive Reichssportfest event on Trinity Sunday was a decision that shocked devout Catholics . In 1935 journalist Guido von Mengden , was named public relations officer of the Reich Sports Office. He became the personal advisor and consultant of the Reichssportführer in 1936, and subsequently became

1029-470: The decision was made by a hurriedly instituted three-man commission. Thus, in April 1933, Hans von Tschammer und Osten, a figure formerly unknown in German sports, was named Reichskommissar für Turnen und Sport (Commissioner for Gymnastics and Sports of the Reich). Von Tschammer, however, would keep his predecessor in a high position in the sports body, and years later he would appoint Theodor Lewald as president of

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1078-493: The different fronts, so the NSRL concentrated in training and staging local or regional events for younger athletes. Already in 1940 monetary funds for organizing sporting venues, such as the prestigious Kiel Week sailing competition, were not forthcoming. Contributors felt emboldened to deny funds to the formerly influential branches of the Nazi Sports Office owing to the war-related shifting of priorities. During this time

1127-540: The duration of World War I. The Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Olympische Spiele (DRA or DRAfOS) "German Imperial Commission for Olympic Games" , was the German Olympic Sports organization at that time. In 1917 the "German Imperial Commission for Olympic Games" was renamed Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA, sometimes also DRL or, more rarely, DRAfL: "German Imperial Commission for Physical Exercise"). The name change reflected Germany's protest against

1176-442: The end. Not every club however completed their full program of matches. The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 affected all Gauligas and its doubtful whether the 1944–45 season in the Gauliga Sudetenland got under way at all. The league was formed of twelve clubs in two divisions in 1939: Group I : Group II : The abbreviation NSTG stands for Nationalsozialistische Turngemeinde . The winners and runners-up of

1225-581: The fact that Germany and other Central Powers were being excluded from the "Olympic family" which was dominated by the Entente Powers . The Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen was led by Theodor Lewald and Carl Diem was its Secretary General. Even though it saw itself as the pan-German umbrella organization for sports, it did not represent all types of sports and sports associations of Germany. A great number of sport clubs, especially those stemming from industrial workers' background, had not joined

1274-564: The first award of the Iron Cross in the city of Breslau itself in 1813. On 21 December 1938 a decree was issued by Adolf Hitler changing the name of the Reich Sports Body to Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen ( NSRL ), thereby "elevating it to an organization served by the NSDAP ". This name change meant that the NSRL would be "placed under" the Nazi Party. Its seat would be

1323-536: The following two years plunged the NSRL into irrelevance. The once mighty Nazi Sports Body had to give up its weight and its position of pride long before the war was lost. On 31 May 1945, after Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II , the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as "Law number five", this Denazification decree disbanded

1372-476: The following: Numbering according to Departments and Departmental Federations. Championships in the individual types of sports were duly organized by the corresponding associations and federations. Among the events directly organized by the NS Reichsbund für Leibesübungen the most important were: Final solution Parties Arno Breitmeyer Arno Breitmeyer (19 April 1903, in Berlin – 20 April 1944)

1421-657: The forerunner of the DRL/NSRL, became the chief organizer of the Berlin Olympic Games. Diem held high posts in the Reichs Sports office even after the Olympics, being named leader of the Foreign Department of the Nationalsocialist Sports Office in 1939 by the Reichssportführer . As such Carl Diem was responsible for the issues of German athletes in foreign countries, as well as for the international affairs of

1470-472: The good organization that the Sports Body of the Reich was able to provide. The NSRL's obvious competence succeeded in instilling a spirit of unity and pride among the German sportsmen and women as well as their supporters. Moreover, even if not duly credited, many of the NSRL's systemic improvements in sports are still in use in today's sports organizations. Besides the departments above, certain competences of

1519-457: The large cities, carefully organized to arouse nationalistic fervor, were replaced by military parades of German warriors. Successful sportsmen found it increasingly difficult to compete with frontline war heroes in capturing the attention of the German public. Even though the NSRL continued playing a big role in sporting activities among the youth for a few years, the atmosphere had changed. Many Germans were subjected to conscription and left for

Gauliga Sudetenland - Misplaced Pages Continue

1568-671: The league: At the end of the Second World War , the German population of the Sudetenland was almost completely expelled . Only a small minority remains in what is now the Czech Republic . All German football clubs were dissolved and the Czechoslovak First League once more became the highest level of play for the whole country, but now without any ethnically German clubs, the last of which had been relegated in 1936 from

1617-426: The nominally independent country of Slovakia . Ethnically German clubs from the newly occupied region took part in the Gauliga Sudetenland , especially from Prague . The league proper started in 1939, with eleven teams in two groups. The two group champions played a one-off final to determine the Sudetenland champion. The season after the league was reduced to seven teams in an otherwise unchanged setup. The season

1666-512: The physical activity, but also the nationalism of Germans. Nordic aesthetic beauty and commitment to Germanic ideals of race went hand in hand during the Nazi era, and von Tschammer und Osten implemented a policy of racial exclusion within sports. Athletes of Jewish origin were excluded from participation in relevant sporting events. In 1936 Hans von Tschammer und Osten, as the head of the Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, played

1715-470: The same three groups, four in the eastern group, five in the central and six in the western group. Again, a finals tournament for the group champions was played. From 1943, clubs from the Protectorate left to take part in the new Gauliga Böhmen und Mähren . In its last completed season, the league operated with thirteen clubs in two divisions, with a home-and-away final of the two divisional champions at

1764-612: The top division. Nazi Sports Office Final solution Parties The National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise ( German : Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , abbreviated NSRL ) was the umbrella organization for sports and physical education in Nazi Germany . The NSRL was known as the German League of the Reich for Physical Exercise ( German : Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen , abbreviated DRL) until 1938. The organization

1813-494: The various Nazi organizations, i.e. SA , NSKK , Bund Deutscher Mädel , Hitler Jugend , etc. Printed in 1934 by the publishing house of the German Sports Aid Funds, a branch of the DRL, only volume one and two of a planned series of four volumes were published. The aims of the promotion of sports in Nazi Germany included hardening the spirit of every German as well as making German citizens feel that they were part of

1862-472: The war dragged on, a huge number of members of the many branches of the NSRL, among them youngsters in their early teens, had to go to fight to the fronts. Since players were not available, except in shoddily organized military sports events in scattered frontline locations, sports life in Germany came practically to a standstill. The last von Tschammer und Osten Pokal football trophy was played in Vienna in 1943 and

1911-728: Was a German sport official. He began his sports career as a successful competition rower . In 1933 he became editor of the sports section of the Völkischer Beobachter , the Nazi Party's official newspaper. Arno Breitmeyer joined the NSDAP in May 1933. He then rose to become an important sports official of the Third Reich . Breitmeyer was first adviser and vice president of the Reich Sports Office (DRL/NSRL, Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen ) during Hans von Tschammer und Osten 's tenure as Reichs Sports Leader. Arno Breitmeyer

1960-499: Was commissioned by von Tschammer to write an extensive illustrated report on the organized sports activities in the Third Reich. Breitmeyer was assisted by Adolf Hitler 's personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann in the venture. The first volume was printed in 1934 by the publishing house of the German Sports Aid Funds. Only volume one and two of a planned series of heavily illustrated four volumes were published. The purpose of this book

2009-505: Was established on 27 July 1934 as the official Sports governing body of Nazi Germany. It would quickly become a formidable system within the German nation. After the DRL's foundation all other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were coopted into the DRL as mere units ("Fachämter"). Even the most prestigious ones, like the German Football Association (DFB) lost their independence. Von Tschammer's goal

Gauliga Sudetenland - Misplaced Pages Continue

2058-508: Was expanded to Austria after that country's annexation by Nazi Germany . The NSRL was led by the Reichssportführer , who after 1934 simultaneously presided over the German National Olympic Committee . The NSRL's leaders were Hans von Tschammer und Osten (1933–1943), Arno Breitmeyer (1943–1944) and Karl Ritter von Halt (1944–1945). The 1916 Summer Olympics had been awarded to Berlin, but were canceled because of

2107-734: Was expedient to do so. (1) Thuringia , Anhalt and the Province of Saxony . — (2) Schleswig-Holstein , Hamburg and Mecklenburg . — (3) The Palatinate and (from 1935 onwards) the Saar Region . — (4) Austria from 1938 onwards. By 1 January 1937 the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen had 45,096 Associations with 3,582,776 active members (of whom 517,992 were female and 3,064,784 male). On 1 April 1939 there were 44,622 Associations with 3,668,206 active members (of whom 526,084 were female). The sports practiced were

2156-418: Was greatly shortened due to a number of clubs dropping out throughout it. The 1941–42 season saw a return to a more organised league system with eighteen clubs in three equal divisions. The three divisional champions then played a home-and-away finals round to determine the Sudetenland champion. The following season, the league was again reduced in numbers throughout the season, finishing with fifteen clubs in

2205-493: Was introduced as compulsory before and after every game. Finally, the operation of junior sports teams was handed over to the local Hitlerjugend units. Despised by Nazis as unworthy of a true German, professionalism in sports was outlawed by the DRL in May 1938. Felix Linnemann , the German Football Association (DFB) president, was one of the greatest campaigners for amateurism in sports in Nazi Germany. In 1940,

2254-492: Was introduced by von Tschammer on 12 December 1936 as the official formal salutation by members of German sport organisations in the sport events that would be organized from that date onwards. The Nazi salute had already been introduced three years before by Josef Klein . On 17 March 1937 all German athletes were called by Hans von Tschammer und Osten to join the Hitler Youth . In 1937 two cricket (Germanized into "Kricket" by

2303-478: Was over. The more conservative nationalistic and bourgeois clubs were allowed to subsist into the following year. On 12 April 1933 Theodor Lewald gave in to the Nazi authorities and resigned as leader of the German Sports Office after it was revealed his paternal grandmother was Jewish. The Nazi minister of the interior, Wilhelm Frick , interfered with the process of the election of a new Sports leader, and

2352-499: Was to advertise the importance of physical exercise among the Nazis. This propaganda work has many pictures and information about the various Nazi organizations, i.e. SA , NSKK , Bund Deutscher Mädel , Hitler Jugend , etc. At von Tschammer's death in 1943 Arno Breitmeyer became the leader (Reichssportführer) . There is some controversy regarding Arno Breitmeyer's attitude towards the Nazi regime. Some sources claim that he belonged to

2401-475: Was to build a formidable Nazi sports body to which all German sports associations would be submitted. His vision was that physical exercise would "improve the morale and productivity of German workers" as well as making sports a source of national pride for the Germans. Sporting skills were made a criterion for school graduation as well as a necessary qualification for certain jobs and admission to universities. Among

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