View source for DDR-Oberliga

{{Short description|Former top-level association football league in East Germany}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox football league
| name       = DDR Oberliga
| image      = DDR DFV Oberliga MeisterSchale Revolutionszeit.svg
| founded    = {{Start date and age|1948}}
| folded     = {{End date and age|1991}}
| organiser  = [[Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR]] (DFV)
| country    = {{flag|East Germany}}
| relegation = {{plainlist|
* [[DDR-Liga|DDR Liga Staffel A]]
* [[DDR-Liga|DDR Liga Staffel B]]
}}
| domest_cup           = [[FDGB-Pokal]]
| confed_cup           = [[European Champion Clubs' Cup|European Cup]]<br />[[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]]
| successor = [[Bundesliga]]
| level     = [[East German football league system|Level 1]]
| season    = [[1990–91 NOFV-Oberliga|1990–91]]
| most successful club = [[BFC Dynamo]] (10 titles)
| champions = [[FC Hansa Rostock|Hansa Rostock]]
}}

The '''DDR-Oberliga''' (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level [[association football]] league in [[East Germany]].

==Overview==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0406-032, BFC Dynamo - SG Dynamo Dresden 1-0.jpg|thumb| The match between [[BFC Dynamo]] and [[Dynamo Dresden]] on 6 April 1988.]]

Following [[World War II]], separate sports competitions emerged in the [[Allied-occupied Germany|occupied eastern and western halves]] of Germany, replacing the ''[[Gauliga]]s'' of the [[Nazism|Nazi]] era.

In East Germany, a top-flight football competition, the highest league in the [[East German football league system]], was established in 1949 as the DS-Oberliga (''Deutscher Sportausschuss Oberliga'', German Sports Association Upper League). Beginning in 1958, it carried the name DDR-Oberliga and was part of the league structure within the [[Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR|DFV]] (''Deutscher Fussball-Verband der DDR'', German Football Association of the GDR).

In its inaugural season in 1949/50, the DDR-Oberliga was made up of 14 teams with two relegation spots.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/ddr50.html | title = East Germany 1949/50 | author = Alexander Mastrogiannopoulos | date = 16 October 2005 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]] | access-date = 28 December 2008 }}</ref> Over the course of the next four seasons, the number of teams in the division varied and included anywhere from 17 to 19 sides with three or four relegation spots.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/ddrhist.html | author = Jan Schoenmakers | title = East Germany 1946-1990 | date = 16 October 2005 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]] | access-date = 28 December 2008}}</ref> Beginning with the 1954/55 season up until merger of the East and West German football associations in 1991/92 the league was made up of 14 teams with 2 relegation spots.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/ddrhist.html | author = Jan Schoenmakers | title = East Germany 1946-1990 | date = 16 October 2005 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]] | access-date = 28 December 2008}}</ref>

Initially, the DDR-Oberliga operated on an autumn-spring schedule, as was traditional in Germany. From 1956 to 1960, a Soviet-style spring-autumn (calendar year) schedule was in place.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} This required a transition round in 1955 and, although no champion was formally declared that season, [[FC Erzgebirge Aue|SC Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt]] finished atop the division.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/ddr55a.html | title = East Germany 1955 | author = Alexander Mastrogiannopoulos | date = 16 October 2005 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]] | access-date = 28 December 2008 }}</ref> 1961/62 saw the return of an autumn-spring season and an extended schedule (39 matches vs. 26 matches) was played with each club meeting the others a total of three times – once at home, once away, and once at a neutral venue.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/ddr62.html | title = East Germany 1955 | author = Alexander Mastrogiannopoulos | date = 16 October 2005 | publisher = [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]] | access-date = 28 December 2008 }}</ref>

After German reunification, the last regular DDR-Oberliga season was played in 1990/91 under the designation [[NOFV-Oberliga]] (Nordostdeutsche Fußballverband Oberliga or Northeast German Football Federation Premier League). The following year, the East German league structure was merged into the West German system under the [[German Football Association]] (''Deutscher Fussball Bund'') and the top two NOFV-Oberliga clubs – [[FC Hansa Rostock]] and [[Dynamo Dresden]] – joined the first division [[Bundesliga]].

For the duration of the league's existence, the league below it was the [[DDR-Liga]].

==Disbanding of the Oberliga==
The Oberliga was disbanded after the 1990–91 season and its clubs were integrated in the German football league system. The fourteen Oberliga clubs went to the following leagues, spread over three tiers:

To the '''Fussball-Bundesliga''' (Tier I):
*[[Dynamo Dresden|1. FC Dynamo Dresden]]
*[[FC Hansa Rostock]]

To the '''2. Bundesliga Nord''' (Tier II):
*[[FC Stahl Brandenburg|BSV Stahl Brandenburg]]

To the '''2. Bundesliga Süd''' (Tier II):
*[[1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig]]
*[[Chemnitzer FC]]
*[[FC Carl Zeiss Jena]]
*[[FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt]]
*[[Hallescher FC]]

To the '''NOFV-Oberliga Nord''' (Tier III):
*[[Berliner FC Dynamo|FC Berlin]]
*[[Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl]]
*[[1. FC Frankfurt|FC Vorwärts Frankfurt/Oder]]

To the '''NOFV-Oberliga Mitte''' (Tier III):
*[[1. FC Magdeburg]]
*[[FC Energie Cottbus]]

To the '''NOFV-Oberliga Süd''' (Tier III):
*[[FC Sachsen Leipzig]]

==The Oberliga reformed as the Regionalliga Nordost==
In 1994, a new third tier division was established in the area that formerly made up East Germany. The [[Regionalliga Nordost]] was made up of most of the big names of the DDR-era alongside clubs from [[West Berlin]]. The only clubs from the final season of the old DDR-Oberliga not to appear here were [[FC Hansa Rostock]], which was competing at the Bundesliga level, and [[Hallescher FC]], which had fallen on hard times.

The league was disbanded again in 2000 and its member clubs were spread between the two remaining Regionalligas (III) and the NOFV-Oberligas (IV), effectively ending the history of the all-East German leagues.

The Regionalliga Nordost returned in 2012/13 as one of five fourth-tier regional leagues. The new league will cover the area of the former GDR and Berlin and the champions of this new division will qualify for a play-off against the winner of another Regionalliga or against the second-placed team in the [[Regionalliga Südwest]] to determine promotion to the [[3. Liga]].

==DDR-Oberliga champions==
{{main article|List of East German football champions}}

[[BFC Dynamo]] was the league record holder with 10 DDR-Oberliga titles to its credit, having won all of these titles in successive seasons.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.f-archiv.de/ |title=DDR Oberliga |access-date=4 March 2008 |publisher=Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv}}</ref>

{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Season
!Club
|-
|[[1948 Ostzonenmeisterschaft|1948]]
|[[FSV Zwickau|SG Planitz]]
|-
|[[1949 Ostzonenmeisterschaft|1949]]
|[[Hallescher FC|ZSG Union Halle]]
|-
|[[1949–50 DDR-Oberliga|1949–50]]
|[[FSV Zwickau|ZSG Horch Zwickau]]
|-
|[[1950–51 DDR-Oberliga|1950–51]]
|[[BSG Chemie Leipzig (1950)|BSG Chemie Leipzig]]
|-
|[[1951–52 DDR-Oberliga|1951–52]]
|[[Hallescher FC|BSG Turbine Halle]]
|-
|[[1952–53 DDR-Oberliga|1952–53]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1953–54 DDR-Oberliga|1953–54]]
|[[FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt|BSG Turbine Erfurt]]
|-
|[[1954–55 DDR-Oberliga|1954–55]]
|[[FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt|BSG Turbine Erfurt]]
|-
|''[[1955 DDR-Oberliga|1955]]''
|''[[FC Erzgebirge Aue|SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt]]''{{efn-ua|Transition season, not recognised as an official championship.}}
|-
|[[1956 DDR-Oberliga|1956]]
|[[FC Erzgebirge Aue|SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt]]
|-
|[[1957 DDR-Oberliga|1957]]
|[[FC Erzgebirge Aue|SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt]]
|-
|[[1958 DDR-Oberliga|1958]]
|[[1. FC Frankfurt|ASK Vorwärts Berlin]]
|-
|[[1959 DDR-Oberliga|1959]]
|[[FC Erzgebirge Aue|SC Wismut Karl Marx Stadt]]
|-
|[[1960 DDR-Oberliga|1960]]
|[[1. FC Frankfurt|ASK Vorwärts Berlin]]
|-
|[[1961–62 DDR-Oberliga|1961–62]]
|[[1. FC Frankfurt|ASK Vorwärts Berlin]]
|}
{{col-3}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Season
!Club
|-
|[[1962–63 DDR-Oberliga|1962–63]]
|[[FC Carl Zeiss Jena|SC Motor Jena]]
|-
|[[1963–64 DDR-Oberliga|1963–64]]
|[[BSG Chemie Leipzig (1950)|BSG Chemie Leipzig]]
|-
|[[1964–65 DDR-Oberliga|1964–65]]
|[[1. FC Frankfurt|ASK Vorwärts Berlin]]
|-
|[[1965–66 DDR-Oberliga|1965–66]]
|[[1. FC Frankfurt|FC Vorwärts Berlin]]
|-
|[[1966–67 DDR-Oberliga|1966–67]]
|[[Chemnitzer FC|FC Karl-Marx-Stadt]]
|-
|[[1967–68 DDR-Oberliga|1967–68]]
|[[FC Carl Zeiss Jena]]
|-
|[[1968–69 DDR-Oberliga|1968–69]]
|[[1. FC Frankfurt|FC Vorwärts Berlin]]
|-
|[[1969–70 DDR-Oberliga|1969–70]]
|[[FC Carl Zeiss Jena]]
|-
|[[1970–71 DDR-Oberliga|1970–71]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1971–72 DDR-Oberliga|1971–72]]
|[[1. FC Magdeburg]]
|-
|[[1972–73 DDR-Oberliga|1972–73]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1973–74 DDR-Oberliga|1973–74]]
|[[1. FC Magdeburg]]
|-
|[[1974–75 DDR-Oberliga|1974–75]]
|[[1. FC Magdeburg]]
|-
|[[1975–76 DDR-Oberliga|1975–76]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1976–77 DDR-Oberliga|1976–77]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|}
{{col-3}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Season
!Club
|-
|[[1977–78 DDR-Oberliga|1977–78]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1978–79 DDR-Oberliga|1978–79]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1979–80 DDR-Oberliga|1979–80]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1980–81 DDR-Oberliga|1980–81]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1981–82 DDR-Oberliga|1981–82]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1982–83 DDR-Oberliga|1982–83]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1983–84 DDR-Oberliga|1983–84]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1984–85 DDR-Oberliga|1984–85]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1985–86 DDR-Oberliga|1985–86]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1986–87 DDR-Oberliga|1986–87]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1987–88 DDR-Oberliga|1987–88]]
|[[BFC Dynamo]]
|-
|[[1988–89 DDR-Oberliga|1988–89]]
|[[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1989–90 DDR-Oberliga|1989–90]]
|[[SG Dynamo Dresden]]
|-
|[[1990–91 NOFV-Oberliga|1990–91]]
|[[FC Hansa Rostock]]
|-
|colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" |DDR-Oberliga was dissolved<br>due to [[German reunification]].
|}
{{col-end}}
;Notes
{{notelist-ua}}

==Placings in the DDR-Oberliga 1975–1991==
''Clubs are named by the last names they carried before the [[German reunification]], which are not necessarily their current ones.''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:18%;" | Club
! 1975
! 1976
! 1977
! 1978
! 1979
! 1980
! 1981
! 1982
! 1983
! 1984
! 1985
! 1986
! 1987
! 1988
! 1989
! 1990
! 1991
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Hansa Rostock]]
| 13
| —
| 14
| —
| 14
| —
| 10
| 8
| 8
| 9
| 10
| 13
| —
| 9
| 4
| 6
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Dynamo Dresden|SG Dynamo Dresden]]
| 3
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| 2
| 2
| 4
| 2
| 7
| 2
| 2
| 6
| 2
| 3
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| 2
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Berliner FC Dynamo]]
| 4
| 2
| 4
| 3
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| 2
| 4
| 11
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[1. FC Magdeburg]]
| bgcolor="#ffffbf"| '''1'''
| 3
| 2
| 2
| 4
| 4
| 3
| 6
| 6
| 5
| 5
| 4
| 5
| 7
| 6
| 3
| 10
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Carl Zeiss Jena]]
| 2
| 5
| 3
| 5
| 3
| 3
| 2
| 5
| 3
| 10
| 7
| 3
| 6
| 6
| 8
| 5
| 6
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig]]
| 8
| 4
| 5
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 6
| 3
| 4
| 3
| 3
| 2
| 3
| 2
| 5
| 8
| 7
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Chemnitzer FC|FC Karl-Marx-Stadt]]
| 10
| 11
| 9
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 9
| 9
| 9
| 6
| 9
| 8
| 8
| 8
| 3
| 2
| 5
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt]]
| 9
| 7
| 6
| 9
| 7
| 12
| 7
| 7
| 5
| 7
| 6
| 10
| 7
| 12
| 12
| 11
| 3
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[1. FC Frankfurt|FC Vorwärts Frankfurt]]
| 5
| 12
| 12
| 13
| —
| 5
| 5
| 4
| 2
| 4
| 8
| 9
| 10
| 13
| —
| —
| 14
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Erzgebirge Aue|BSG Wismut Aue]]
| 12
| 6
| 10
| 11
| 11
| 10
| 12
| 10
| 10
| 8
| 4
| 11
| 4
| 10
| 7
| 13
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Hallescher FC|Hallescher FC Chemie]]
| 11
| 8
| 7
| 6
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 11
| 11
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| 5
| 9
| 9
| 4
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FSV Zwickau|BSG Sachsenring Zwickau]]
| 7
| 9
| 8
| 10
| 12
| 8
| 11
| 12
| 14
| —
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| 13
| —
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[1. FC Union Berlin]]
| —
| —
| 11
| 8
| 10
| 13
| —
| —
| 12
| 13
| —
| 7
| 11
| 11
| 14
| —
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[BSG Stahl Riesa]]
| 6
| 10
| 13
| —
| 9
| 11
| 13
| —
| —
| 11
| 12
| 12
| 12
| 14
| —
| —
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Stahl Brandenburg|BSG Stahl Brandenburg]]
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 11
| 5
| 9
| 4
| 11
| 10
| 8
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Energie Cottbus|BSG Energie Cottbus]]
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 13
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 13
| —
| 10
| 7
| 13
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[BSG Chemie Leipzig (1950)|BSG Chemie Leipzig]]
| —
| 13
| —
| —
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| 12
| 13
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —<sup>1</sup>
|rowspan="2"| 12
|- align="center"
|align="left"|[[Chemie Böhlen|BSG Chemie Böhlen]]
| —
| —
| —
| 12
| 13
| —
| 14
| —
| 13
| —
|
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —<sup>1</sup>
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Bischofswerdaer FV 08|BSG Fortschritt Bischofswerda]]
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| 14
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl|BSG Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt]]
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 12
| 9
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[1. Suhler SV 06|BSG Motor Suhl]] 
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[BSG Chemie Buna Schkopau]]<sup>2</sup>
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[BSG Wismut Gera]]
| —
| —
| —
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[FC Pommern Stralsund|ASG Vorwärts Stralsund]]
| 14
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|}
{{small|Source: {{Cite web
| url        = http://www.f-archiv.de/
| title      = DDR-Oberliga
| access-date = 15 March 2008
| publisher  = Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv
}}}}
* <sup>1</sup> BSG Chemie Leipzig (since May 1990 named ''FC Grün-Weiß Leipzig'') and BSG Chemie Böhlen merged in August 1990, to form '''FC Sachsen Leipzig'''.
* <sup>2</sup> The club would continue as [[SV Merseburg 99]] ([[:de:SV Merseburg 99|de]]) following German reunification. [[SV Merseburg 99]] merged with ''VfB IMO Merseburg'' in 2019 to form '''1. FC Merseburg''' ([[:de:1. FC Merseburg|de]]).

==See also==
*[[Regionalliga Nordost]]
*[[NOFV-Oberliga]]
*[[NOFV-Oberliga Süd]]
*[[NOFV-Oberliga Mitte]]
*[[NOFV-Oberliga Nord]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fussballdaten.de/ddr/ The ''DDR-Oberliga'' at Fussballdaten.de]
* [http://www.ddr-fussball.info/ Overall table of the ''DDR-Oberliga'']
* [http://uleseins.de/fussball/ddr_ol/index.html ''DDR-Oberliga'' results & tables] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105714/http://uleseins.de/fussball/ddr_ol/index.html |date=4 March 2016 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080211132003/http://www.weltfussball.de/spielplan.php?Thema=268&Liga=99 DDR-Oberliga at Weltfussball.de]
* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fussball Archiv]
* [https://www.rsssf.org/tablesd/ddrhist.html The ''DDR-Oberliga'' at RSSSF.com]
* [http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/SWTCU3,4,0,Fu%DFball_in_der_DDR.html Fußball in der DDR]

{{DDR-Oberliga seasons}}
{{Football in East Germany}}
{{Top sport leagues in East Germany}} 
{{UEFA leagues}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ddr-Oberliga}}
[[Category:DDR-Oberliga| ]]
[[Category:Football leagues in East Germany|1]]
[[Category:Defunct top-level football leagues in Europe|East]]
[[Category:Sports leagues established in 1949]]
[[Category:1949 establishments in East Germany]]
[[Category:1991 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Sports leagues disestablished in 1991]]