Oberliga
| Oberliga | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1948 |
| No. of teams | 29 |
| Country(ies) |  Germany
|
| Most recent champion(s) | Tilburg Trappers |
| Related competitions | Deutsche Eishockey Liga DEL2 |
The Oberliga (English:Upper League) is currently the third tier of ice hockey in Germany. For the 2015-16 season, the Oberliga is split into two different divisions.
Logos
History
1948-58
The ice hockey Oberliga is the oldest continuously operating league in this sport in Germany. The league was formed in 1948, then as the highest level of play in the country. It started out with six teams who played a home-and-away season to determine the German champion. The founding members were:
- EV Füssen (became first champion of the league)
- Preußen Krefeld
- SC Riessersee
- VfL Bad Nauheim
- HC Augsburg
- Kölner EK
The league expanded to eight clubs for the second season and twelve in the third. From 1952 onwards the league operated with eight clubs again. The 1957–58 season was the last one for the league as the highest level of play in the country. It was decided to form the Eishockey Bundesliga. The best eight clubs from the Oberliga, which then operated with twelve clubs again, qualified for the new top division.
1958-73
The Oberliga remained in existence however, now as the second tier of German ice hockey. Starting out with eight clubs in the league again, it expanded to twelve in the coming seasons. The year 1966 saw the league split into a northern and a southern group. The two separate leagues were called Oberliga Süd and Oberliga Nord. The winners of the two divisions would determine the Oberliga champion in a home-and-away series.
The league reunited in a single division in 1970, now with a strength of 16 teams and direct promotion to the Bundesliga.
The 1972-73 season was the last one as a tier-two league. With the foundation of the 2nd Bundesliga, the Oberliga fell to tier three. While the league champion moved up to the Bundesliga and the teams placed two to nine gained entry to the new second division, only the bottom seven clubs remained in the league.
1973-94
The Oberliga was now again divided into a northern and a southern group. The top two teams out of the two divisions originally played out a promotion round to the 2nd Bundesliga which also served to determined the Oberliga champion. While the modus and number of teams in the league continued to fluctuat, the overall situation remained the same.
1994-99
The year 1994 saw major changes in the German league system. The Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga merged to form the new DEL, an independently run league consisting of 18 clubs in its foundation years. Those second division clubs that did not elect to join the DEL were integrated into the new 1st Liga, which had replaced the Oberliga and operated in a northern and a southern group. The best teams of each of the two divisions played out a DEB championship, similar to the old Oberliga championship.
The 1998-99 season was very much a transition season. The DEB had reintroduced a single-division, nationwide league, titled Bundesliga to compete with the DEL. The league below was now the 1st Liga, which was made up of those clubs from the 1st Liga not admitted to the new Bundesliga and 2nd Liga clubs. However, this situation existed for only one season.
1999-present
From 1999, the league returned to its traditional name Oberliga, with two regional groups, north and south. In turn, the league above it took the name 2nd Bundesliga. The DEL renamed itself DEL - Bundesliga.
Due to a lack of interest, the Oberliga Nord dissolved after the 2000-01 season. The three clubs from this region which were still interested in playing on Oberliga level joined the southern division.
The Oberliga Süd, largely made up of Bavarian clubs, continued to operate successfully in the coming season, usually including a couple of northern clubs, while the Oberliga Nord was not reestablished until 2007.
The ESBG, now operating the 2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga for the DEB decided to reform an Oberliga Nord in 2007. The two separate divisions of the league were however not completely independent of each other, like in the past. Teams from the same league would meet each other four times now, while clubs from different divisions would only meet twice in the regular season. At the end of this, a combined play-off round would determine the Oberliga champion.
In 2007-08, the Oberliga was split in a northern and a southern group for the first time since 2001. The northern group contains nine, the southern ten clubs. The four best-placed teams from each group enter a best-of-five play-off round to determine the Oberliga champion and the two promoted teams to the 2nd Bundesliga. The bottom four in each group enter a play-down round to determine the relegated teams.
In the 2008-09 season, the league played in a single division format before switching to four regional divisions with an Oberliga championship at the end from 2010 onwards.
Champions
1949-58
- From 1949 to 1958, the Oberliga champions were also the German champions.
| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 1948-49 | EV Füssen |
| 1949-50 | SC Riessersee |
| 1950-51 | Preußen Krefeld |
| 1951-52 | Krefelder EV |
| 1952-53 | EV Füssen |
| 1953-54 | EV Füssen |
| 1954-55 | EV Füssen |
| 1955-56 | EV Füssen |
| 1956-57 | EV Füssen |
| 1957-58 | EV Füssen |
1959-73
- From 1959, the league was the second tier of German ice hockey.
| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 1958-59 | VfL Bad Nauheim |
| 1959-60 | TuS Eintracht Dortmund |
| 1960-61 | ESV Kaufbeuren |
| 1961-62 | EV Landshut |
| 1962-63 | EV Landshut |
| 1963-64 | TuS Eintracht Dortmund |
| 1964-65 | Preußen Krefeld |
| 1965-66 | Berliner Schlittschuhclub |
- League played in a northern and southern division.
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Süd |
|---|---|---|
| 1966-67 | VfL Bad Nauheim | Augsburger EV |
| 1967-68 | Eintracht Frankfurt | SC Riessersee |
| 1968-69 | Kölner EK | ESV Kaufbeuren |
| 1969-70 | EC Deilinghofen | EV Rosenheim |
- Bold denotes Oberliga champion.
| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 1970-71 | Preußen Krefeld |
| 1971-72 | Berliner Schlittschuhclub |
| 1972-73 | Kölner EC |
1973-94
- From 1973, the Oberliga was now the third tier of German ice hockey.
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Süd |
|---|---|---|
| 1973-74 | EC Hannover | EC Peiting |
| 1974-75 | Herner EV | EHC 70 München |
| 1975-76 | Herner EV | EHC 70 München |
| 1976-77 | EHC Essen | ERC Freiburg |
| 1977-78 | RSC Bremerhaven | EV Regensburg |
| 1978-79 | Herner EV | Deggendorfer SC |
| 1979-80 | Hamburger SV | VER Selb |
| 1980-81 | Hamburger SV | Augsburger EV |
| 1981-82 | Eintracht Frankfurt | EC Peiting |
| 1982-83 | ESG Kassel | SV Bayreuth |
| 1983-84 | EC Bad Nauheim | VERE Selb |
| 1984-85 | SC Solingen | EHC 80 Nürnberg |
- In 1975, the TSV Straubing won the title, having come second in the regular season.
- For two seasons, the league was split into three divisions.
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Mitte | Oberliga Süd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-86 | Neusser SC | EV Stuttgart | EHC 80 Nürnberg |
| 1986-87 | EC Ratingen | EV Stuttgart | ERC Ingolstadt |
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Süd |
|---|---|---|
| 1987-88 | Westfalen Dortmund | ERC Sonthofen |
| 1988-89 | ECD Sauerland Iserlohn | Augsburger EV |
| 1989-90 | Grefrather EV | EV Ravensburg |
| 1990-91 | EC Bad Nauheim | SC Memmingen |
| 1991-92 | ETC Timmendorfer Strand | TuS Geretsried |
| 1992-93 | Frankfurter ESC | EV Landsberg |
| 1993-94 | ESC Wedemark | Heilbronner EC |
- In 1994, the EC Bad Tölz won the Oberliga championship, having finished third in the regular season.
- Bold denotes Oberliga champion.
1994- present
- The league was renamed and became the second tier of German ice hockey.
| Season | 1st Liga Nord | 1st Liga Süd | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | ERC Westfalen Dortmund | SC Riessersee | EHC Freiburg |
| 1995-96 | ESC Wedemark | Heilbronner EC | ESC Wedemark |
| 1996-97 | EHC Neuwied | EC Bad Tölz | EHC Neuwied |
| 1997-98 | EHC Neuwied | Heilbronner EC | EHC Neuwied |
| 1998-99 | REV Bremerhaven | SC Bietigheim-Bissingen | REV Bremerhaven |
- The league returned to its old names and became the third tier of the league system again.
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Süd |
|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | EV Duisburg | EHC Straubing |
| 2000-01 | EHC Wolfsburg | EV Regensburg |
- The Oberliga Nord folded and the southern division became the only German Oberliga.
| Season | Oberliga Süd |
|---|---|
| 2001-02 | EV Landshut |
| 2002-03 | 1. EV Weiden |
| 2003-04 | REV Bremerhaven |
| 2004-05 | Dresdner Eislöwen |
| 2005-06 | EV Landsberg 2000 |
| 2006-07 | Heilbronner Falken |
- The league is split into two groups with a joint finals round.
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Süd | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | Dresdner Eislöwen | Tölzer Löwen | Dresdner Eislöwen |
| 2008-09 | Hannover Indians | ESV Kaufbeuren | not determined |
- In the 2009-10 season, the league played in a single division format with eleven clubs:
| Season | Oberliga |
|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Starbulls Rosenheim |
- From 2010-2015 the league was played in four regional divisions:
| Season | Oberliga North | Oberliga East | Oberliga West | Oberliga South | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Rostocker EC Piranhas | Saale Bulls Halle | EHC Dortmund | Tölzer Löwen | SC Riessersee |
| 2011–12 | Rostocker EC Piranhas | Saale Bulls Halle | Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim | EC Peiting | Tölzer Löwen |
| 2012-13 | Rostocker EC Piranhas | Saale Bulls Halle | Kassel Huskies | EC Peiting | Rote Teufel Bad Nauheim |
| 2013-14 | Hannover Scorpions | Ice Fighters Leipzig | Löwen Frankfurt | VER Selb | |
| 2014-15 | Hannover Scorpions | Ice Fighters Leipzig | Füchse Duisburg | EHC Freiburg | EHC Freiburg |
Starting in 2015-16, the league was divided into two regional divisions (North and South).
| Season | Oberliga Nord | Oberliga Süd | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | Füchse Duisburg | EV Regensburg | Tilburg Trappers |
See also
- List of Oberliga seasons
- Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the DEL
- 2nd Bundesliga
- Bavarian ice hockey leagues
External links
- The Oberliga at Eishockey-Magazin
- The Oberliga at Hockeyweb.de
- Hockey Archives - International ice hockey website with tables and results (in French)
- Official website of the ESBG for the 2nd Bundesliga and Oberliga
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