1961 German football championship

The 1961 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1960–61. 1. FC Nürnberg were crowned champions for a record eighth time after a group stage and a final, having previously won the title in 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1936 and 1948. It was the club's first appearance in the final since its 1948 title.^[1]

1961 German championship

Deutsche Fußballmeisterschaft
Tournament details
Country	West Germany
Dates	6 May – 24 June
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	1. FC Nürnberg 8th German title
Runners-up	Borussia Dortmund
European Cup	1. FC Nürnberg
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	111 (4.27 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Uwe Seeler (8 goals)
← 1960 1962 →

On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1961–62 European Cup, where 1. FCN lost to S.L. Benfica in the quarter-finals.

Runners-up Borussia Dortmund made its fourth appearance in the national title game, having lost the championship in 1949 and won it in 1956 and 1957.

The format used to determine the German champion was the same as the one used in the 1960 season. Nine clubs qualified for the tournament, with the runners-up of Southwest and South having to play a qualifying match. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-and-away round in two groups of four, with the two group winners entering the final.

Qualified teams

The teams qualified through the 1960–61 Oberliga season:

Club	Qualified from
Hamburger SV	Oberliga Nord champions
SV Werder Bremen	Oberliga Nord runners-up
1. FC Köln	Oberliga West champions
Borussia Dortmund	Oberliga West runners-up
Hertha BSC Berlin	Oberliga Berlin champions
1. FC Saarbrücken	Oberliga Südwest champions
Borussia Neunkirchen	Oberliga Südwest runners-up
1. FC Nürnberg	Oberliga Süd champions
Eintracht Frankfurt	Oberliga Süd runners-up

Competition

Qualifying round

Date	Match			Result	Stadium	Attendance
6 May 1961	Eintracht Frankfurt	–	Borussia Neunkirchen	5-0 (2–0)	Ludwigshafen, Südweststadion	35,000

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification		BVB	SGE	HSV	FCS
1	Borussia Dortmund	6	3	1	2	19	12	1.583	7	Advance to final		—	0–1	7–2	2–2
2	Eintracht Frankfurt	6	3	1	2	13	9	1.444	7			1–2	—	4–2	1–1
3	Hamburger SV	6	3	0	3	14	19	0.737	6			2–5	2–1	—	3–0
4	1. FC Saarbrücken	6	1	2	3	11	17	0.647	4			4–3	2–5	2–3	—

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Group phase - Group 1

Match			Final result
Hamburger SV	-	Borussia Dortmund	2:5
Eintracht Frankfurt	-	1. FC Saarbrücken	1:1
1. FC Saarbrücken	-	Hamburger SV	2:3
Borussia Dortmund	-	Eintracht Frankfurt	0:1
Hamburger SV	-	Eintracht Frankfurt	2:1
Borussia Dortmund	-	1. FC Saarbrücken	2:2
Eintracht Frankfurt	-	Hamburger SV	4:2
1. FC Saarbrücken	-	Borussia Dortmund	4:3
Hamburger SV	-	1. FC Saarbrücken	3:0
Eintracht Frankfurt	-	Borussia Dortmund	1:2
Borussia Dortmund	-	Hamburger SV	7:2
1. FC Saarbrücken	-	Eintracht Frankfurt	2:5

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification		FCN	SVW	KOE	BSC
1	1. FC Nürnberg	6	4	2	0	18	9	2.000	10	Advance to final		—	4–0	3–3	3–3
2	Werder Bremen	6	2	2	2	8	11	0.727	6			2–4	—	1–1	1–0
3	1. FC Köln	6	1	3	2	11	12	0.917	5			1–2	1–1	—	3–4
4	Hertha BSC	6	1	1	4	9	14	0.643	3			0–2	1–3	1–2	—

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal ratio.

Group phase - Group 2

Match			Final result
1. FC Köln	-	Werder Bremen	1:1
Hertha BSC Berlin	-	1. FC Nürnberg	0:2
1. FC Nürnberg	-	1. FC Köln	3:3
Werder Bremen	-	Hertha BSC Berlin	1:0
1. FC Köln	-	Hertha BSC Berlin	3:4
Werder Bremen	-	1. FC Nürnberg	2:4
Hertha BSC Berlin	-	1. FC Köln	1:2
1. FC Nürnberg	-	Werder Bremen	4:0
1. FC Köln	-	1. FC Nürnberg	1:2
Hertha BSC Berlin	-	Werder Bremen	1:3
Werder Bremen	-	1. FC Köln	1:1
1. FC Nürnberg	-	Hertha BSC Berlin	3:3

Final

Date	Match			Result	Stadium	Attendance
24 June 1961	1. FC Nürnberg	–	Borussia Dortmund	3–0 (2–0)	Hannover, Niedersachsenstadion	82,000

1. FC Nürnberg: 1 Roland Wabra 2 Ferdinand Wenauer 3 Helmut Hilpert 4 Paul Derbfuß 5 Stefan Reisch 6 Josef Zenger 7 Heinz Strehl 67' 8 Heinrich Müller 44' 9 Max Morlock 10 Kurt Haseneder 6' 11 Gustav Flachenecker Manager: Herbert Widmayer

Borussia Dortmund: 1 Heinz Kwiatkowski 2 Rolf Thiemann 3 Gerd Cyliax 4 Wilhelm Burgsmüller 5 Aki Schmidt 6 Dieter Kurrat 7 Alfred Kelbassa 8 Lothar Geisler 9 Jürgen Schütz 10 Wolfgang Peters 11 Timo Konietzka Manager: Max Merkel