# 1957 German football championship

The 1957 German football championship was the culmination of the football season in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1956–57. Borussia Dortmund were crowned champions for the second time after a group stage and a final. Borussia became the first club since Dresdner SC in 1944 to defend their title won the previous year.
It was Borussia's third appearance in the German final, having lost 3–2 to VfR Mannheim in 1949 and won the championship in 1956, beating Karlsruher SC 4–2. On the strength of this title, the club participated in the 1957–58 European Cup, where it went out to AC Milan in the quarter-finals.
For the losing finalist, Hamburger SV, it was its first appearance in the final since winning the title in 1928.
The format used to determine the German champion was different from the 1956 season. Only two clubs took part in the qualifying round, instead of four. The group stage, eight teams split into two groups of four, was conducted as a single round with games on neutral grounds; previously it had been home-and-away games. As in the past seasons, the two group winners then played the national final.

## Qualified teams

The clubs qualified through the 1956–57 Oberliga season:
| Club | Qualified from |
| Hamburger SV | Oberliga Nord champions |
| Holstein Kiel | Oberliga Nord runners-up |
| Borussia Dortmund | Oberliga West champions |
| Duisburger SV | Oberliga West runners-up |
| Hertha BSC Berlin | Oberliga Berlin champions |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Oberliga Südwest champions |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Oberliga Südwest runners-up |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | Oberliga Süd champions |
| Kickers Offenbach | Oberliga Süd runners-up |

## Competition
### Qualifying round

| Date | Match | Match | Match | Result | Stadium | Attendance |
| 25 May 1957 | Kickers Offenbach | – | Holstein Kiel | 3–2 aet (0–2, 2–2) | Düsseldorf, Rheinstadion | 35,000 |

### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification | HSV | DSV | FCN | FCS |
| 1 | Hamburger SV | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1.667 | 5 | Advance to final | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Duisburger SV | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1.500 | 4 | | — | — | — | 3–1 |
| 3 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0.833 | 2 | | — | 2–2 | — | — |
| 4 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0.571 | 1 | | — | — | 2–2 | — |
| Date | Match | Match | Match | Result | Stadium | Attendance |
| 2 June 1957 | Hamburger SV | – | Duisburger SV | 1–1 (0–0) | Berlin, Olympiastadion | 40,000 |
| 2 June 1957 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | – | 1. FC Nürnberg | 2–2 (0–0) | Stuttgart, Neckarstadion | 70,000 |
| 9 June 1957 | Hamburger SV | – | 1. FC Nürnberg | 2–1 (1–0) | Cologne, Müngersdorfer Stadion | 50,000 |
| 9 June 1957 | Duisburger SV | – | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 3–1 (2–0) | Frankfurt, Waldstadion | 40,000 |
| 16 June 1957 | Hamburger SV | – | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 2–1 (2–1) | Düsseldorf, Rheinstadion | 32,000 |
| 16 June 1957 | 1. FC Nürnberg | – | Duisburger SV | 2–2 (1–0) | Ludwigshafen, Südweststadion | 33,000 |

### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification | BVB | KOF | FCK | BSC |
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 1.750 | 6 | Advance to final | — | 2–1 | — | 2–1 |
| 2 | Kickers Offenbach | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2.000 | 4 | | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 2.125 | 2 | | 2–3 | 1–4 | — | 14–1 |
| 4 | Hertha BSC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 0.158 | 0 | | — | 1–3 | — | — |
| Date | Match | Match | Match | Result | Stadium | Attendance |
| 2 June 1957 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | – | Hertha BSC Berlin | 14–1 (5–1) | Wuppertal, Stadion am Zoo | 42,000 |
| 2 June 1957 | Borussia Dortmund | – | Kickers Offenbach | 2–1 (1–1) | Ludwigshafen, Südweststadion | 55,000 |
| 9 June 1957 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | – | Borussia Dortmund | 2–3 (0–1) | Hannover, Niedersachsenstadion | 75,000 |
| 9 June 1957 | Hertha BSC Berlin | – | Kickers Offenbach | 1–3 (1–2) | Essen, Georg-Melches-Stadion | 6,000 |
| 16 June 1957 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | – | Kickers Offenbach | 1–4 (0–3) | Augsburg, Rosenaustadion | 40,000 |
| 16 June 1957 | Borussia Dortmund | – | Hertha BSC | 2–1 (1–1) | Braunschweig, Eintracht-Stadion | 15,000 |

### Final

| Date | Match | Match | Match | Result | Stadium | Attendance |
| 23 June 1957 | Borussia Dortmund | – | Hamburger SV | 4–1 (3–1) | Hannover, Niedersachsenstadion | 82,000 |
Borussia Dortmund: :
| | 1 | Heinz Kwiatkowski |
| | 2 | Herbert Sandmann |
| | 3 | Max Michallek |
| | 4 | Wilhelm Burgsmüller |
| | 5 | Helmut Bracht |
| | 6 | Elwin Schlebrowski |
| | 7 | Alfred Niepieklo 26' 78' |
| | 8 | Alfred Kelbassa 16' 25' |
| | 9 | Alfred Preißler |
| | 10 | Wolfgang Peters |
| | 11 | Helmut Kapitulski |
| Manager: ||||
| Helmut Schneider ||||
Hamburger SV: :
| | 1 | Horst Schnoor |
| | 2 | Jürgen Werner |
| | 3 | Jupp Posipal |
| | 4 | Jochen Meinke |
| | 5 | Gerhard Krug 24' |
| | 6 | Franz Klepacz |
| | 7 | Karl-Heinz Liese |
| | 8 | Walter Schemel |
| | 9 | Rolf Börner |
| | 10 | Uwe Seeler |
| | 11 | Uwe Reuter |
| Manager: ||||
| Günter Mahlmann ||||