Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen

The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi take over of power in Germany. It replaced the Bezirksliga as the highest level of play in German football competitions.

The Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen was established with twelve clubs from the states of Prussia, Bavaria, Hesse and Saarland. At the time of the league's establishment, the Saarland was actually not yet a part of Germany again.

The Gauliga replaced as such the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar and the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen, who had been the highest leagues in this region until then. The clubs from Mannheim in the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar however joined the Gauliga Baden, while some clubs from the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen joined the Gauliga Hessen.

In its first season, the league had twelve clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the German championship while the bottom three teams were relegated. The next season, the league was reduced to eleven teams. In the 1935–36 season, it played with ten clubs and only two relegated teams. This system remained in place until 1939.

In 1939–40, the league played in two regional groups of seven, the Saarpfalz group and the Mainhessen group. The two league winners played out a home-and-away final. The 1940–41 season saw only one change in this set up, the groups were expanded to eight teams.

At the end of the 1940–41 season, the Gauliga was split into two completely separate leagues, forming the Gauligas Hessen-Nassau and Gauliga Westmark. It followed thereby the political borders of the Reichsgaue.

Gauligas Hessen-Nassau

The league was mostly formed by clubs from the Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen (Mainhessen division) and some clubs from the south of the Gauliga Hessen.

In its first season, 1941–42, it consisted of 13 clubs in two groups with a home-and-away final for the two league winners. In the next two seasons, it operated as a single division with ten teams and two relegation spots.

The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all Gauligas and football in Hesse at this stage had a very low priority. The 1944–45 season, if started at all was definitely not finished.

Gauliga Westmark

The new league, apart from the clubs from the Saarpfalz division of the Gauliga Westmark, also included two clubs from Lorraine, from Metz, and Sarreguemines (German: Saargemünd).

The league operated with nine clubs since FK Pirmasens withdrew early and two relegated team. It archived its desired strength of ten clubs the year after, in the 1942–43 season. It remained unchanged for the 1943–44 season.

The last season in 1944-45 was probably not started at all as much of Lorraine had been reoccupied by allied forces and the rest of the Reichsgau Westmnark was a front line zone.

Aftermath

With the end of the Nazi era, the Gauligas ceased to exist and while what was to become the state of Hesse found itself predominantly in the US occupation zone, all territories of the original Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen west of the river Rhine were part of the French zone.

In the US zone, football soon resumed and the Oberliga Süd was formed in late 1945 as a replacement for the Gauligas in the south of Germany. Similar, in the French zone, the Oberliga Südwest was formed.

Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Südwest/Mainhessen

Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau

Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Westmark

Hessen-Nassau clubs

• ¹ The SV Wiesbaden played under the name of KSG Wiesbaden from 1941.

Westmark clubs

• ² The FV Saarbrücken played under the name of KSG Saarbrücken from 1943.
• ³ The TSG 61 Ludwigshafen played under the name of KSG Ludwigshafen from 1943.