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Formerly Kronprinzenpokal (1908–18)
Bundespokal (1918–33)
Reichsbundpokal (1935–42)
Sport Football
Founded 1908
No. of teams 21
Country  Germany
Most recent champion(s) South West
Most titles Bavaria

The Länderpokal (English: State Cup) is the oldest cup competition of the German Football Association. It came into existence as the Kronprinzenpokal (English:Crown Prince Cup) but has changed its name various times since. The cup is held annually at the Sportschule Duisburg-Wedau. Contestants in the cup are teams of the 21 regional football associations, composed of youth players from that area. Also guest teams are invited each year since 2005, which play in the competition but will not be awarded a place in the final standings.

In the past, the cup was contested by senior regional selections, later by senior amateur selections from the Amateur-Oberligas and below. In the mid-90's, this was changed to Under-21 selections. In 1981 the a women's competition was introduced. Record titleholder for the men's competition is the Bavarian football association.


William, the German Crown Prince

The competition was formed in 1908, when the German Crown Prince William donated a cup to the German Football Association - DFB, to initiate the Kronprinzenpokal. His only condition for the new competition was that the final was always to be played in Berlin.[1]

The trophy had an inscription engraved which it still bears today:

"Seine Kaiserliche und Königliche Hoheit Wilhelm, Kronprinz des Deutschen Reiches und von Preußen stiftete im Jahre 1908 diesen Pokal als Wanderpreis für Fußball-Wettspiele zwischen den repräsentativen Mannschaften der Landesverbände des Deutschen Fußball-Bundes"

"His Imperial and Royal Highness William, Crown Prince of the German Empire and Prussia donated this trophy in 1908 as a reward for football competitions between the teams of the regional associations of the German Football Association"

The Kronprinzenpokal was initially contested by only seven teams, the selections of the seven regional German football associations, North, South, West, Brandenburg, Central, South East and Baltic.

With the end of the First World War, the name of the competition was altered to reflect the fact, that Germany was not a monarchy anymore. The throphy donated by William with its inscription is however still used and handed to the winner each season.[1]



Held from 1909 to 1918, when the monarchy in Germany was abolished, the Crown Prince Cup was the first version of the tournament. It was contested between the selections of the seven regional football associations in Germany at the time. The competition was interrupted by the First World War and was not held in 1915 and 1916:

Year Winner
1909 Central Germany
1910 Southern Germany
1911 Northern Germany
1912 Southern Germany
1913 Western Germany
1914 Northern Germany
1915 not held
1916 not held
1917 Northern Germany
1918 Brandenburg


The competition continued in its previous form after the end of the monarchy, in the new German Republic, now renamed Federal Cup:

Year Winner
1919 Northern Germany
1920 Western Germany
1921 Central Germany
1922 Southern Germany
1923 Southern Germany
1924 Southern Germany
1925 Northern Germany
1926 Southern Germany
1927 Central Germany
1928 South Eastern Germany
1929 Brandenburg
1930 Northern Germany
1931 Southern Germany
1932 Northern Germany
1933 Southern Germany


In 1933, with the rise of the Nazis to power, the old regional football federations were abolished, football in Germany was centralized and the Gauligas were introduced, 16 regional first divisions. A new competition to replace the Bundespokal was introduced in 1935, now contested by selections from the Gaue, the new administrative subdivisions of Germany. This competition lasted until 1942, when the consequences caused by the Second World War made football more and more difficult.

Year Winner
1935 Gau Mitte
1936 Gau Sachsen
1937 Gau Niederrhein
1938 Gau Nordmark
1939 Gauliga Schlesien
1940 Gau Bayern
1941 Gau Sachsen
1942 Gau Niederrhein


Staged for the first and only time after the Second World War, the State Cup was played in 1950 and won by Bavaria.


From 1951 onwards, the competition, now renamed Amateur State Cup, was open only to non-professional players. It started out with the selections of the fifteen regional football federations in West Germany, not including East German or Saarland selections, the later entering a team from 1957. Selections from the five East German federations only started to participated after the German reunion. The now twenty-one regional football federations are not always identical in size to the current sixteen German federal states, a number of states have more than one federation.

Year Winner Runners-up Result
1951 Lower Rhine Berlin 5–4 aet
1952 Bavaria Lower Rhine 4–0
1953 Bavaria Lower Saxony 5–2
1954 Bavaria Schleswig-Holstein 3–0
1955 Bavaria Westphalia 5–2
1956 Hesse Lower Rhine 3–1
1957 Lower Saxony Westphalia 3–2
1958 Lower Rhine Lower Saxony 2–0
1959 Hamburg Hesse 4–1
1960 Middle Rhine Hesse 3–0
1961 Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein 2–1
1962 Westphalia Middle Rhine 2–1
1963 Bavaria Hesse 3–1
1964 Middle Rhine South Baden 4–0
1965 Bavaria Westphalia 3–2
1966 Westphalia Lower Saxony 1–0
1967 North Baden Hesse 2–1
1968 Bavaria Hamburg 5–0
1969 North Baden Hamburg 2–1
1970 Bavaria North Baden 2–1
1971 Bavaria Lower Rhine 2–1 aet
1972 North Baden Lower Saxony 2–1
1973 North Baden Lower Rhine 1–1 aet 1
1974 Middle Rhine Westphalia 1–0
1975 South West North Baden 0–0 aet (4–2 pso)
1976 Lower Saxony Bavaria 1–0
1977 Bavaria South West 4–2 aet
1978 Westphalia Lower Saxony 1–0 / 1–0
1979 Württemberg Berlin 2–1
1980 Bavaria Lower Rhine 4–2
1981 South West Hesse 1–1 aet (4–3 pso)
1982 South West Lower Rhine 3–1
1983 Hesse Schleswig-Holstein 2–1 aet
1984 Bremen Bavaria 3–1
1985 Rhineland Hamburg 1–1 aet (3–2 pso)
1986 Westphalia Lower Rhine 0–0 aet (4–2 pso)
1987 Lower Saxony Berlin 3–1
1988 Württemberg Lower Rhine 2–0
1989 Bavaria Hesse 2–2 aet (4–2 pso)
1990 Bavaria Baden 3–0
1991 Lower Rhine Hesse 1–1 aet (4–3 pso)
1992 Hesse Bremen 3–2
1993 Westphalia Hesse 5–2
1994 Westphalia Bavaria 3–1 aet
1995 Lower Rhine Rhineland 1–0
1996 Baden Middle Rhine 1–0
1997 Westphalia Rhineland 4–1
1998 Westphalia Middle Rhine 5–2
1999 Schleswig-Holstein Lower Saxony 4–1
2000 Bavaria Westphalia 2–1
2001 Württemberg Westphalia 3–0
2002 Middle Rhine Westphalia 3–0
2003 South West Lower Saxony 2–2 aet (4–2 pso)
2004 Middle Rhine Bremen 1–0

Since 2005, a final is not played anymore and the competitions winner is determined by a group stage.

Year Winner Runners-up
2005 Saxony Württemberg
2006 Lower Rhine Middle Rhine
2007 Lower Rhine Baden
2008 South West Berlin
2009 Württemberg Westphalia
2010 Middle Rhine Württemberg
  • 1 North Baden declared the winner because Lower Rhine was unable to field a team for the rematch.


1950 onwards[edit]

The selections of the twenty-one regional German football federations take part in the cup, these being:

  • Bavaria (Bayern), covering the state of Bavaria
  • Berlin, covering the city state of Berlin +
  • Brandenburg, covering the state of Brandenburg +
  • Bremen, covering the city state of Bremen
  • Hamburg covering the city state of Hamburg
  • Hesse (Hessen), covering the state of Hesse
  • Lower Rhine (Niederrhein), covering the north western part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), covering the state of Lower Saxony
  • Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, covering the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern +
  • Middle Rhine (Mittelrhein), covering the south western part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • North Baden (Nordbaden), covering the north western part of the state of Baden-Württemberg
  • Rhineland (Rheinland), covering the northern half of Rhineland-Palatinate
  • Saarland, covering the state of Saarland
  • Saxony (Sachsen), covering the state of Saxony +
  • Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), covering the state of Saxony-Anhalt +
  • Schleswig-Holstein, covering the state of Schleswig-Holstein
  • South Baden (Südbaden), covering the south western part of the state of Baden-Württemberg
  • South West (Südwest), covering the southern half of Rhineland-Palatinate
  • Thuringia (Thüringen), covering the state of Thuringia +
  • Westphalia (Westfalen), covering the eastern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
  • Württemberg, covering the eastern part of the state of Baden-Württemberg, divided into north and south in the first edition in 1951.
    • + Formerly part of East Germany, except Berlin, which was divided between East and West.
    • German names in brackets, when different from English name.


  • kicker Allmanach 1990, (German) by kicker, page 216 & 225 – Der Länderpokal der Amateure (German Amateur State Cup)

External links[edit]


  1. ^ a b Kick it like Kronprinz (German) Spiegel Online, accessed: 11 June 2009