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During the war, football was used as a morale booster for the population and was supported by the regime. Many teams were sponsored by the Luftwaffe, the SS, or other branches of the military. As the tide turned against Germany, the Gauliga began to crumble as players were called away to military service or were killed in the conflict, stadiums were bombed and travel became difficult. The original sixteen Gauligen broke up into over thirty smaller, more local circuits. The level of play deteriorated and lopsided scores became common, the record being a 32–0 win by Germania Mudersbach over FV Engen. The 1943–44 championship was initially cancelled but eventually went ahead after widespread protest. The 1944–45 season began less than two weeks later, rather than after the usual three-month summer break. The last recorded match in the Third Reich was on 23 April 1945 as Bayern Munich defeated 1860 Munich 3–2. Less than three weeks later, Germany surrendered unconditionally. |
Under Allied occupation all organizations, including sports clubs and associations, were initially banned. However, within a year, sports-only organizations without political affiliation were permitted, and in the American, British and French occupation zones, most pre-war clubs were reconstituted. Oberliga play resumed in 1945–46 on a regional basis in the South and South-West; Berlin and the other regions followed and, in 1948, 1. FC Nürnberg defeated 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2–1 to become the first post-war national champions. At the time, there was no "prize" to play for. The Viktoria trophy traditionally awarded to the nation's best side had gone missing in the chaos of post-war Germany. In 1949, Nürnberg and each winning side since VfB Leipzig in 1903, would have their names engraved on the newly created Meisterschale, nicknamed "the salad bowl" for its shape. The German Cup competition introduced prior to the war also returned, with Rot-Weiss Essen's 2–1 victory over Alemannia Aachen in 1953. |
Through the 1950s, there were continued calls for the formation of a central professional league, especially as professional leagues in other countries began to draw Germany's best players away from the amateur domestic leagues. At the international level the German game began to falter as German teams often fared poorly against professional teams from other countries. A key supporter of the central league concept was national team head coach Sepp Herberger who said, "If we want to remain competitive internationally, we have to raise our expectations at the national level." |
In spite of this, Germany (as West Germany) managed to win its first World Cup in 1954 defeating heavily favoured Hungary 3–2, the only "amateur" (i.e. semi-professional) side ever to do so. The unexpected victory was called "The Miracle of Bern" by a delighted nation. An oddity of the 1954 World Cup preliminary rounds was the fielding of a separate side by the German state of Saarland, which was occupied by the French and did not become a part of West Germany again until after a plebiscite and treaty negotiation. The Saarlanders acquitted themselves well, finishing second in their group ahead of Norway and behind group winner West Germany. |
Meanwhile, in East Germany, a separate league was established with the formation of the DS-Oberliga (Deutscher Sportausschuß Oberliga or German Sports Association) in 1949. The league was renamed the Fußball Oberliga DFV in 1958 and was generally referred to simply as the DDR-Liga or DDR-Oberliga. The league fielded 14 teams with 2 relegation spots. |
The defeat of the national team by Yugoslavia (0–1) in a 1962 World Cup quarter final game in Chile was one impetus (of many) to the formation of a national league. Under new DFB president Hermann Gösmann (elected that very day) the Bundesliga was created in Dortmund at the Westfalenhallen on 28 July 1962 to begin play starting with the 1963–64 season. The new German professional league was modelled on the long-established English league, which had been set up in 1888. |
At the time, there were five Oberligen, or Premier leagues, in place representing West Germany's North, South, West, Southwest, and Berlin. East Germany, under Soviet occupation, maintained its separate league structure. Forty-six clubs applied for admission to the new league. Sixteen teams were selected based on their success on the field, economic criteria and representation of the various Oberligen. |
The first Bundesliga games were played on 24 August 1963. Early favorite 1. FC Köln (45:19) was the first Bundesliga champion over second place clubs Meidericher SV and Eintracht Frankfurt (both 39:25). |
The new league was met with enthusiasm early on and large crowds came out to watch the nation's top teams. No single team was able to dominate through the 1960s — in seven seasons from 1963–64 through to 1969–70, seven different teams won the championship. The 1965–66 season saw the promotion of Bayern Munich to the top league and in 1968–69 they won their first championship on their way to becoming the most dominant side in Bundesliga history. |
The 1960s also saw one of the strangest incidents in the history of the Bundesliga. The licence of Hertha BSC Berlin was revoked for the 1964–65 season and the team relegated to the Regionalliga Berlin (Regional leagues being the leagues below the Bundesliga at the time) for breaking the league's player salary rules, partially in an attempt to entice players to Berlin at the time of the construction of the Berlin Wall and high Cold War tensions. The last place clubs, Karlsruher SC and FC Schalke 04, tried to avoid being demoted by laying claim to Hertha's place. It was decided to suspend relegation for one season and increase the number of teams in the league from 16 to 18 to accommodate the two teams which would normally be promoted from the Regionalligen. The politics of the Cold War era led to a space being held open for a Berlin side to replace Hertha in a show of solidarity with the former capital city. What followed was the debacle of the promotion of Tasmania 1900 Berlin, which went on to the worst season in league history. |
West Germany made another appearance in the final of the World Cup in 1966, losing (4–2) to England in extra time that included a famously controversial goal. |
The young league got off to a difficult start in the decade as a scandal broke with Kickers Offenbach president Horst-Gregorio Canellas putting forward evidence of players being bribed to affect the outcome of games. Allegations were that a number of clubs, including Bielefeld, Hertha, Schalke, and Köln, were involved. The scandal caused a disastrous loss of confidence in the Bundesliga and game attendance plummeted. Investigations by the DFB led to the banning of many players, although most of these sentences were commuted. Arminia Bielefeld, identified as the club central to the scandal, was stripped of all points they had earned during the 1971–72 season and then relegated to the league below. |
Enthusiasm for the sport was restored by host West Germany's win in the 1974 World Cup and the first wins by Bundesliga sides in the European Champions Cup (a triple by Bayern Munich in 1974, 1975 and 1976) and the UEFA Cup (Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1975). Attendance rose steadily after the end of the bribery scandal, putting some teams on solid enough financial footings to be able to attract the first foreign stars to the league in the 1977–78 season. |
The Bundesliga was dominated by two sides through the 1970s. Borussia Mönchengladbach became the first team to successfully defend its title with its win in 1970–71. Bayern Munich became the first three-time champion with wins in 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1973–74. Borussia Mönchengladbach then turned a triple of its own over the following three seasons. After wins by Köln and Hamburg, Bayern closed out the decade by matching Mönchengladbach's five titles. |
The 1980s were a rather bleak decade for the Bundesliga. There was a general decline in attendance throughout the league: in the 1977–78 season average attendance for a Bundesliga match was over 26,000 — the best since 1964–65. By 1985–86 that figure bottomed out at just 17,600 spectators per game. The country's football was also affected by the general European problem of hooliganism and the appearance of neo-Nazi fan groups. The German domestic game became a graceless, rough-edged, brute physical contest devoid of the kinds of star players fans had enjoyed watching in earlier decades. The best German players were regularly lured south to play in Serie A by cash-rich Italian clubs. Bayern Munich's domination of the Bundesliga became numbingly repetitive as they took six of ten titles in the 1980s. |
But by the end of the decade the stage was set for some fundamental changes to the Bundesliga. The league signed its first rich television contract and German re-unification and the subsequent merger of the football leagues of East and West Germany was on the horizon. |
In 1991, a year after German reunification, East Germany's Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR, or Football Federation of the German Democratic Republic, was merged into West Germany's DFB. East German sides were seeded and assigned to various levels within the West German league structure, which was itself modified to accommodate the influx of new clubs. To facilitate the union with the eastern league the Bundesliga temporarily expanded to 20 clubs in the 1991–92 season and added the DDR-Oberliga's top two sides, Dynamo Dresden and Hansa Rostock. The Bundesliga returned to an 18 team slate in the following season with Dresden managing to stick in the top league, while "Rostock" was relegated. These two teams continued to make appearances in the Bundesliga through the 1990s. The only other former East German sides to earn promotion to the Bundesliga to date are FC Energie Cottbus and VfB Leipzig, while a half dozen others of these clubs have played in 2. Bundesliga. |
Beginning with the 1995–96 season, the league adopted a new scoring system. Teams were now awarded three points for a win rather than two as had been traditional, with a view toward encouraging more effort through a greater reward in the standings. |
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Bundesliga again enjoyed increasing popularity in Germany. This was on one hand due to the success of the German national football team (third World Cup title in 1990 and third European Championships title in 1996). The Bundesliga also began to take a more deliberate approach to marketing and promoting itself and its member clubs, following the example of other more widely recognized European leagues. |
In 1998, 1. FC Kaiserslautern became the first (and so far, only) team in Bundesliga and German history to win the league championship as a newly promoted team, having won the 2. Bundesliga title the previous year. |
Until 2001, the Bundesliga was directly under the control German football's governing body the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB or German Football Association). This changed with the formation of the Deutsche Fußball-Liga (DFL or German Football League) when the Bundesligen came under the auspices of this new body. The DFL, while remaining subordinate to the DFB, manages Germany's professional leagues and is responsible for the issuing of licences to clubs, general fiscal oversight of the Bundesligen, and marketing rights for the two upper leagues. |
Since the launch of the Bundesliga on 24 August 1963 fifty-five clubs have played in the league ranks. To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the league, two clubs with distinguished Bundesliga histories met in a game on 24 August 2003: Hamburger SV, once known as the "dinosaur" for being the only club which has played in every season of the league's existence until relegation in 2018, and Bayern Munich, the most successful side in German football, which had just won their seventeenth Bundesliga title. |
In 2005, German football was once again overshadowed by the discovery of a match-fixing scandal involving second division referee Robert Hoyzer, who confessed to fixing and betting on matches in the 2. Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal (German Cup), and the Regionalliga (III). The games included a DFB-Pokal first-round match between regional side Paderborn and Bundesliga heavyweights Hamburg on 21 August 2004. Hamburg lost (2–4) through penalties and a red-card charged to the side and was eliminated from the lucrative competition. |
Hoyzer was banned for life and received a 29-month prison sentence. He soon implicated other officials, players, and a group of Croatian-based gamblers, leading to an ongoing investigation. To this point, at the end of 2005, it appears that the scandal did not directly involve the Bundesliga and was confined to lower divisions: |
Despite the scandal, the Bundesliga continues to set new attendance records. In the Bundesliga's 43rd season, total attendance was about 12.41 million in 306 games for an average of 40,572 per game, a 6.9% increase over the preceding year, making the 2005–06 season the 5th consecutive record attendance year. After a decrease in 2006–07 and a slight recovery in 2007–08, new records were set in 2008–09, with 12.82 million total attendance and a per-game average of 41,904. The 2008–09 figure makes the Bundesliga the best-attended national football league in the world by per-game attendance. It is also third in per-game attendance among major professional sports leagues in the world, slightly ahead of the Australian Football League (Australian rules) and well behind the second-ranked Indian Premier League (Twenty20 cricket) and top-ranked NFL (American football) in the United States. Top drawing clubs based on average attendance included: Borussia Dortmund 72,850; FC Bayern Munich 67,214; FC Schalke 04 61,177; and Hamburger SV 53,298. Interest in the league was piqued by the 2006 FIFA World Cup hosted in Germany. An ambitious program of stadium upgrades was undertaken in preparation for the tournament. |
The 2. Bundesliga saw an enormous increase in popularity in 2006–07, drawing about 4.67 million spectators for an average of 15,253. This not only smashed the league's previous attendance record, but also marked an increase of more than 20% over the 2005–06 season. The league saw another huge increase in popularity in 2007–08, drawing 5.55 million spectators for an average of 18,140, an increase of almost 19% over the previous season, which briefly made the 2. Bundesliga the most-attended second-level professional sports league in the world on a per-game basis. However, the league would lose almost all of these gains in 2008–09, with total attendance of 4.76 million and an average of 15,550. Although the Second Bundesliga is now second in attendance to England's Football League Championship among second-level professional sports leagues, it still draws more spectators per game than the top leagues in such established footballing nations as Turkey, Russia, and Portugal. |
Starting with the 2008–09 season, a new third-level league, the 3. Liga, was launched, slotting between the 2. Bundesliga and the Regionalliga in the league pyramid. Unlike the Bundesligen, the 3. Liga is operated directly by the DFB. At the same time, the Regionalliga went from two divisions to three. |
One of the problems currently facing the league is in the performance and fate of clubs from the former East Germany, which are finding it difficult to compete with the wealthy, established western sides. One-time GDR clubs are unable to attract lucrative sponsorships, cannot afford the salaries needed to hold on to their "homegrown" talent, and find themselves playing in crumbling or primitive stadium facilities. Of the 36 clubs in the top two levels of the league system in the 2011–12 season, five are from the former East Germany, an increase of two from 2010–11. However, as in the previous two seasons, none will be in the First Bundesliga. The five former Eastern clubs in the 2. Bundesliga are Energie Cottbus, who last appeared in the First Bundesliga in 2008–09; Union Berlin, from the former East Berlin, who have been in the 2. Bundesliga since being promoted as champions of the inaugural season of the 3. Liga; Erzgebirge Aue, present since the 2010–11 season; Hansa Rostock, who immediately returned from a one-season stint in the 3. Liga; and Dynamo Dresden, making their first appearance at the second level in five years. Four other eastern clubs are playing in the 2011–12 3. Liga—Carl Zeiss Jena, Chemnitz, Rot-Weiß Erfurt, and the Potsdam club Babelsberg. |
In preparations for the 2006 World Cup, the DFB attempted to fairly balance the number of venues between the eastern and western halves of the country. However, the organization had to face up to the reality of there not being enough suitable facilities in the old DDR –not limited to stadiums, but including hotels, restaurants and other visitor needs, and transportation infrastructure–, with the result that the east finds itself underrepresented. Only one of the 2006 venues was in the former East Germany (in Leipzig). Similarly, only one of the nine venues for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, also held in Germany, was in the former East Germany (in Dresden). The situation fits into the broader context of the effects of German reunification on East Germany and the resentment that many Ossis feel for their western cousins. |
RB Leipzig is one notable club that produced a major resurgence of football in the former East Germany. This club saw several successive promotions in a short period of time and gained promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2016–17 season. The club's success has been controversial. RB Leipzig was founded by initiative of drink company Red Bull GmbH, whose involvement in the club has sparked new discussions about commercialism in professional football. |
The 2012–13 season saw FC Bayern Munich become the first club ever to achieve the treble by winning the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and European Cup. |
Bayern Munich made German football history even further by earning a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title in 2016, and eventually became the first German club to attain more than four championships in succession by winning their fifth and sixth titles in 2017 and 2018 respectively for the club's 27th league title and their 28th nationally, both new records. |
Meanwhile, after 55 seasons, Hamburger SV was relegated from the Bundesliga to the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in the club's history. During the 2017–18 season, a final day win over Gladbach was not enough to escape the drop as Wolfsburg won against Cologne. Hamburg had to endure a disastrous season under various managers after surviving two playouts in the preceding four seasons. |
= = = Mona Mahmudnizhad = = = |
Mona Mahmudnizhad (, September 10, 1965 – June 18, 1983) was an Iranian Baháʼí who, in 1983 (together with nine other Baháʼí women) was sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran. She was accused of being a member of the Baháʼí Faith. |
The official charges ranged from "misleading children and youth", to being a "Zionist" (because the Baháʼí World Centre is located in Israel). |
The non profit Mona Foundation focusing on girl's education was named after her in 2001. |
Mahmudnizhad was born on September 10, 1965, to Yad'u'llah and Farkhundeh Mahmudnizhad (who had left their home in Iran to teach their religion in Yemen). |
In 1969 the government of Yemen expelled all foreigners and the Mahmudnizhad family returned to Iran. They spent two years in Isfahan, six months in Kermanshah and three years in Tabriz before finally settling in Shiraz in 1974. During this time her father repaired small appliances for work and served the Baháʼí community as part of various Baháʼí administrative bodies. |
While Baháʼís regularly faced persecution in Iran, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 reinforced this further. At 7:30pm on October 23, 1982, four armed Revolutionary Guards, sent by the public prosecutor of Shiraz, entered the Mahmudnizhad household and ransacked the home in search of Baháʼí material. They then took Mona and her father into custody. The two were blindfolded and taken to Seppah prison in Shiraz, where they were placed in separate quarters; Mahmudnizhad was detained in Seppah prison for a total of 38 days. |
On November 29, 1982, she and five other Baháʼí women were transferred from Seppah prison to Adelabad prison (also in Shiraz). After some time in Abelabad, she was transferred to the Islamic Revolutionary Court where she was interrogated and placed back in prison. |
A few days later, she was once again interrogated in front of an Islamic Revolutionary judge. After these series of interrogations, which involved physical torture by being whipped on the soles of her feet with a cable, Mahmudnizhad was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. At the time of her sentencing, President of the United States Ronald Reagan, made a plea for clemency; despite this, the sentence of the 10 women was carried out on the night of June 18, 1983, at a nearby polo field. |
The other women who were hanged with Mahmudnizhad were: |
In September 2007, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center published a case study on the subject. |
Mahmudnizhad's story is the subject of several art works. Music artist Doug Cameron recreated Mahmudnizhad's story in a music video, "Mona with the Children", which made the pop charts in Canada (#14 for the week of October 19, 1985). The video was distributed throughout the music scene and was effective in bringing the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran to international public attention. |
A play based on Mahmudnizhad's story titled "A Dress for Mona" has been produced and in 2008 Jack Lenz produced a film called "Mona's Dream". Her pictures are also featured in Mithaq Kazimi's Quenching The Light video. |
= = = Leandro Desábato = = = |
Leandro Desábato (born 24 January 1979), nicknamed "Chavo", is an Argentine football defender who plays for Estudiantes de La Plata of the Argentine Primera División. |
Desábato began his professional career in 1997 playing for Estudiantes de La Plata. In 2001, he joined Olimpo and after one season with the club he moved on to play for Quilmes. With both teams he won promotion from the Primera B Nacional (Argentine second division) to the Primera División (first). |
In a 2005 Copa Libertadores match, Desábato allegedly racially insulted São Paulo's player Grafite. Desábato was arrested after the match. Following his night in jail, Desábato was defended by columnist and former Brazilian international footballer Tostão who stated that the insults were not racist, simply the kind of provocation that has always existed in football. |
Desábato left Quilmes in 2006 to join Argentinos Juniors and after a successful season with the club he returned to Estudiantes de La Plata. During the second half of 2008, he was a regular first team player for Estudiantes in their Copa Sudamericana campaign, where they reached the final. |
Desábato was a key figure in Estudiantes' 2009 Copa Libertadores championship. He was the only outfield player on the team to play in every minute of every game during the team's run through the tournament, even as his center-back partners changed around him (from Agustín Alayes to Cristian Cellay to Rolando Schiavi). |
In 2009 Desábato was chosen in a traditional journalist poll conducted by "El País" in the South American Team of the Year. |
Desábato's cousins, Andrés and Leandro Luis, are fellow footballers. |
= = = Moog Little Phatty = = = |
The Little Phatty is a monophonic analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 2006 to 2013, preceded by the Voyager and succeeded by Voyager Old School. Its design was conceived, in part, by Robert Moog himself, and is the last instrument to have that distinction, although the primary engineer was Cyril Lance. It is also the first Moog product to be produced following his death. Jordan Rudess of the band Dream Theater also assisted with the design of the product. |
It is one of the few Moog synthesizers to utilize MIDI from the factory (the others being the Minimoog Voyager and the earlier Memorymoog+). This allows for better integration in the modern studio and for live performance. |
On 9 September 2013, Moog Music announced the discontinuation of the Little Phatty analog synthesizer. |
There are currently four versions of the Little Phatty. Aside from a few cosmetic differences (and price), all units have nearly identical sound generation circuitry. |
The earlier 'Tribute Edition', a limited run of 1200 units, featured blue LED lighting, wooden side panels and Bob Moog's signature decaled onto the convex back panel. |
The later 'Stage Edition' featured orange and red lighting, grey rubberized panels and the classic Moog logo replacing the signature. |
The third version, called the Stage II, had some minor mechanical and electrical tweaks as well as adding a USB interface, a new arpeggiator and tap tempo. |
There is also a rare limited edition with blue LED lighting that came in a purple aluminum case. This version also has the USB interface. It has the regular Moog logo on the back panel and shipped in a custom flight case with the Moog logo on the case. This was a limited run of 100 units. |
= = = Olivia FitzRoy = = = |
Olivia FitzRoy, born Olivia Gwyneth Zoe FitzRoy, (May 27, 1921–December 24, 1969) was a British author of children's books. She was the granddaughter of Muriel FitzRoy, 1st Viscountess Daventry, raised to the peerage as widow of Edward FitzRoy, the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1928 until his death in 1943; her mother was a member of the famous Guinness family. Olivia FitzRoy was one of five sisters. |
The family spent their summers in Scotland, the setting of her books. They were there in 1939 when her father, a naval officer, decided that they should remain in Inverewe for the duration of World War II. The area was remote; FitzRoy wrote her first book, "Orders to Poach" (which told the story of the Stewart children receiving unusual instructions from their overseas father) to entertain her two younger sisters, Barbara (now Ormrod) and the late Amelia (now Jessel). It was published by Collins, as Billy Collins was a friend of the family. The second, "Steer by the Stars" and the third "The House in the Hills", were based in the same location. |
FitzRoy carried on writing when she began service in the Women's Royal Naval Service, though she was stationed as far away as Ceylon. After the war, she travelled with the 'Chipperfield Circus', which was the inspiration behind "Wagons and Horses"; she then went back to live in Scotland. |
Olivia FitzRoy married Sir Geoffrey Bates in 1957 and they had two daughters. She died aged only 48 of cancer in 1969. |
Her books are being reissued by Fidra Books: the first became available in June 2006, the second in March 2007 and the third in 2009. |
Citations |
= = = Sanger (surname) = = = |
Sanger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: |
= = = Sri Venkateswara Public School = = = |
Sri Venkateswara Public School (also known as S.V. Public School) is located in port town of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh in India. |
= = = Forget The Rules = = = |
Forget the Rules was an Australian short form episodic comedy-drama, which ran for two seasons from 2005 to 2007. It was the first scripted drama in the world to simultaneously broadcast over broadband, mobile phones and television. It employed the push model of crossmedia, and was one of the more successful models of an often failed interactive format that included audience input into the script and submitting visual elements as part of a tight weekly production cycle. It was conceived and piloted in Australia during 2004. In Canada, Season 1 has been broadcast on Movieola. |
Season 1 of Forget the Rules ran on Channel V (Foxtel), Hutchison 3G mobile phones and on the web, and consisted of nine minutes of drama produced every week featuring audience-driven story directions. Three-minute episodes were broadcast on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, starting October 10, 2005. Audiences voted on a choice of three possible story directions following the Wednesday episode. The 117 minutes of production (39 x 3min episodes) represents the equivalent of 5 x 30min episodes on free-to-air TV. |
Season 2 ran weekdays from November 12, 2007 to December 21, 2007. The series was distributed across Optus Television (Ovation Channel weekdays, The Music Factory weeknights) and Optus Zoo (mobile), as well as online through the show's website, YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace. |
The Season 1 scripts were written on Thursday based on the most popular audience vote. Pre-production and rehearsal on Friday. All nine minutes of the show was shot on Saturday and was broadcast each Monday-Wednesday throughout the 13-week season. Because of the requirement for rapid turnaround, stories were designed to be topical and responsive to genuine audience input, and was limited to an M rating. "Forget the Rules" was designed to appeal to story literate young audiences through interactivity. Jim Shomos, the creator and executive producer, was cited as saying young audiences need “more story per minute” and emphasised the importance of fast-paced stories with rapid developments, particularly for short form content: |
= = = Geodesic convexity = = = |
In mathematics — specifically, in Riemannian geometry — geodesic convexity is a natural generalization of convexity for sets and functions to Riemannian manifolds. It is common to drop the prefix "geodesic" and refer simply to "convexity" of a set or function. |
Let ("M", "g") be a Riemannian manifold. |
= = = Scream (Heide Park) = = = |