1920 1. FC Nuremberg
The regional leagues produced 7 qualifiers, joined by defending champions SpVgg Furth, to contest the national championship. The final was a local derby in which 1. FC Nuremberg defeated Furth 2-0 at Frankfurt. Acrowd of 35,.000 saw Luitpold Popp put Nuremberg ahead in the 12th minute. Hungarian international Péter Szabó added a second in the 73rd minute.
1921 1. FC Nuremberg
Nuremberg defended their title, defeating Berliner FC Vorwärts 1890 in the final at Dusseldorf. Luitpold Popp scored 3 and fellow German international Heiner Träg got 2 in a 5-0 victory. The legendary Hungarian Dori Kürschner was now in charge of Nuremberg.
1922 Hamburger SV*
Nuremberg's attempt to secure a third successive championship was thwarted in what was one of the most remarkable encounters in football history.
1. FC Nuremberg met Hamburger SV in the final at Berlin's Deutsches Stadion on 18th June 1922. The scores were level at 2-2 on 90 minutes. Following a conventional period of extra time an attempt was made to play to a result, but referee Dr. Peco Bauwens was forced to abandon the game after 180 minutes due to darkness.
The 2 sides met again in Liepzig on August 6th. Nuremberg were reduced to 10 men when Dr. Bauwens sent off Willy Böß in the 18th minute. Nuremberg were further weakened when Anton Kugler was forced to retire with an injury with 15 minutes remaining. Hamburg were unable to capitalize, and with the scores level at 1-1 the game again, ominously , moved into extra time. Heiner Träg was ordered off in the 100th minute and 5 minutes later Luitpold Popp, incapacitated by asthma, left the field. With Nuremberg reduced to 7 players the referee ended the game, mistakenly believing the laws of the game demanded it.
There was some controversy over the award of the championship. The DFB awarded the title to Hamburg by default, but they declined to accept it.
1923 Hamburger SV
Hamburg returned and secured the title in a more conventional manner, beating SC Union Oberschöneweide at Deutsches Stadion watched by 64,000.
1924 1. FC Nuremberg .
Nuremburg and Hamburg resumed their rivalry in the 1924 final. Georg Hochgesang and Wolfgang Strobel scored in Nuremberg's 2-0 victory at Deutsches Stadion.
1925 1. FC Nuremberg
The national championship had now expanded to include 16 teams.
Ludwig Wieder scored an extra time winner as FSV Frankfurt were beaten 1-0 in the brand new Waldstadion (Frankfurt ).
1926 SpVgg Fürth
The Waldstadion was again the venue as SpVgg Fürth beat Hertha BSC 4-1. Former Blackburn Rovers star William Townley was manger of Fürth.
1927 1. FC Nuremberg
A fifth title for Nuremberg, 50,000 were at Deutsches Stadion to see them beat Hertha BSC 2-0. Fred Spiksley was back as manager, having previously been at the club at the outbreak of the 1914-18 war. Trag was dismissed in the 75th minute for Nuremberg.
1928 Hamburger SV
It was not a case of third time lucky for Hertha BSC. They lost their third final in a row, beaten 5-2 by Hamburg at Altona. The finals were played in high summer, having been delayed by the absence of top players at the Amsterdam Olympics
.
1929 SpVgg Fürth
Another late end to the season, this time because fixtures had been disrupted by the very harsh winter. Misery again for Hertha They beat Nuremberg in a replayed semi final (the first game had gone to 150 minutes without a goal being scored) - the final was played at Nuremberg's ground, and Hertha received a very hostile reception from local fans as they lost their fourth consecutive final. Hertha were reduced to 10 men by an injury to Gerhard Schulz with the score at 1-1.Karl Rupprecht won it for Fürth (3-2) five minutes from time.
1930 Hertha BSC
Hertha supporters and players must have been fearing the worst when , appearing in their 5th successive final, they were 2-0 down to Holstein Kiel after just 8 minutes. The game see sawed but
Hans Ruch gave the Berlin side their long awaited victory with an 87th minute strike to round off the 5-4 thriller. Holstein had levelled at 4-4 despite being down to 10 following a sending off in the 80th minute.
1931 Hertha BSC
Hertha had developed a new habit-scoring late winners. SV 1860 München were beaten 3-2 in the final thanks to Willi Kirsei's 89th minute goal.
1932 Bayern Munich
The National final of 1932 was a repeat of that season's South German final . Eintracht Frankfurt won that game, with Bayern joining them in the National championship as runners up. Bayern got revenge in front of a 55,000 crowd at Nuremberg, beating Eintracht 2-0. It was Bayern Munich's first title.
