Hertha Berlin are one of the great underachievers of German football. From 1925 to 1937 they had the misfortune of finishing as runners up of the German championship not once, not twice, not thrice but four times, in a row. The German league format was a rather complicated beast at this time. In order to qualify for the German championship proper, a club had to win one of the seven regional championships that grouped the clubs into their regions so that they would play other clubs from their region in a league format. Hertha Berlin were a member of the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenberg and they dominated this league throughout the era. From 1925 until 1931, Hertha BSC won every edition of the league, qualifying them for the German championship each time.

 

This national championship was contested in a knock-out format between the winners of each of the regional championships, and this is where Hertha’s frustrations begin. The 1926 German championship final marked Hertha’s first of six successive final appearances, and the first of their four defeats, a 4-1 loss to SpVgg Furth. It was always going to be a tough task to beat high flying Nurnberg in the 1927 final, and Hertha lost again, 2-0. Again in 1928, Hertha fought their way to the final and again they lost, this time to Hamburg 5-2. Hertha and Furth faced off again in the 1929 final. Even though Hertha hoped for a different result, it wasn’t to be – they went down yet again 3-2. Furth gloated about winning their third national championship, but they would never again play in the final. The last laugh was on Hertha.

 

In 1930 they again reached the final, playing Holstein Kiel. It looked as though history was repeating with Hertha falling behind twice in the game, until Hans Ruch scored the winner for the Berliners in the 87th minute, the club finally laying claim to the elusive Viktoria trophy, suitably fashioned in the image of the Roman goddess of victory. Hertha became only the second club to defend the title in 1931 by beating 1860 Munich. 

Achievements: German Football Championship – Champions x2 Runners up x4
                            Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg – Champions x2 Runners up x1
                           Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg – Champions x8
                           Berliner Landespokal – Winners x3

GK- Paul GEHLHAAR
DF- Emil DOMSCHEIDT DF- Willi VOLKER
MF-Otto LEUSCHNER MF- Hans APPEL MF- Ernst MULLER
FW- Hans RUCH FW- Johannes SOBEK (c) FW- Bruno LEHMANN FW- Willi KIRSEI FW- Hermann HAHN
SUBS:
Alfred GOTZE, Max FISCHER, Gerhardt SCHULZ, Karl TEWES,
Hans GRENZEL, Erich GULLE

Manager: Richard GIRULATIS
Home Ground: Stadion Gesundbrunnen