1. FC Kattowitz () was an ethnically German football club playing in what was Kattowitz, Silesia Province in Germany (now Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland) and was active during the inter-war period and World War II when the two countries struggled over control of the region. Established in 1905, the original club disappeared in 1945; a modern-day Polish club using the name 1. FC Katowice was formed in 2007. History Origins as FC Preußen The original club was formed by brothers Emil and Rudolf Fonfara as FC Preußen Kattowitz out of predecessor side Sportverein Frisch Auf Kattowitz. SV was the first football club in the region and was established at the initiative of local priests. One of the local organizers was Karol Walica, whose father brought the first leather football to the city from Berlin. Preußen was one of three clubs that followed out of SV, alongside Germania Kattowitz and Diana Kattowitz, that formed the short-lived Kattowitzer Ballspiel-Verband (KBV, en:Kattowitz Ballgame Association). The team claimed that league's only championship in 1905. Top-flight football in the region was dominated by the Verband Breslauer Ballspiel-Vereine (VBB, en:Association of Breslau Ballgame Clubs, 1903–06) and the Verband Niederlausitzer Ballspielvereine (VNB, en:Association of Niederlausitz Ballgame Clubs, 1904–06). These two associations merged in 1906 to form the regional Südostdeutschland Fußballverband (SOFV, en:Southeast German Football Association) and FC Preußen became part of the league in the 1906–07 season. The team advanced to the league final in 1908 and 1909 where they were defeated in turn by VfR Breslau (5:2) and SC Alemannia Cottbus (3:2). They made another appearance in the final in 1913 and beat Askania Forst 2:1, however, Forst protested the result and beat Kattowitz 4:0 in the re-play. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 led to the suspension of championship play in the SOFV until the 1919–20 season. Play in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s After the war and the re-establishment of a Polish republic, Upper Silesia was the subject of a territorial dispute between Germany and Poland. Following the Silesian Uprisings in 1921 and a subsequent League of Nations plebiscite, part of the region – including Kattowitz – was granted to Poland and the name of the city was changed to Katowice. The football club was caught up in the politically charged events of the period. In 1920–21 Preußen was still part of German football competition in the SOFV. The season ended