The Central German football championship (German: Mitteldeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft) was the highest association football competition in Central Germany, in what is now the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, established in 1902. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. Overview German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. These regional championships were: Southern German football championship - formed in 1898 Brandenburg football championship - formed in 1898 Central German football championship - formed in 1902 Western German football championship - formed in 1903 March football championship - existed from 1903 to 1911 Northern German football championship - formed in 1906 South Eastern German football championship - formed in 1906 Baltic football championship - formed in 1908 All this regional championships were suspended with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether. History Background When the Central German championship was established in 1902, the region of Central Germany (German: Mitteldeutschland) was politically divided into a number of territories, the Prussian province of Saxony and the Kingdom of the same name being by far the largest: Duchy of Anhalt Kingdom of Saxony Province of Saxony Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Imperial County of Reuss With the defeat of the German Empire in 1918 and the formation of a Republic, the former Kingdoms and Duchies became states. The number of small states in the Thuringia region formed the new state of that name, with the exception of Coburg, which joined Bavaria. The new states and provinces were: Free State of Anhalt Free State of Saxony Province of Saxony Thuringia Football association From 1897, a number of local football associations started up, the first