75 years ago in 1951, the first ever National Indoor Hockey Championship was held in Germany. Our European contact and fellow hockey historian, Frank Haustein of SG Rotation Hockey Club Berlin, has shared with us his research on this historic event. SG Rotation HC has also recently announced that a new clubhouse is being built for Easter 2027 and a room in this new facility can be used to display Frank’s own vast collection of European hockey history. A new hockey museum may be in the works and we wish them well with this endeavour!
Cover of the tournament programme for the world’s first national indoor hockey championship
From its start in 1909, up until the 1940s, indoor hockey had not yet developed its own identity as a branch of hockey. The indoor game during this early period was usually played inside local town halls to keep players involved and active during the bitter cold winter months. Matches at this time were exclusively friendly; there were not representative teams nor tournaments or championships until the 1950s.
[Thuringia State Championship 11.2.1951] [Caption: Caption in English reads: 1st Thuringian Indoor Championship on 11 February 1951 in the Thuringia Hall in Erfurt, Male Youth KWU Erfurt (dark jersey).]
You can read more about the history of indoor hockey in this article shared by Frank Haustein on his club website:
The History of Indoor Hockey – Hockey SG Rotation Prenzlauer Berg Berlin
Between 24–25 February 1951, the world’s first National Indoor Hockey Championship was held in Güstrow, East Germany. It saw games for men, women and junior teams, who were chosen from regional tournaments around the country, and a crowd of 4000 spectators were in attendance. The matches took place in the Güstrow Congress Hall, the same venue where the Wilhelm Höcker Cup tournament is held today. A few months later, Austria would follow Germany with their own national championship.
Birth of national indoor hockey championships – Hockey SG Rotation Prenzlauer Berg Berlin
Medal from the world’s first National Indoor Hockey Championship, held in Güstrow, East Germany in February 1951.
The first national indoor hockey championship in Great British history came almost 20 years later in 1972 with the Welsh National Indoor Championship held in the National Sports Centre, Cardiff, on Saturday 29 April. The English National Indoor Championship (for men) would follow two years later, on 6 March 1974: Tulse Hill claimed the first title and became the first team known to have won a cash award from a hockey tournament.
Thuringia State Championship, an East German regional indoor hockey tournament held in early February 1951, which preceded the first national indoor championship.
