The competition was played in a knock-out format; if scores were level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time.
After an intermediate round, the participants of which were determined by a draw - three Bezirkspokal winners and nine DDR-Liga sides - the 14 current Oberliga teams joined the competition.
1967 Oberliga champions FC Carl Zeiss Jena needed a replay against Motor Grimma that they won convincingly; 10-1 was the final score.
Two DDR-Liga sides, Wismut Gera and Dynamo Dresden had qualified for the quarter-finals, but lost their away games and went out.
Last year's finalist Jena was eliminated in the quarter-finals as well, losing 1–4 to Vorwärts Berlin who in turn went out after a 1–2 loss against FC Karl-Marx-Stadt.
The meeting began in a hectic fashion, only 15 minutes into the match both FCK's Göcke and FCM's Zapf had had to be treated for injuries, but both could continue.
These came up just a minute after Zapf's save: Stöcker started a run down the left, going past Göcke and outplayed Peter Müller.
Magdeburg took up the offer, Ohm starting a solo at the half-way line, finishing off with a gentle lob over Gröper for the third goal.
Magdeburg played as if in a frenzy and had several more clear scoring chances, the last in the 85th when Sparwasser forced subbed-in Kaschel to make a great save.