The very first federation in the North, inaugurated in 1894, incorporated clubs from Hamburg (Free Hanseatic City) as well as Altona and Wandsbek (both of which were Prussian).

This policy was encouraged after the foundation of Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) in 1900 and maintained throughout Germany although the regional federations were later called Landesverbände (state associations) which they weren't.

To qualify for the Northern German championship, a club had to take out the title in its local or district competition or league.

The northern champions experienced some first national success in 1910, when Holstein Kiel reached the German final, to lose 1–0 to Karlsruher FV.

[6] In 1912, the Holstein returned to the national final once more and became the first northern club to win it, this time beating Karlsruher FV 1–0.

[7] In its last pre-First World War season, 1914, the competition became a regional league (Verbandsliga Norddeutschland or Norddeutsche Liga).

The Northern German championship resumed in 1919, as a knockout competition, with eleven clubs, enlarged to twelve the year after.

Apart from HSV, only Holstein Kiel could achieve success in the north, reaching the German final for a third time in 1930 but losing to Hertha BSC Berlin.

[11] The Northern German championship changed its system to determine the champion once more in 1922, when seven clubs played a league format with a single round only.

After the end of the Second World War, Germany remained divided until 1991 and the new Oberliga Nord, formed in 1947, became the replacement for the old Northern German championship.