First suggested in 1932 by German Football Association (DFB) president Felix Linnemann, the Reichsliga was essentially a forerunner of the Bundesliga, established as a national league (originally for West Germany) in 1963.
In 1938 however, the Reichsliga was once more contemplated after the freshly unified German-Austrian team, playing with high expectations at the 1938 FIFA World Cup was a complete disappointment, being knocked out in the first round.
The embarrassment to Germany and its Nazi government caused the latter to approve plans for the consolidation of German football.
[2] After 1945, the Oberligas were gradually formed in Allied-occupied Germany, first in the South and Berlin, later in the West and North, too, which had suffered greater damage to its infrastructure through strategic bombing during the war and was consequently slower to rebuild.
[2] With the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, soon requests for the Bundesliga were voiced and a national league was finally established in 1963.