The number 6 plays a significant role in BVB’s history – in 1996 they successfully defended their title, in 1986 they were relegated and in 1976 they were promoted. In 1966, BVB were the first German team to win a European Cup. And 60 years ago today, on the 24th June 1956, BVB became German Champions for the first time.

After three failed attempts to become Champions (runners-up in 1949, quarter-finalists in 1950 and a first round knock-out in 1953) BVB qualified once more in 1956 for the finals of the German Championship. After initial matches against Hamburg, VfB Stuttgart and Viktoria Berlin, BVB moved into the final and met Karlsruher SC.

Due to the allocation of the final at such short notice, there were hardly any stadiums appropriate for the match to be played in. The choice eventually fell to divided Berlin. A reason for the allocation of the final to Berlin was almost certainly the altered political situation. As a result of the bad weather, for the first time in many years, tickets for the final were made available on the day from ticket offices. 5,000 BVB fans accompanied the team to Berlin, where the Olympic Stadium was filled with 75,000 visitors. Another reason for sluggish ticket sales was the worry that the final would be very one-sided, with Borussia Dortmund seen as clear favourites. The neutral fans in Berlin would also have preferred to see an opponent from the same ilk instead of Karlsruher SC, who were surprise finalists.

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It had been raining in Berlin since the start of the day. Right before kick-off, the rain stopped. It was a question of which team could cope best with the tricky conditions; the battling Karlsruher or the technically gifted Dortmund side? There were no real surprises with the line-ups. Dortmund started with their regular line-up (Kwiatkowski, Burgsmüller, Sandmann, Schlebrowski, Michallek, Bracht, Peters, Preißler, Kelbassa, Niepieklo, Kapitulski). Karlsruher Head Coach sent the following team out to play - Dannemaier, Sommerlatt, Termath, Kunkel, Beck, Ruppenstein, Geesmann, Traub, Max Fischer, Kapitän Baureis und Torwart Rudi Fischer.

Whoever expected a BVB walk-over was left disappointed. Karlsruher had the first efforts on goal through Sommerlatt and Kunkel. The Dortmunders were given an early wake-up call, and as a result, it was no surprise when Karlsruher took the lead. In the ninth minute of the match Kunkel received a through-ball from Ruppenstein, left Michallek and Schlebrowski, who were interfering with play, standing, and propelled them into the lead against a powerless Kwiatkowski. Another surprise – it wasn’t Karlsruher who were spurred on by this goal, but BVB. Preiβler started to dictate the match in his usual manner and led the attacking play. He managed to make it unseen into the KSC penalty area in the 15th minute, and after a shot from Kapitulski, Max Fischer handled the ball. Play went on, the ball came out on the right to Niepieklo, and he shot into the bottom corner from six metres out, giving goalkeeper Rudi Fischer no chance.

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After the goal, BVB began to grow in confidence and were controlling the game. Yet in the 21st minute Termath was presented with a golden opportunity, missing the goal by mere centimetres. At the other end pressure was building; Kelbassa, completely unmarked, had an effort tipped over the bar and out for a corner. The resulting corner did not have a favourable outcome for Fischer, with Kelbassa dozing off and the ball finding the back of the net in the 27th minute. 2-1 to Borussia! The Black and Yellows did not allow themselves to relax and were keen to create further chances. In the 43rd minute, Jockel Bracht plucked up the courage to have an effort from 16 metres out which missed the goal by a hair’s breadth. That would have been a decisive goal.

After the break, the first big chance once more fell to KSC. Traub crossed it into the penalty area, Beck laid it off to Sommerlatt, but he was thwarted by Schlebrowski. The ball fell to Kunkel, whose shot was pushed onto the post by Kwiatkowski and then cleared away. Karlsruher kept up the pressure – in the 52nd minute, Beck had the chance to equalise, but he couldn’t control the ball after a Dannenmeier free-kick, and headed the ball into the side-netting.

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Borussia started to up the ante. In the 53rd minute they had their first chance of the 2nd half, and then soon made it 3-1. A long-distance shot from Preiβler was so badly deflected off Geesmann that goalkeeper Fischer had no chance of keeping it out. This goal made the goalkeeper so uncertain that only shortly afterwards he caused his team more problems. Kelbassa sent a powerful free-kick in the direction of the KSC goal. Although the ball was directed straight at Fischer, the ball bounced off him and Peters made the most of the opportunity to make it 4-1.

In the 66th minute, KSC managed to get one back. A harmless cross from Beck, that Kwiatkowski wanted to gather in, was diverted into his own net by Burgsmüller, leaving the goalkeeper perplexed. The Badener kept up the pressure but didn’t create any more goal-scoring opportunities until the 75th minute, which was a top-class effort; Termath found himself with the ball completely on his own, tried to play it to Burgsmüller, but the ball ran away from him and he could only produce a tame effort. Attacks on the side of BVB were rare, although there were two good opportunities in the final stages of the match. Right before the final whistle were they fortunate to get Kelbassa not sent off by referee Dusch, receiving only a strong warning.

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The match was coming to an end, with Borussia holding up the ball. After the final whistle, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin transformed into a sea of Black and Yellow.

BVB had finally won the Championship. Players and the coaches had to wipe away tears. At the award ceremony, DFB Chairman Dr. Bauwens hailed Adi Preiβler as a role model for young German football players. Only Max Michallek was worried – he sustained a rib injury during the match and had to go to hospital in Röntgen, fearing that he would miss the celebrations.

The next day, the “heroes from Berlin” returned to the main Dortmund train station at 19:00 on two special trains. When Adi Preiβler got off the train, there was no holding back. 80,000 were at the Dortmund station alone, in total 250,000 were on the roadside as the players were taken to Borsigplatz. In the evening “Adi” promised that the Championship trophy would have to become a regularity on the Dortmund walls.

A year later it was that time again, but that’s a story for another time.