From 1911 until 1923 the Austrian football championship was organized by the football association of Niederösterreich (
Lower Austria) which was made up only of clubs from the nation's capital of
Vienna. The championship was then taken over by the newly formed football association of Vienna (WFV,
Wiener Fußball-Verband), which organized the first professional league in continental Europe in 1924–25. In 1938 Austria was united with
Germany in the
Anschluss and the country's football competition became part of the German league structure as the
Gauliga Ostmark. For the first time clubs from outside of Vienna were included in top-flight Austrian competition. , the most successful Austrian football club Austrian clubs took part in the German championship during this period. An "Austrian champion" would emerge from divisional play in the Gauliga Ostmark and then move on to the German national playoffs with other Gauliga winners. Austrian clubs enjoyed a considerable measure of success playing in Germany, making three national final appearances and two Tschammerspokal (predecessor of today's
German Cup) appearances:
Rapid Vienna won the national title in 1941, while
First Vienna took the Tschammerspokal in 1943. Austrian football was again independent after
World War II and championship play was limited to Viennese clubs until 1948–49 when clubs from the rest of Austria were re-admitted. In 1965,
Linzer ASK became the first team from outside the capital to claim the Austrian title, leading the way for clubs such as
FC Wacker Innsbruck,
VÖEST Linz,
SV Austria Salzburg,
Sturm Graz, and
Grazer AK. ==List of Austrian national football champions==