Between 1899 and 1901, before the formation of a national team, there were five official international matches between teams from German and English selection, which all ended as large defeats for the German teams. Eight years after the founding of the German Football Association (DFB), the first official match of the national soccer team in Germany [7] was played April 5, 1908, against Switzerland in Basel, with the Swiss winning 5-3 . Coincidentally, the first match after World War in 1920, the first match after World War II in 1950, when Germany was still banned in most international competitions, and the first game in 1990 with former player Germany This was all against Switzerland as well. Germany, as the first championship was won, even in Switzerland.
At that time, players have been selected because of the DFB was not dedicated to the car. The first director of the German national team was Otto Nerz, a school teacher of Mannheim, who served 1923-1936 in the role. The German Football Association could not afford to travel to Uruguay in the first World Cup held in 1930 during the Great Depression, but finished third in the 1934 World Cup in their first appearance in the competition. When a poor showing in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Sepp Herberger became coach. In 1937 he put together a team that was soon nicknamed the Breslau Elf (Breslau Eleven) in recognition of Denmark won 8-0 after the German city of Breslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland).
After Austria became part of Germany in the Anschluss of March 1938, the national team in the country - one of the best sides in Europe at the time because of professionalism - was disbanded despite already qualified for the 1938 World Cup. As required by politicians Nazis, five or six ex-Austrian players clubs Rapid Wien, Austria Vienna, Vienna, was ordered to join the team in all of Germany on short notice in a show staged orchestrated the unit for political reasons. At the 1938 World Cup, which began June 4, has succeeded in this "united" German team is only 1-1 against Switzerland and then lost the replay 2-4 in front of a hostile audience in Paris, France . This means that the early exit of Germany the worst result in the World Cup.
During the Second World War has been the team of 30 international matches between September 1939 and November 1942, when the game of the national team was suspended when most players had to join the armed forces. Many of the national team was brought together under coach Herberger as Rote Jäger through the efforts of a sympathetic air force officer trying to protect football players from the service in time of war the most dangerous.
