Bundesliga

The Bundesliga, Germany’s top-tier football league, was founded in 1963 by the German Football Association. For the first time, the most successful teams from different regions across the country were brought together into a single national division. Since 2001, the league has been organized by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), which oversees its operations and commercial management.

Meister als Aufsteiger Kaiserslauterns Sensation 1998

Basic Facts

The Bundesliga, established in 1963, is Germany’s premier football league and is organized by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL). Bayern Munich holds the record for the most league titles with 32 championships, while Werder Bremen has participated in the most seasons, appearing 58 times in the top division.

History

German football leagues existed long before the Bundesliga was created. The first regional competition, the Southern German Football Championship, was established in 1898.

When the Bundesliga was founded in 1963, the country’s top clubs were invited to join as the sixteen founding members. These were: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, 1. FC Köln, 1. FC Saarbrücken, 1. FC Nürnberg, Meidericher SV (now MSV Duisburg), Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Braunschweig, Karlsruher SC, Hertha BSC, Preußen Münster, VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV, TSV 1860 München, Schalke 04 und Werder Bremen.

In the inaugural season, 1. FC Köln claimed the first Bundesliga title with a six-point lead, while Uwe Seeler of Hamburger SV finished as the top scorer with 30 goals.

League system

Top tier of the German football league system. The second division has been known as the 2. Bundesliga since 1974, while the third tier has been called 3. Liga since 2008 (previously known as the Regionalliga, established in 1963). An overview of the current national league structure is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. German football tiers

Club	Tier
Bundesliga	1
2. Bundesliga	2
3. Liga	3

Below the third tier are Non-Professional Leagues divided in regions.

Stats

Teams with most titles

Statistics of all German clubs that have won the top league more than once, concerning the period 1898-2024, thus including the pre-Bundesliga era.

Table 2. Clubs and German champions titles

Club	Titles
Bayern Munich	33
1. FC Nürnberg	9
Borussia Dortmund	8
Schalke 04	7
Hamburger SV	6
VfB Stuttgart	5
Borussia Mönchengladbach	5
Werder Bremen	4
1. FC Kaiserslautern	4
1. FC Köln	3
Lokomotive Leipzig	3
Greuther Fürth	3
BFC Viktoria 1889	2
Dresdner SC	2
Hannover 96	2

1. FC Nürnberg won its last league title in 1968, which remains its only Bundesliga championship. Schalke 04, Lokomotive Leipzig, and Greuther Fürth are among the clubs that have never captured the Bundesliga title.

Other clubs that have been crowned German champions include Karlsruher FV, Holstein Kiel, 1860 Munich, SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin, Karlsruher SC, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Wolfsburg, Freiburger FC, Rapid Wien, VfR Mannheim, Rot-Weiss Essen, Eintracht Braunschweig, and Bayer Leverkusen.

It is worth noting that BFC Viktoria 1889 was dissolved in 2013, and Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin ceased operations in 1992.

Players

Records

Gerd Müller did 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches, a record that will be hard to beat

Charly Körbel has the record in league appearances with 602 matches for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bundesliga timeline

1900

The German Football Federation (Deutscher Fußball-Bund; DFB) is founded.

1963

Bundesliga is established.

1965

The league is expanded from 16 to 18 clubs.

2001

Following the German reunification, East German leagues are merged with the West German league system.

2001

DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga become new organizer.

References:
http://www.rsssf.com/tablesd/duit64.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_German_football_championship