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The Bundesliga is the top-division tournament in German football. The competition was founded in 1962, and the first season began in 1963. The Bundesliga replaced the German national championship, which was the first tournament in German football history. And since then only one club has dominated with most Bundesliga titles.
The German national championship, which was founded in 1903 and ran for 60 years, was a knockout competition contested between winners of each of the country's top regional leagues.
The founding member teams of the Bundesliga are 1860 Munich, Cologne, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Braunschweig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hertha Berlin, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Preußen Münster, MSV Duisburg, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Schalke, Vfb Stuttgart and Werder Bremen.
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Besides the Bundesliga, which operated in West Germany, the DDR-Oberliga was the top-level football league in Soviet-controlled East Germany. Following the reunification of Germany, the Bundesliga became the national league of the country.
The Bundesliga started as a 16-team tournament but would soon expand to 18 teams from 1965.
In a one-off event, the league played the 1991-92 season with 20 teams following the reunification, but would return to its 18-team format in the following campaign.
There have been 13 different winners of the Bundesliga since its inception in 1963.
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Who won the first Bundesliga?
FC Koln, or FC Cologne in English, won the first-ever Bundesliga season in 1963-64. The Billy Goats maintained a six-point advantage over second-placed Meidericher SV (39) and scored in each of the 30 league games played in the inaugural edition.
Karl-Heinz Thielen (16 goals) and Christian Müller (15 goals) finished as the top scorers for the team in the championship-winning season.
Who has won the most Bundesliga titles?
Bayern Munich lead the Bundesliga winners list with 34 titles. The Bavarians won their maiden Meisterschale in the 1968-69 season, with an eight-point cushion and legendary forward Gerd Muller contributing 30 goals. They are the most dominant German team and have won the most Bundesliga titles.
🏆 “Die Meisterschale ist zurück in München.“ 💬
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) May 4, 2025
Alle Stimmen zum Titelgewinn: https://t.co/f2Ej8hfnCs#MiaSanMeister pic.twitter.com/fnx5zGJzlE
The Bavarians recently claimed the Bundesliga 2024-25 title with two games to go in the season. In doing so, Bayern have now won the German championship a record 12 times in the last 13 seasons. Their incredible run began in 2012-13 under the management of Jupp Heynckes, which was broken in the 2023-24 season by Bayer Leverkusen.
Top Five Teams with the Most Bundesliga titles till 2023
1. Bayern Munich - 34 titles
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Bayern Munich are at the top of the list as they are the all-time Bundesliga title winners with 34 titles to their name. They won the 2024-25 season with two games to go in the season.
Bayern Munich also holds the record for most second-place finishes in the top German league, having done that ten times between 1969 and 2012.
There is no doubt that they are the most dominant force in Germany and one of the most historic clubs in the history of World Football. The Bavarians have also won 20 DFB-Pokal trophies and 6 Champions League titles.
Titles by years: 1931-32 (German national championship), 1968-69, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21,2021-22, 2022-23, 2024-25
2. Borussia Dortmund - 5 Titles
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Borussia Dortmund, a 113-year-old German club, is second on the list of clubs with the most Bundesliga titles.
After Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund have won the most Bundesliga titles and have also finished second the most times in the German league.
In the pre-Bundesliga days, ‘die Schwarzgelben’ lifted three league titles – two more than Bayern.
There has always been a soft spot for Dortmund in every football fan's heart, except the fans of Bayern.
In the 2022-23 season, they were the favourites to win the titles but bottled it on the last day. Dortmund won their last Bundesliga title under Jurgen Klopp in the 2011-12 season.
Titles by years: 1994–1995; 1995–1996; 2001–2002; 2010–11; and 2011–12
3. Borussia Monchengladbach - 5 Titles
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Borussia Mönchengladbach holds the third place on the list, and they have won the same number of Bundesliga titles as Borussia Dortmund.
They have finished second less as compared to Dortmund, and that's the reason why they are placed third.
Three of their five Bundesliga championships were consecutive. They won their last league title in the 1976-77 season under Udo Lattek. Monchengladbach have only ever been demoted to the Bundesliga 2 twice, in 1999 and 2007.
Titles by years: 1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, and 1976–77
4. Werder Bremen - 4 Titles
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Werder Bremen have finished second seven times in the Bundesliga and have won 4 titles.
They won their last league title in the 2003-04 season under Thomas Schaaf with 74 points, and he is the longest-serving manager (14 years) of Bremen.
They share the record for most seasons played in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
Titles by years: 1964–65, 1987–88, 1992–93, 2003–04
5. Hamburger SV - 3 Titles
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Hamburger SV comes fifth in this list with 3 Bundesliga titles to their name.
Their last league title came in the 1982-83 season under Ernst Happel, who won his second title with the club.
HSV have the record in German football of having won the most regional titles, having won 31 regional titles. But the regional titles do not count as a trophy or even as a title itself.
Until the 2017–18 season, HSV were the only club to have played continuously in the Bundesliga since its foundation.
Titles by years: 1978–79, 1981–82, and 1982–83
Read Also: Players with the most Champions League titles
Most Bundesliga titles list:
| S.No. | Team | Number of Titles |
| 1. | Bayern Munich | 34 |
| 2. | Borussia Dortmund | 5 |
| 3. | Borussia Monchengladbach | 5 |
| 4. | Werder Bremen | 4 |
| 5. | Hamburger SV | 3 |
| 6. | VfB Stuttgart | 3 |
| 7. | FC Koln | 2 |
| 8. | FC Kaiserslautern | 2 |
| 9. | 1860 Munich | 1 |
| 10. | VfL Wolfsburg |
1 |
| 11. | Bayer Leverkusen |
1 |
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