Bundesliga (since 1963) edit
The formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 marked a significant change to the German football championship. The historical regional league and national playoff format was abandoned in favour of a single unified national league. Sixteen teams from the five Oberligen in place at the time were invited to be part of the new circuit – which also for the first time formally acknowledged the sport as professional rather than amateur.[1]
The new league adopted a round-robin format in which each team plays every other club once at home and once away. There is no playoff, with the club having the best record at the end of the season claiming the German championship. 1. FC Köln captured the first-ever Bundesliga title in the league's inaugural 1963–64 season. Since then the competition has been dominated by Bayern Munich which has taken the championship in 32 of the 60 Bundesliga seasons played to 2023.
Key
| † | Double |
| * | Treble |
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Torwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
RSSSFwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Bundesliga champions since 1963". Reuters. 4 May 2008. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
- ^ Hesse-Lichtenberger 2003, p. 293
- ^ a b "(West) Germany -Top Scorers". RSSSF. 7 November 2008. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2009.