Clubs with Most Bundesliga Titles Won

Based on Bundesliga records, the club that tops the list of all-time Bundesliga title winners is Bayern Munich, as you might have guessed, with 30 Bundesliga titles. The interesting fact here is that if we were to sort Bundesliga winners by year, then Bayern Munich would remain at top for 9 consecutive years - actually seasons - between 2012 and 2021.

There might also come to your mind the question that who is the player with most Bundesliga titles? Again based on Bundesliga records, the

player with most Bundesliga titles won

to this date is the 29-year-old Austrian defensive midfielder, David Alaba, with 10 Bundesliga titles won with Bayern Munich between 2009 and 2021.

In fact, David Alaba is the foreign player with most Bundesliga titles won. We have also a German player, namely Thomas Muller, who shares the record with the Austrian footballer and has actually been his teammate at Bayern Munich since 2008.

A List of Clubs with Most Bundesliga Titles Won

Well, as we already mentioned, Bayern Munich tops the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won, but what about the other clubs? Which positions on the list do they occupy? Let’s see together.

Bayern Munich (30 Titles)

Number one on the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won,

are a 121-year old Munich-based club that not only rank first among all-time Bundesliga title winners but also remain first for 9 consecutive years between 2012 and 2021 if we sort Bundesliga winners by year. And who knows? Maybe they repeat it again and become champions for the 10th consecutive year - They are currently at the top of the Bundesliga table with 28 points, though Borussia Dortmund follows them closely with 27 points.

Bayern Munich are also a record holder concerning the number of times they have finished second in the major German league: They have actually finished as runners-up ten times between 1969 and 2012 that puts them at the top of the list even if we were to sort the list based on the number of times a club has finished as runners-up in Bundesliga. And that’s not all; they are also a record holder concerning the number of DFB-Pokal cups (20) and DFB/DFL super cups (9) they have won among German clubs. The kings of German football, let’s call them that!

What is quite noticeable about Bayern Munich is the difference between them and the next positions on the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won. They are in front of other clubs at least by 25 titles and that means catching up to them is not an easy task for any club! This is as

and Real Madrid who top the list of Premier League and La Liga all-time title winners, are in front of their competitors on the second position by 1 and 8 titles, respectively. And in the case of Real Madrid, they are behind Barcelona concerning the number of times they have finished as runners-up. Now, you will probably see the difference!

Another thing to mention about Bayern Munich is that they are also a record holder among

Bundesliga title winners

concerning the number of their consecutive Bundesliga title wins. As mentioned before, they have won 9 consecutive titles from 2012 to 2021. This is as the best record for consecutive Bundesliga title wins after Bayern Munich belongs to Borussia Monchengladbach with 3 consecutive titles between 1974 and 1977; what Bayern Munich have achieved three times in their history: Once from 1971 to 1974, another time from 1984 to 1987, and a third time from 1998 to 2001.

And Bayern Munich have never been relegated from Bundesliga since 1965 that they’ve been playing in the major German league. It should also be mentioned here that top players like Thomas Muller, Jurgen Klinsmann, Miroslav Klose,

, Sepp Maier, Lothar Matthaus, Gerd Muller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Franz Beckenbauer played for some time or for a major part of their careers for the top German club.

Borussia Dortmund (5 Titles)

Occupying the second position on the list of

clubs with most Bundesliga titles won

, Borussia Dortmund are a 111-year-old Dortmund-based club that after Bayern Munich have won the most number of Bundesliga titles and have also finished as runners-up the most in the German major league after Bavarians. They have actually won 5 Bundesliga titles and have finished as runners-up 7 times in the major German league in the history of their club.

The seasons

won a Bundesliga title are 1994-95, 1995-96, 2001-02, 2010-11, and 2011-12. As you see, they have one single and two consecutive titles wins in the bag, and the seasons they finished as runners-up? Well, they are 1965-66, 1991-92, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2018-19, and 2019-20. Again, as you see, they finished as runners-up in two consecutive seasons being 2012 to 2014 and 2018 to 2020 seasons. They have also won 5 DFB-Pokal cups and 6 DFB/DFL super cups during their history, and some top players like Stephane Chapuisat, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Andreas Moller, Jurgen Kohler, and Matthias Sammer played sometime during their careers for the top German club.

Borussia Monchengladbach (5 Titles) 

If we just consider the number of Bundesliga titles Borussia Monchengladbach have won, they should share the second position on the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won with Borussia Dortmund with the 5 titles they have won, however, the number of times they have finished as runners-up in the major German league is only 2 vs 7 of Borussia Dortmund and that’s why they come next on the third position.

As we already mentioned,

are the nearest to Bayern Munich concerning the number of consecutive Bundesliga titles they have won. From the 5 Bundesliga titles they have won 3 have been consecutive and between 1974 and 1977. The two other titles they have won are also consecutive and from 1969 to 1971. And as we mentioned above, they have finished as runners-up twice in Bundesliga which happened in 1973-74 and 1977-78 seasons. Borussia Monchengladbach have been relegated to Bundesliga 2 twice in their history; once in 1999 and another time in 2007, and for the rest, which starts from 1965, they have competed in Bundesliga. Some top German footballers like Lothar Matthaus, Berti Vogts, Stefan Effenberg, and  Allan Simonsen - this one is from Denmark - have played for some time during their careers for the Prussians.

Werder Bremen (4 Titles)

They are only one title behind Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach, but they have finished as runners-up seven times in Bundesliga and that means if they had won just one more title, they would have replaced Borussia Monchengladbach on the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won. Anyway, that has not happened at least for now and we have Werder Bremen on the fourth place on the list.

One thing to mention about Werder Bremen is that none of their 4 titles followed each other; we mean if we sort

Bundesliga winners by year

, Werder Bremen will never come first for two consecutive years. They actually won their Bundesliga titles in 1964-65, 1987-88, 1992-93, and 2003-04 seasons. As you see, the difference between their first two titles is around 20 and the difference between their second two titles is around 10 years.

Although

have never won two consecutive Bundesliga titles during their history, from the seasons they have finished as runners-up (7) two are consecutive, namely the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons. The rest of the seasons they have finished as runners-up are 1967-68, 1982-83, 1994-95, 2005-06, and  2007-08 seasons. Werder Bremen have been competing in Bundesliga since 1963. They have been relegated twice to Bundesliga 2 during their history which once was in 1979-80 and another time just in the previous season (2020-21) meaning that they are currently competing in Bundesliga 2. Some top footballers like Rudi Voller, Claudio Pizarro, Miroslav Klose, Mesut Ozil, and Mario Basler have played some time during their careers for the Green Whites.

Hamburger SV (3 Titles)

Although

have only won 3 Bundesliga titles, two of these titles, namely the titles they won 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons, have been consecutive, and if they just had won their third title that they won 1978-79 season in either 1980-81 or 1983-84 seasons, then all of their titles would have been consecutive. Hamburger SV have also finished five Bundesliga seasons as runners-up from 1975 to 1987 none of which have been consecutive.

Hamburger SV have competed in Bundesliga for 55 years from 1963 to 2018 with no relegation, however, in recent years, they’ve not been that good having gotten relegated to Bundesliga 2 in 2017-18 season and remaining there since, though they finished fourth in the three seasons that they competed in Bundesliga 2. What is quite noticeable about Hamburger SV is that between 1947 and 1963 that they competed in Oberliga Nord - the highest tier of German football league system at the time, they always finished first except for 1953-54 season in which they finished 11th. That means they are the 15-time Oberliga Nord title winners which should be considered as an honor in their history. And finally some top footballers like Kevin Keegan, Vincent Kompany, Franz Beckenbauer, Jerome Boateng, and Uwe Seeler have played some time during their careers for the Red Shorts.

VfB Stuttgart (3 Titles)

Having won 3 Bundesliga titles, did VfB Stuttgart finish second in the major German league 5 times instead of 2, they could share the fifth position on the list of

clubs with most Bundesliga titles won

with Hamburger SV. Just like Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart have also no consecutive title wins in their bag. They won Bundesliga title in 1983-84, 1991-92, and 2006-07 seasons and finished second in the major German league in 1978-79 and 2002-03 seasons. They also won two Oberliga Sud - one of the highest-tier leagues in the German football league system before the formation of Bundesliga - titles in 1949-50 and 1951-52 seasons.

VfB Stuttgart have been competing in Bundesliga since the formation of the league itself in 1963, however, they have been relegated three times since with two of these relegations being very recent. They were actually relegated once in 1974-75 season where they remained in

for two seasons before they got promoted again in 1976-77 season. The other two times that they got relegated to Bundesliga 2 was in 2015-16 and 2018-19 season in both of which they got promoted again immediately in the following season. Some top footballers like Mario Gomez, Jurgen Klinsmann, Matthias Sammer, Philipp Lahm, and Sami Khedira have played some time during their careers for the Swabians.

FC Koln (2 Titles)

Having won two Bundesliga titles during their history and in 1963-64 and 1977-78 seasons, FC Koln is actually our next club on the list of

clubs with most Bundesliga titles won

. Other than the two Bundesliga titles FC Koln won, they also finished as runners-up in the major German league in five seasons, namely 1964–65, 1972–73, 1981–82, 1988–89, and 1989–90 seasons, with the last two being consecutive.

have been competing in Bundesliga since the formation of the major German league in 1963, however, they have also been relegated to Bundesliga 2 six times during their history; actually in 1997-98, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2011-12, and 2017-18 seasons. As you see, most of FC Koln’s relegations have been after 2000 which probably means they haven’t been able to keep up with the pace football is growing in Bundesliga, however, they have never remained in Bundesliga 2 for more than 2 seasons and have found their way up again to the highest tier resisting further pushback from professionalism. They have also won four DFB-Pokal cups from 1967 to 1982. It should also be mentioned here that some great footballers like Thomas Hassler, Lukas Podolski, the legendary goalkeeper, Harald Schumacher, Jurgen Kohler, and Bodo Illgner, have played sometime during their careers for the top German club.

FC Kaiserslautern (2 Titles)

Based on

Bundesliga records

and statistics to this date (November 2021), FC Kaiserslautern is actually the last club on the list with more than one Bundesliga title won. They actually won two Bundesliga titles in 1990-91 and 1997-98 seasons and finished once as runners-up in the major German league in 1993-94 season. They also won two DFB Pokal cups in 1989-90 and 1995-96 seasons and one DFB Super cup in 1991.

are not currently competing in Bundesliga but in Liga 3 - the third tier of German football league system below Bundesliga 2. It seems in the recent decade - actually from 2005 on - they couldn’t keep up with Bundesliga standards and remained most of the time after 2005 in Bundesliga 2 and from 2018 on in Liga 3, however, from the time they competed in Bundesliga (1963) they remained in the major German league up until 2005-06 season with only getting relegated once in 1995-96 season. And after 2005, it seems they couldn’t make it to Bundesliga except for two seasons from 2010 to 2012, and as we mentioned above, they have been just pushed back one level lower to Liga 3 since 2018. It should also be mentioned here that some great footballers like Mario Basler, Andreas Brehme, and Michael Ballack have played some time during their careers for FC Kaiserslautern.

1860 Munich (1 Title)

The first club on the list with one Bundesliga title,

won their only Bundesliga title in 1965-66 season and right after in the next season (1966-67), they finished as runners-up in the major German league. They have been relegated from Bundesliga to lower leagues four times during their history and have the experience of playing in the fourth (Regionalliga Bayern) and fifth tier (Bayernliga) of German league system. They are currently competing in the third-tier Liga 3.

VfL Wolfsburg (1 Title)

Just like 1860 Munich, VfL Wolfsburg have also one Bundesliga title and one finishing as runners-up in their bag. They actually won a Bundesliga title in 2008-09 season and finished as runners-up in the major German league in 2014-15 season. In the same season (2014-15), they also won a DFB-Pokal cup and DFL Super cup. The difference between 1860 Munich and VfL Wolfsburg is that VfL Wolfsburg are currently competing in the Bundesliga, however, they are new to the top-tier German league since they’ve been competing in it since 1997-98 season - before that, they competed in Bundesliga 2 and Oberliga Nord. They have never been relegated from Bundesliga since they’ve been competing in it with most of the times ranking above 10th at the end of the league. It might be interesting for you to know that VfL Wolfsburg had the top Belgian footballer, Kevin De Bruyne, in their team when they won DFB-Pokal cup and DFL Super cup trophies in 2014-15 season.

Eintracht Braunschweig (1 Title)

They have won only one Bundesliga title in 1966-67 season but have been relegated several times to Bundesliga 2 and even lower during their history and especially in the recent decade. They are currently competing in Liga 3 and have not been able to get a promotion to Bundesliga since 2014-15 season. In fact, they were in Bundesliga only for a season (2013-14) and if you track them up in the earlier years to 2013-14 you see that the last time they competed in Bundesliga was in 1986-87 season. Despite this, they are in front of bigger clubs like Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04 on the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won for just that one Bundesliga title that they won. If we are to name one of the top players that played for Eintracht Braunschweig during their history, our best bet is Paul Breitner who played for the club during 1970s that they competed in Bundesliga.

FC Nurnberg (1 Title)

Actually the last club on the list of clubs with most Bundesliga titles won,

won their only Bundesliga title in 1967-68 season, and just like Eintracht Braunschweig they never finished as runners-up in the major German league. FC Nurnberg have the experience of playing in Bundesliga since the formation of the German major league in 1963, however, they have also been relegated several times to Bundesliga 2 and lower tiers since some of them being in 1968-69, 1978-79, 1983-84, and 1993-94 seasons. The interesting fact about FC Nurnberg’s championship in 1967-68 season is that they got relegated to Regionalliga Sud - the second tier of German football league system at the time - in the very next season (1968-69)!

Clubs with no Bundesliga Title who Finished as Runners-up at Least Once

These clubs, in the order of the times they have finished as runners-up, are as below:

• Schalke 04, 7 times in 1971-72, 1976-77, 2000-01, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2009-10, and 2017-18 seasons

• Bayer Leverkusen, 5 times in 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2001-02, and 2010-11 seasons

• RB Leipzig, 2 times in 2016-17 and 2020-21 seasons

• Meidericher SV, once in 1963-64 season

• Alemannia Aachen, once in 1968-69 season

• Hertha BSC, once in 1974-75 season

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