Schalke 04 were crowned champions for a seventh time after a group stage and a final.
It was won in impressive fashion, Schalke winning all its four finals games, scoring 19 goals and conceding only one; a reminder of how the club dominated German football in the 1930s and early 1940s.
On the strength of this title, Schalke participated in the 1958–59 European Cup, where it was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atlético Madrid.
The format used to determine the German champion was the same as in the 1957 season.
The remaining eight clubs then played a single round in two groups of four, with the two group winners entering the final.