From the 1991–92 season onwards clubs from the former East Germany started participating in the league, briefly expanding it to two divisions again.

FC Köln, Arminia Bielefeld and VfL Bochum hold the record number of championships in the league with four each.

With the implementation of the Bundesliga in 1963,[2] five Regionalliga were also founded as the 2nd highest playing level, South, Southwest, West, North and Berlin.

[10][11] The three promoted teams however proved uncompetitive in the Bundesliga with Hannover and Uerdingen being relegated straight away again while Karlsruhe lasted for only two seasons.

The contest for the third promotion spot pitted two far bigger names of German football against each other, with Borussia Dortmund edging out 1.

In the north, two clubs were relegated from the league for financial reasons, Westfalia Herne, which had finished fifth and former Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli, which had come sixth.

In the south, the league was won by SV Darmstadt 98 for a second time while runners-up Kickers Offenbach lost out to Braunschweig in the play-offs.

Fourth place went to 1860 Munich, one point behind Offenbach, but the club found itself relegated after the DFB refused it a license for the following season.

Köln won 2–0 at home, followed by a 3–1 for Dortmund, making a third game necessary as the away goal rule did not apply to the Bundesliga versus 2.

In the relegation zone MSV Duisburg followed the two Berlin clubs into amateur football as a third former Bundesliga side that season.

Arminia Bielefeld came a distant last and was relegated while 17th placed SpVgg Bayreuth was rescued when Rot-Weiß Oberhausen was refused a license.

Saarbrücken however was unable to overcome Eintracht Frankfurt in the later club's second successful play-off defence of its Bundesliga place.

In the relegation zone SpVgg Bayreuth failed to get reprieved for a third consecutive season and dropped into amateur football, as did Alemannia Aachen, a founding member of the 2.

Bundesliga was to be the last in its current format for a time as the German reunification in 1991 lead to changes to the league after this season.

FC Schweinfurt 05 in last place became one of the worst clubs in the league history when it only won two games all season.

Behind it, MSV Duisburg made a return to the Bundesliga while third placed VfB Leipzig became the first former East German club to earn promotion from the 2.

At the bottom end, five clubs were relegated, four of those former Bundesliga sides and the fifth one, Carl Zeiss Jena, from former East Germany.

In the relegation zone FSV Frankfurt came a distant last with only three wins to its name while the two Saarland sides FC Homburg and 1.

At the bottom end VfB Leipzig was one of three clubs from the east to be relegated, alongside SV Meppen, which dropped out of the league after eleven consecutive seasons there.

Fortuna Köln was accompanied to the Regionalliga by Karlsruher SC, Kickers Offenbach and Tennis Borussia Berlin, who had their license revoked.

FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt competing and succeeding for promotion again, behind league champions SC Freiburg.

[57] VfL Bochum won the league again in 2006 while FC Energie Cottbus returned to the Bundesliga for a second three-year stint.

Relegated that year were Dynamo Dresden, former East German power house, after a two-year stint in the league.

[39][59] Karlsruher SC ended an absence from the Bundesliga that had lasted since 1998 when it won the league in 2007 and was followed up by Hansa Rostock and MSV Duisburg.

[60] Freshly relegated Borussia Mönchengladbach won the league the following year, with new Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim second and 1.

VfL Osnabrück found itself unsuccessfully defending its league place again, losing to Dynamo Dresden in extra time in the second leg.

Eintracht Frankfurt came second and Fortuna Düsseldorf returned to the Bundesliga for the first time since 1997 when it defeated Hertha BSC in the play-offs.

Third placed SpVgg Greuther Fürth failed to gain promotion after two draws with Bundesliga club Hamburger SV.

[67] In the 2015–16 the league was won by SC Freiburg, with RB Leipzig finishing runners-up and earning its first-ever Bundesliga promotion, while 1.

Bundesliga gained its own logo to "strengthen the profile of the competition" and to better identify the league with fans, the media, and sponsors.