The season commenced on 7 August 2009 with the traditional season-opening match involving the defending champions VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Stuttgart.
Karlsruher SC and Arminia Bielefeld were directly relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season after finishing in the bottom two places of the table.
Karlsruhe ended a two-year stint in Germany's top flight, while Arminia were relegated for the sixth time since the introduction of the Bundesliga, a current record, after five years.
Freiburg returned to the Bundesliga after four years, and Mainz began a second tenure in the top division after being relegated in the 2006–07 season.
Nürnberg won both matches by an aggregated score of 5–0 and thus earned their seventh promotion to the Bundesliga since its introduction, also a current record.
Eight teams underwent coaching changes during the off-season, among them champions VfL Wolfsburg and runners-up Bayern Munich.