Bundesliga was established in 1974 in two regional divisions and began play in August 1974 with a game between 1.
[2][3] Bernd Hoffmann of Karlsruher SC and Volker Graul of Arminia Bielefeld became the first top scorers of the southern and northern divisions.
The record holder for the single-division era is Rudi Völler of 1860 Munich in 1981–82, with 37 goals.
The only player to finish top scorer four times was Simon Terodde, doing so with VfL Bochum, VfB Stuttgart, 1.
Emanuel Günther was top scorer three times, all with Karlsruher SC (including one shared scoring title).