Frauen Bundesliga · History

The Frauen-Bundesliga is the top division of women's football in Germany. It has been played as a single national league since 1997–98. In June 2024 the German Football Association (DFB) voted to expand it from twelve to fourteen clubs from the 2025–26 season. The DFB congress in Trier approved the league in 1989, and the first season kicked off on 2 September 1990. The bottom clubs drop into the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga, the nationwide second tier since 2004. The top finishers go into the UEFA Women's Champions League, where Germany has had three places since 2021–22.

Two regional groups (1990–1997)

The DFB modelled the competition on the men's Bundesliga. Twenty clubs from the regional leagues were split into a northern and a southern group of ten. After reunification, USV Jena and FC Wismut Aue, both from the former East Germany, were admitted, and in 1991–92 each group had eleven teams. The top two in each group met in two-legged semi-finals, and the title went to the winner of a one-off final. TSV Siegen won the first championship in 1990–91 and added three more, in 1991–92, 1993–94 and 1995–96. TuS Niederkirchen (1992–93), FSV Frankfurt (1994–95) and Grün-Weiß Brauweiler (1996–97) won the other titles of that period.

One table and the Frankfurt years (1997–2008)

In 1997–98 the two groups merged into a single twelve-team league, and since then the table alone has decided the champion. FSV Frankfurt won that first season. The city's other club, 1. FFC Frankfurt, took its first title in 1998–99. FCR Duisburg finished top in 1999–2000, and 1. FFC Frankfurt then won three in a row, from 2000–01 to 2002–03. Turbine Potsdam claimed the 2003–04 title, and Frankfurt regained it in 2004–05. Potsdam won again in 2005–06, and Frankfurt closed the period with titles in 2006–07 and 2007–08. German clubs were just as strong in Europe: 1. FFC Frankfurt won the UEFA Women's Cup in 2002, 2006 and 2008, Turbine Potsdam in 2005 and FCR Duisburg in 2009.

Potsdam's four in a row (2008–2012)

Turbine Potsdam won four consecutive league titles, from 2008–09 to 2011–12. In 2010 it also won the first edition played under the UEFA Women's Champions League name, adding to its European title of 2005. That run took Potsdam to six league championships.

Wolfsburg and Bayern (2012–2026)

VfL Wolfsburg won its first championship in 2012–13 and kept it in 2013–14. It also won the Champions League in both seasons. Bayern Munich answered with titles in 2014–15 and 2015–16. Wolfsburg then won four straight, from 2016–17 to 2019–20. In 2020, 1. FFC Frankfurt, European champion in 2015, became part of Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern took the 2020–21 title and Wolfsburg the 2021–22 one. From 2022–23 onwards, Bayern won four in a row. It sealed the 2025–26 title, the first with fourteen clubs, with a 3–2 win away to 1. FC Union Berlin on matchday 23, with four rounds left.

Sponsors and attendances

The league has carried a sponsor's name since 1 July 2014, when Allianz signed a five-year deal. Flyeralarm held the naming rights from 2019–20 until 2023. On 1 July 2023 the competition became the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga. On 23 April 2023, 38,365 spectators watched 1. FC Köln play Eintracht Frankfurt, which was the league's attendance record at the time. That figure fell on 6 September 2025, when 57,762 people watched Bayern beat Bayer Leverkusen 2–0 at the Allianz Arena in the season's opening match. It was a record for German women's club football.

Roll of honour

By 2026, three clubs shared first place with seven titles each: VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich. All seven of Eintracht's titles were won as 1. FFC Frankfurt. Turbine Potsdam had six, TSV Siegen four and FSV Frankfurt two. TuS Niederkirchen, Grün-Weiß Brauweiler and FCR Duisburg won one each. Between 2002 and 2015, clubs from the league won nine European titles. Bayern's championship in 2026 was its seventh in the Frauen-Bundesliga.