Robert Lewandowski won his sixth Bundesliga top scorer's prize in 2020/21. - © Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

bundesliga

A history of Bundesliga top scorers by season, featuring Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gerd Müller

04.06.2023

Robert Lewandowski holds the single-season goals record, but how many times did the former Bayern Munich striker win the Torjägerkanone as Bundesliga top scorer?

bundesliga.com presents a comprehensive list of all Torschützenkönige dating back to the Bundesliga's innaugural campaign...

1963/64
Uwe Seeler (Hamburg)
Goals: 30

Cologne were debut Bundesliga champions, but that wasn't for Uwe Seeler's want of trying. The Hamburg striker scored 30 times across as many games, accounting for almost half of his team's 69 team goals.

Watch: Uwe Seeler - a Hamburg legend

1964/65
Rudolf Brunnenmeier (1860 Munich)
Goals: 24

Rudolf Brunnenmeier's name is inextricably linked with 1860 Munich. The German striker hit 24 Bundesliga goals in 1964/65, having already helped the Bavarians win the DFB Cup 12 months earlier. They were Bundesliga champions in 1965/66.

1965/66
Lothar Emmerich (Borussia Dortmund)
Goals: 31

Lothar 'Emma' Emmerich outdid Brunnenmeier during 1860's title-winning season, becoming the first player in Bundesliga history to post 30 single-season goals.

1966/67
Lothar Emmerich (Borussia Dortmund)/ Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 28

Emmerich made it a double in 1966/67, but for the first time the Torjägerkanone was shared, with a certain Bayern striker by the name of Gerd Müller.

Lothar Emmerich scored 115 goals in 183 Bundesliga appearances. - imago sportfotodienst

1967/68
Hannes Löhr (Cologne)
Goals: 27

Hannes Löhr's career-best season proved a sizeable contribution to his 166 Bundesliga goals - more than any Cologne player past or present.

1968/69
Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 30

Seven braces, two hat-tricks and one four-goal haul were among Müller's 30-strike spree. He failed to score in 14 of his 30 appearances, and sat out four through suspension.

1969/70
Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 38

Müller enjoyed his best season yet in 1969/70, finding the back of the net in 16 straight matches. It's a scoring streak bettered across Europe's top five leagues by one man: Lionel Messi.

1970/71
Lothar Kobluhn (Rot-Weiss Oberhausen)
Goals: 24

Thanks to Lothar Kobluhn, Rot-Weiss Oberhausen avoided relegation on goal difference alone. They finished the season with a GD of -15, compared to Kickers Offenbach's -16.

1971/72
Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 40

Müller blew the field away in 1971/71, setting a single-season record of 40 goals that would stand for over 49 years.

Watch: An ode to the late Gerd Müller

1972/73
Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 36

Müller hit 30 or more goals for the fourth time in 1972/73. Only two other players have repeated the prolific feat (read on for more).

1973/74
Jupp Heynckes (Borussia Mönchengladbach)/ Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 30

Jupp Heynckes fired Gladbach to within a point of their third Bundesliga title in 1973/74. It was the second time Müller had to share the top scorer's award.

1974/75
Jupp Heynckes (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Goals: 27

Heynckes took the prize outright the following season, as Gladbach wrestled the title back from Bayern, who finished 10th.

Jupp Heynckes was a top-class striker, before becoming a top-class coach. - imago/Horstmüller

1975/76
Klaus Fischer (Schalke)
Goals: 29

Famed for his bicycle-kicks, Schalke's record marksman Klaus Fischer scored six more goals than Müller in 1975/76. With 268 goals all told, he sits third behind Lewandowski and Müller in the all-time Bundesliga charts.

1976/77
Dieter Müller (Cologne)
Goals: 34

Dieter Müller averaged a goal a game in 1976/77, with Gerd six back on 28 goals across his 25 appearances.

1977/78
Dieter Müller (Cologne)/ Gerd Müller (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 24

Cologne's title-winning talisman shared the prize with his namesake the following year, though his six goals in one game (in the 12th, 23rd, 32nd, 52nd, 73rd and 85th minute of a 7-2 win over Werder Bremen) is a best-mark even the great 'Bomber der Nation' couldn't beat.

1978/79
Klaus Allofs (Fortuna Düsseldorf)
Goals: 22

The 1978/79 campaign was another close-run affair, shaded by Fortuna Düsseldorf's Klaus Allofs. Schalke's Fischer struck 21 times, despite playing in one game more.

Klaus Allofs top scored for Rhineland rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf and Cologne. - imago

1979/80
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 26

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was the first Bayern player not not named Gerd Müller to win the Torjägerkanone.

1980/81
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 29

'Kalle' was at it again in 1980, justifying his German, European and World Player of the Year gongs.

1981/82
Horst Hrubesch (Hamburg)
Goals: 27

A 1980 UEFA Euro-winning teammate of Rummenigge, Horst Hrubesch used his head - quite literally - to bring the good times to 1981/82 Bundesliga champions Hamburg. "I played in the Bundesliga for eight years and scored 136 goals; out of those, 81 were scored with my head," recalled 'the Header Monster'.

1982/83
Rudi Völler (Werder Bremen)
Goals: 23

Bundesliga 2 top scorer with 1860 Munich in 1981/82, Rudi Völler had no trouble bridging the gap in the Bundesliga with Bremen.

1983/84
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 26

Rummenigge made it a hat-trick of top scorer's cannons in 1983/84, matching his league-leading tally of 1979/80.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge won back-to-back Torjägerkanone and Ballon d'Or prizes in 1980 and 1981. - imago sportfotodienst via www.imago-images.de/imago images/WEREK

1984/85
Klaus Allofs (Cologne)
Goals: 26

With 26 goals across the 1984/85 campaign, Allofs became the second player after Gerd Müller to top score in the Bundesliga in two different decades.

1985/86
Stefan Kuntz (Bochum)
Goals: 22

Three players broke the 20-goal barrier in 1985/86, with Stefan Kuntz getting his nose for goal over the line ahead of VfB Stuttgart's Karl Allgöwer (21) and Bremen's Frank Neubarth (20).

1986/87
Uwe Rahn (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Goals: 24

Uwe Rahn wasn't a striker, but that didn't stop him outscoring the rest of the field in 1986/87.

1987/88
Jürgen Klinsmann (VfB Stuttgart)
Goals: 19

Not long after finishing his baker's apprenticeship, Jürgen Klinsmann was making his dough in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart. Nineteen goals marked his best ever single-season return, prior to a mid-1990s stint at English outfit Tottenham Hotspur.

Jürgen Klinsmann ended his Torjägerkanone-winning season by being named Germany's Footballer of the Year. - imago

1988/89
Thomas Allofs (Cologne)/ Roland Wohlfarth (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 17

Thomas shared the goal-scoring gene with older brother Klaus Allofs, tying Bayern's Roland Wohlfarth on 17 goals in 1988/89.

1989/90
Jorn Andersen (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Goals: 18

Not the biggest total, but historic all the same. Jorn Andersen was the Bundesliga's first non-German top scorer.

1990/91
Roland Wohlfarth (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 21

Try as he might, Wohlfarth couldn't land Bayern a third straight title in 1990/91. The record champions finished three points behind eventual champions Kaiserslautern.

1991/92
Fritz Walter (VfB Stuttgart)
Goals: 22

Not to be confused with the eponymous striker of Kaiserslautern fame, Fritz Walter's 22 goals Bundesliga propelled Stuttgart to their second Bundesliga title.

1992/93
Ulf Kirsten (Bayer Leverkusen)/ Anthony Yeboah (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Goals: 20

Ulf Kirsten shared the 1992/93 Torjägerkanone with cult figure Tony Yeboah, the first African to get his hands on the prize.

1993/94
Stefan Kuntz (Kaiserslautern)/ Anthony Yeboah (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Goals: 18

Yeboah defended his crown a year later, this time matched all the way by another two-time winner, Kuntz. Stephane Chapuisat, Paulo Sergio and Toni Polster were a tie for second, on 17 goals.

Tony Yeboah (r.) was the first African top scorer in Bundesliga history. - imago sportfotodienst

1994/95
Mario Basler (Werder Bremen)/ Heiko Herrlich (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Goals: 20

Mario Basler and Heiko Herrlich made it a third straight even split in 1994/96, helping their respective clubs secure qualification to European competition. Basler is one of three players not listed as a 'striker' to lift the cannon.

1995/96
Fredi Bobic (VfB Stuttgart)
Goals: 17

Fredi Bobic was part of the original 'Magisches Dreieck' (magical triangle) at Stuttgart, alongside Giovane Elber and Krasimir Balakov. The 1995/96 season wasn't his most prolific - that came a year later (19 goals) - but it was the only time he finished as top scorer.

1996/97
Ulf Kirsten (Bayer Leverkusen)
Goals: 22

Kirsten outscored Cologne's Polster (21), and Bobic to claim his second Torjägerkanone.

1997/98
Ulf Kirsten (Bayer Leverkusen)
Goals: 22

Leverkusen's main man struck again in 1997/98. He was the sixth player to win back-to-back top scorer's prizes and is only the third to lift the prize three or more times.

Ulf Kirsten earned comparisons with Gerd Müller during a prolific stint at Bayer Leverkusen. - imago/Uwe Kraft

1998/99
Michael Preetz (Hertha Berlin)
Goals: 23

Michael Preetz denied Kirsten a fourth title. He's the only Hertha player to be top of the shots in Bundesliga history.

1999/00
Martin Max (1860 Munich)
Goals: 19

Martin Max channeled his inner Brunnenmeier to help 1860 reach the Champions League third qualifying round, where they lost a two-legged tie to Leeds United. He scored two more goals than the ever-reliable Kirsten.

2000/01
Sergej Barbarez (Hamburg)/ Ebbe Sand (Schalke)
Goals: 22

Sergej Barbarez wasn't an out-an-out striker, but still succeeded in breaking the 20-goal barrier. Ebbe Sand was tie for first after scoring on a dramatic final day in which a last-gasp goal from Bayern Munich's Patrik Andersson snatched a maiden Bundesliga title away from Schalke.

2001/02
Marcio Amoroso (Borussia Dortmund)/ Martin Max (1860 Munich)
Goals: 18

Marcio Amoroso fired Dortmund to the title in 2001/02, becoming the Bundesliga's first Brazil-born top scorer, while Max accounted for almost a third of ninth-placed 1860's 59 team goals.

2002/03
Thomas Christiansen (Bochum)/ Giovane Elber (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 21

Bochum's Thomas Christiansen split the award with Bayern's Giovane Elber, who posted double figures for goals for the eighth season in a row.

2003/04
Ailton (Werder Bremen)
Goals: 28

Ailton made it a hat-trick for Brazilians in the Bundesliga scoring charts as Bremen won a domestic double. He later became the first non-German to be named Germany's Player of the Year.

Watch: Ailton - a Werder Bremen cult icon

2004/05
Marek Mintal (Nuremberg)
Goals: 24

Over six seasons of Bundesliga football with Nuremberg, Marek Mintal scored 32 goals in 121 appearances. A league-leading 24 of them fell across the 2004/05 campaign.

2005/06
Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen)
Goals: 25

Miroslav Klose had a direct hand in 25 goals in 2004/05, and scored that many alone the following campaign to claim his first and only Bundesliga top scorer's cannon. Months later, he took home the 2006 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot.

2006/07
Theofanis Gekas (Bochum)
Goals: 20

Theofanis Gekas was described as Bochum's "life insurance policy" by Bochum coach Marcel Koller after the Panathinaikos loanee's 20 goals steered the club clear of the drop with room to spare.

2007/08
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 24

While Gekas earned a move to Leverkusen for his efforts, it was another summer transfer who took the headlines in 2007/08. Luca Toni made a huge splash at Bayern, winning the Bundesliga, DFB Cup and Torjägerkanone in his debut campaign.

2008/09
Grafite (Wolfsburg)
Goals: 28

Toni was 14 goals off a pace set by Wolfsburg's Grafite in 2008/09. The Brazilian formed a prolific partnership with Edin Dzeko, scoring one of the finest individual goals in living memory as the Wolves thrashed Bayern 5-1 in their own back yard en route to winning their only Bundesliga title to date.

2009/10
Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg)
Goals: 22

The very next season, Dzeko produced 22 goals to keep the Torjägerkanone in Wolfsburg. Grafite, by contrast, scored 11.

The goals of Edin Dzeko and Grafite (l-r.) helped Wolfsburg win the 2008/09 Bundesliga title. - 2009 Getty Images

2011/12
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Schalke)
Goals: 29

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar headed off Mario Gomez (26), Lewandowski (22) and Claudio Pizarro (18), but fell short of becoming the first player since 1976/77 to post a 30-goal season.

2012/13
Stefan Kießling (Bayer Leverkusen)
Goals: 25

Lewandowski was made to wait again in 2012/13, finishing one goal behind Leverkusen's Stefan Kießling in the final standings.

2013/14
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
Goals: 20

Lewandowski closed his Dortmund chapter with a flurry of a league-leading 20 Bundesliga goals - enough for his first of six Torjägerkanonen to date - before joining Bayern on a free transfer. Bayern's Mario Mandzukic was his neareast challenger (18 goals).

2014/15
Alexander Meier (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Goals: 19

Eintracht Frankfurt 'Fußball Gott' (football God) Alexander Meier finished the 2014/15 season with two more goals than Bayern pair Lewandowski and Arjen Robben, despite missing the final six rounds of fixtures through injury.

2015/16
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 30

Lewandowski regained the prize in 2015/16, becoming only the third player in history to hit 30 single-season goals, including five in a record-breaking nine-minute spell against Wolfsburg.

2016/17
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund)
Goals: 31

Lewandowski hit 30 again in 2016/17, only to be outdone by former Dortmund teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. At the time, the Gabonese's 31 goals in 32 games marked the highest single-season return by a non-German player.

Watch: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's top-scoring highlight reel

2017/18
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 29

Lewandowski blew the field away in 2017/18, with 29 goals to Freiburg counterpart Nils Petersen's 15.

2018/19
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 22

There was much less of a gulf in 2018/19, with Dortmund captain Marco Reus one of five players on 17 goals, behind teammate Paco Alcacer (18) and the irrepressible Lewandowski (22).

2019/20
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 34

Not even 'Turbo Timo' Werner (28 goals) could keep up with Lewandowski in 2019/20. Having surpassed Aubameyang as the first player in Bundesliga history to score in each of the opening 11 matches of a season, the Bayern No.9 duly defended his title for the fourth campaign on the spin.

2020/21
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 41

Lewandowski missed just 10 Bundesliga games through injury in his first seven seasons at Bayern. His longest spell on the sidelines was four successive matches, and that was in the 2020/21 campaign, the one in which he netted 41 goals in 29 top-flight matches to break Gerd Müller's single-season scoring record, a mark that had stood for nearly half a century.

Watch: All 41 goals of Robert Lewandowski's single-season record in 2020/21

2021/22
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Goals: 35

Lewandowski became the first player in Bundesliga history to claim five top scorer's cannons on the bounce, and seven outright. His nearest challenger was Leverkusen's Patrik Schick on 24 goals. Erling Haaland finished third in the final scoring charts with 22.

2022/23
Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen) & Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)-
Goals: 16

Füllkrug shared the trophy after Nkunku, who was the league's Player of the Season in 2021/22, struck twice on the final day to take his tally to 16 top-flight strikes for the campaign. Füllkrug became Bremen's first Bundesliga top scorer since Miroslav Klose in 2005/06, while Nkunku signed off from the Bundesliga with a personal trophy.