Who are the ranked top 10 all-time top scorers of the Bundesliga?

Who are the ranked top 10 all-time top scorers of the Bundesliga?

Kevin Omuya
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:21 PM

Germany has produced some of the game's most excellent forwards over the years, with Gerd Gerd Müller being the most famous. Müller scored 566 goals in 607 appearances for Bayern Munich, making him the club's greatest scorer and the top scorer in the Bundesliga.

All-time top scorers of Bundesliga
Lewandowski (front) of Bayern controls the ball ahead of Sagna of Mancity during the UEFA Champions League match at the Allianz Arena on September 17, 2014, in Munich, Germany. Photo: Alex Grimm
Source: Getty Images

Since Lewandowski's departure, Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus has taken over as the team's top scorer with around 150 goals, followed by the certainty of Thomas Muller. Max Kruse, Timo Werner, and Andrej Kramaric are further down the list, but they are all very close to reaching the century milestone. Here are the top 10 Bundesliga top scorers of all time.

10. Klaus Allofs

All time top scorers of Bundesliga
Deutscher Meister 2004 SV Werder Bremen; Klaus ALLOFS (Sportlicher Direktor Werder Bremen) mit Bommelmuetze und der Meister-Schale 15.05.04. Photo: Alexander Hassenstein
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 177
  • Games played: 424

Klaus Allofs had a slow but steady start to his career with Fortuna Düsseldorf before exploding in 1978–1979, scoring 22 goals. The tally earned him the Torjägerkanone and propelled Düsseldorf to the European Cup Winners' Cup final, where they met Barcelona.

A few years later, he continued his goalscoring for Cologne, a local competitor. In 1982–1983, he became the first player to finish as the league's leading scorer for two different clubs. During his final three years of professional play, he capstoned his career by winning the trophy with Bremen.

9. Dieter Müller

Bundesliga top scorers of all time
Bundesliga football, 1979/1980, Parkstadion, FC Schalke 04 versus 1. FC Cologne 1:1, scene of the match, Dieter Mueller (FC) in ball possession. Photo: Werner OTTO
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 177
  • Games played: 303

When Dieter Müller was still known as Dieter Kaster, he made two brief appearances for Offenbach in the 1972–1973 season. Later that summer, he moved to Cologne and adopted his father's last name. At least 17 goals were scored in six of his eight seasons with the Billy Goats.

Dieter scored 34 goals in the league that season and went on to win it all. When Cologne played Bremen that season, he scored six goals, becoming the first and only player to do so to this day. The game ended in a 7-2 win for Cologne.

8. Stefan Kuntz

All time top scorer in Bundesliga in a season
Head coach Stefan Kuntz of Germany U21 looks on between Spain U21 and Germany U21 at Nuevo Arcangel on October 10, 2019, in Cordoba, Spain. Photo: Aitor Alcalde
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 179
  • Games played: 449

Stefan Kuntz's early success with Bochum in 1983/84 final his overall success in the league. From there, he averaged over 10 points in 11 of his next 15 seasons at the highest level of English football. The current coach of the German U-21 national team was the league's leading scorer twice (1985–86 and 1993–94), winning the championship with Kaiserslautern.

7. Ulf Kirsten

Who is Bundesliga top scorer of all time?
Ulf Kirsten of Germany looks on during the friendly match between DFB-All-Stars and Azzurri Legends at Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer on October 7, 2019, in Fuerth, Germany. Photo: TF-Images
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 182
  • Games played: 350

Ulf Kirsten is also the only one to have scored all indicated goals for a single club, joining Müller in this exclusive club. He started his career in East Germany with Dynamo Dresden, where he won the league twice before reunification, and then moved to West Germany to play for Bayer Leverkusen.

As a part of the Bayer team, he helped them earn the nickname "Eternal Bridesmaids" as they finished second in the Bundesliga four times (1992–1993, 1996–1997, 1997–1998) and lost the UEFA Champions League and DFB Cup finals in 2001–2002.

6. Claudio Pizarro

Top Bundesliga scorers of all time
Claudio Pizarro of FC Bayern München after the Finale against Borussia Dortmund BVB in the Wembley Stadium Saison 2012/ 2013. Photo: Sampics
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 197
  • Games played: 490

Claudio Pizarro is the lone non-European footballer on the all-time Bundesliga scoring list. In more than 20 years in Germany, Claudio Pizarro has established himself as a fan favourite. The Peruvian scored at least one goal in the German Bundesliga every single year from 1999 until 2019 (when he retired at age 41, falling short of the 200-goal mark) before calling it a career.

5. Manfred Burgsmüller

Bundesliga top goal scorers all time
Bundesliga football, 1978/1979, Westfalen Stadium, Borussia Dortmund versus Eintracht Brunswick 2:2, scene of the match, Manfred Burgsmueller (BVB) in ball possession. Photo: Werner OTTO
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 213
  • Games played: 447

Perhaps the most underestimated goalscorer in Bundesliga history who will be remembered fondly by many. After sitting in fourth place on the different all-time list for over 30 years, he passed away at 69, and it took Lewandowski only a few short months to catch up and pass him. Even though he won the trophy with Werder Bremen in 1988 — 19 years after his league debut — he still holds the record for Dortmund's all-time goals scored in the Bundesliga (135).

4. Jupp Heynckes

Top scorers Bundesliga by season
Bundesliga football Gelsenkirchen; FC Schalke 04 / Training; Trainer Jupp HEYNCKES 05.08.04. Photo: Lars Baron/Bongarts
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 220
  • Games played: 369

Jupp Heynckes, a scorer, was widely regarded as one of the best coaches in German football history after guiding Bayern to a treble in 2013. He started his career as a prolific scorer. He was born and raised in Mönchengladbach and spent all but two years of his excellent playing career with the Foals.

With Heynckes at the helm, Gladbach dominated the 1970s, capturing four consecutive Bundesliga titles. He was a two-time Torjägerkanone winner and a DFB Cup (1973) and UEFA Cup (1974) champion (1975). During that same decade, he led Germany to victory at the FIFA World Cup (1974) and the UEFA European Championship (1972).

3. Klaus Fischer

All time top scorers of Bundesliga
Klaus Fischer in action during the FIFA World Cup Group 2 match between West Germany and Mexico at the Estadio Chateau Carreras on June 6, 1978, in Cordoba, Argentina. Photo: Paul Popper
Source: Getty Images
  • Goals: 268
  • Games played: 535

Fischer was among only eleven players to play over 500 times in the Bundesliga throughout his 19-year career. Of that group of legends, he scored more goals than anyone else, but he was only the league's leading scorer once, in 1975–76. He is the best among the top scorers in the Bundesliga by season.

Klaus scored at least 20 goals throughout six seasons, and while his overhead kicks earned him fame, he may have had his finest hour when he scored four goals in Schalke's 7-0 victory over Bayern. He is the third among the Bundesliga's top goal-scorers of all time.

2. Robert Lewandowski

Bundesliga top scorers of all time
Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and VfL Wolfsburg at Allianz Arena on September 22, 2015, in Munich, Germany. Photo: Prett
Source: Getty Images
  • Go: 312
  • Games played: 384

There is no record in the Bundesliga that has stood the test of time for as long as Lewandowski has not broken it. The Polish striker has now scored more goals than any other non-German player in Bundesliga history and is the first to win five straight top scorer's trophies.

He climbed into the second position on this list by overtaking Schalke great Klaus Fisher's 268-goal mark in Bayern's Matchday 26 triumph against VfB Stuttgart, breaking Der Bomber's 49-year-old best single-season record of 40 league goals. Early in 2022, he scored a hat trick against Cologne, becoming only the second player in Bundesliga history to score 300 times, being the second top Bundesliga scorer of all time.

1. Gerd Müller

All time top scorer in Bundesliga in a season
Gerd Müller from FC Bayern in 1971. Photo: Pressefoto Ulmer
Source: Getty Images

Who is the Bundesliga top scorer of all time?

Gerd "Der Bomber" Müller has 365 goals and played in 427 games while setting several records playing for Bayern in the Bundesliga. His description of 365 goals will probably never be broken, but what is more astonishing is the incredible pace at which he kept scoring for so long.

The four-time Bundesliga champion scored a goal once every 105 minutes throughout 14 seasons, earning him the league's most prestigious individual award, the Torjägerkanone, an astonishing five times. With 40 goals in 1971–72, Gerd Müller broke the record he had held since 1956–57, despite missing three penalties.

After beginning his career in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, Robert Lewandowski played for Bayern Munich, where he came extremely close to breaking Gerd Müller's record for most career goals. Even though Lewandowski broke Müller's record for the all-time top scorer in Bundesliga in a season, Müller still holds the record for all-time top scorers of the Bundesliga.

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Kevin Omuya photo
Kevin Omuya
Kevin Omuya is a Content Writer with 4 years of experience who joined Sports Brief in 2022. In 2019 he held a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Digital Media from KCA University.