Bundesliga Torjägerkanone: History & all previous winners

The best striker in the Bundesliga in recent years has been Robert Lewandowski who spent many seasons at Bayern Munich, but plenty of other great forwards won the honour of top scorer before his time. Here is a rundown of the Bundesliga top scorer award and each season's winner since its inception.

When did the Bundesliga start recording top scorers?

In the Bundesliga, the top scorer wins a trophy of a small cannon which is known as the Torjägerkanone. The Bundesliga only started recording top scorers from the 1963/64 season and since 1966, the winner has been given the trophy by German football magazine 'Kicker'. The award is formally known as the Kicker-Torjägerkanone which means 'Kicker-Top scorer cannon'.

Every Bundesliga top scorer ever

While the tables have recently been dominated by Robert Lewandowski, big names like Edin Dzeko, Mario Gomez, Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose have been Bundesliga top scorers in the past. As the list gets nearer to the modern day, it becomes incredibly mixed with nationalities.

Who has been Bundesliga top scorer most often?

Two players are currently tied for the most top scorer awards in the Bundesliga and it's incredibly unlikely to change any time soon. Both Gerd Muller and Robert Lewandowski have been top scorers on seven occasions. Muller passed away in 2021 and Lewandowski now plays for Barcelona. None of Lewandowski's seven honours have been shared with another striker, whereas Muller was level with another player on three occasions. The duo's domination over the records is clear, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge being the next most frequent top scorer with three wins along with Ulf Kirsten.

Who is the all-time Bundesliga top scorer?

As you may expect from the data, it is Gerd Muller and Robert Lewandowski who sit first and second in the all-time Bundesliga scorer chart. Muller is at the very top, having netted an incredible 365 goals during his time at Bayern Munich. Lewandowski is next with 312 goals during his spells at Borussia Dortmund and then Bayern. A very interesting quirk of the Bundesliga is that Peruvian forward Claudio Pizarro is the sixth-highest scorer in the history of the Bundesliga with goals at Werder Bremen, Bayern and Koln, but he never ended a season as the top scorer.

Who has the most goals in one Bundesliga season?

This was another close fight between Gerd Muller and Robert Lewandowski but it goes the way of the Polish striker. He netted a remarkable 41 goals in 34 games during his penultimate season with Bayern Munich in 2020/21. That betters the record Muller previously held for many years. He ended the 1971/72 season as top scorer with 40 goals, a figure no one could beat until Lewandowski came along and had a fair few goes at it