The Bundesliga in the 2000s was a decade of extremes. Bayern won the treble, then Kahn had the greatest goalkeeper season anyone had ever seen and still finished on the losing side in a World Cup final. Borussia Dortmund won the league and nearly went bankrupt inside three years. Bayer Leverkusen came second in everything. And through all of it, German clubs produced a string of shirts that collectors are still chasing two decades later.
Predominantly white with delicate red pinstripes on the torso, red detailing on the collar trim, sleeve cuffs, and Adidas shoulder stripes. Fly Emirates as sponsor. The shirt of a club that had been in the Bundesliga since it began and still looked like they belonged there.
Based on Nike's Brasil Touch template, vibrant green base with a white V-neck collar. Worn during their Bundesliga title-winning season. Nobody saw Wolfsburg coming that year. Grafite and Edin Džeko combined for 54 league goals between them. The shirt picked up all of that story.
Stuttgart's last Bundesliga title came wearing this. White with broad red stripes and the classic VfB badge, produced with the restraint Puma occasionally nailed in the mid-2000s. Mario Gomez, Sami Khedira, Cacau. A team that outran Bayern over a full season. The shirt has the quiet confidence of a side that knew exactly what it was doing.
Königsblau with white collar details and the classic Adidas stripes on the shoulders, Veltins as sponsor. Worn in the season Schalke won the DFB-Pokal — and in the same campaign came agonisingly close to the Bundesliga title. Bayern scored in injury time on the final day while Schalke's players were already celebrating. One of the most painful near-misses in German football history, contained in a royal blue shirt.
Worn during their Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double-winning season. The vibrant green base with contrasting orange raglan sleeves and green cuffs is one of the most visually striking shirts any German club produced in the decade. Miroslav Klose, Johan Micoud, Ailton. A side playing some of the best football the Bundesliga had seen in years, and a shirt to match.
Black with yellow details on the round-neck collar, sleeve cuffs, and side panels, yellow piping outlining the chest, Nike swoosh and club crest in yellow. The away version of the BVB look at its most minimal. This was the recovery era after the near-bankruptcy, and Nike's restraint here produced something that holds up better than many louder designs from the same period.
Classic alternating red and black vertical stripes, red polo collar, white Adidas three-stripes on the shoulders, RWE as sponsor. Worn during their memorable triple-final season — runners-up in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and Champions League all in the same year. Neverkusen — the nickname that followed them all summer. The shirt became a symbol of what the sport can do to you when it decides to. There is no other shirt in this list that carries that weight.
Bright yellow base with black raglan sleeves and side panels, a subtle DORTMUND embossed on the front, E.ON as sponsor. Manufactured by the German brand goool., worn during their Bundesliga-winning season and UEFA Cup final run. The contrast between this shirt's triumph and Leverkusen's tragedy that same season is part of what makes both so memorable.
Dark blue with a polo collar, white Adidas shoulder stripes, a subtle diagonal graphic, and white sleeve cuff trim, T-Home as sponsor. Worn during their Bundesliga triumph and Champions League final run, where they lost to Mourinho's Inter in Madrid. The dark blue away version is the less obvious choice from a great Bayern season — and the better shirt for it.
Predominantly red with a navy blue collar and shoulder panels, white Adidas stripes, Opel as sponsor. San Siro, 23 May 2001. Bayern versus Valencia in the Champions League Final. Oliver Kahn saved three penalties in the shootout — Mendieta, Ayala, and Carboni — to win the European Cup. They had already won the Bundesliga. The Intercontinental Cup followed in December. The shirt worn across the entire treble-winning season is the most complete piece of kit from a decade of German football. Nothing else in this list comes close.
