Germany’s football culture is one of the strongest in the world, and as such there are a huge number of rivalries and derbies contested every season, even if clashes between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund steal the headlines.
Some battles are purely the result of sporting pursuit, while others stem from deeper feuds that have origins rooted in decades long past, but all are important to the football landscape.
For fans on either side of the rivalries in German football, the outcome of any given game is more than merely three points or a place in the next round of a cup competition – bragging rights and the cultural identity of different communities are stake.
Read on as Football Ground Guide takes a look at the top 10 biggest derbies and rivalries in German football, including Der Klassiker.
Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund – Der Klassiker
Bayern against Dortmund has become the headline fixture of the Bundesliga calendar in recent decades, though it is not a geographical derby and is instead more of a sporting and cultural clash.
The Bavarians are the most successful club in Germany, though BVB have been their closest challengers since the 1990s, with Ottmar Hitzfeld guiding the club to their first top-flight title in 1994-95, which they defended in 1995-96 by finishing six points ahead of runners-up Bayern.
However, after a spell as sporting director for the Black and Yellow, Hitzfeld eventually made the switch to the Bayern dugout, and led his former side’s rivals to four Bundesliga crowns.
The most high-profile clash between these clubs took place in the 2013 Champions League final (which the Bavarians won 2-1), and given that Bayern beat Barcelona and Dortmund downed Real Madrid in their respective semi-finals, the showdown earned international attention as the ‘German Clasico’.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke – The Revierderby
Unlike Der Klassiker, the Revierderby is a derby in the traditional sense, with two local giants going head-to-head for bragging rights.
Dortmund and Schalke are located in what was Germany’s industrial heartland, historically known for its steel and coal industries, and both sets of working-class fans are extremely passionate about football to say the least.
The standout Revierderby came back in November 2017, when Dortmund took a four-goal lead at half time, only to be dragged back to 4-4 in the second 45 by a determined Schalke.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mario Gotze and Raphael Guerreiro were all on target for BVB in the opening 25 minutes, while they also benefitted from a Benjamin Stambouli own goal. However, when Guido Burgstaller and Amine Harit halved the deficit beyond the hour mark – before Aubameyang was sent off – the comeback seemed almost inevitable.
Schalke’s Daniel Caligiuri reduced the hosts’ lead to just one goal with four minutes remaining, setting the stage for centre-back Naldo to complete the remarkable recovery with a stoppage-time header.
Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Monchengladbach – The ‘Original’ Klassiker
Before Dortmund became Bayern’s de facto rivals, Borussia Monchengladbach were a force to be reckoned with in German football, and they contested the ‘original’ Klassiker.
Both the Bavarians and Die Fohlen ascended to the Bundesliga in 1964-65, and they quickly established themselves as the division’s teams to watch. When Bayern lifted the title in 1968-69, Gladbach responded with back-to-back triumphs of their own.
In fact, it would take until 1978 for a club other than these rivals to win the Bundesliga, though Gladbach are without a top-flight title since their three consecutive successes between 1975 and 1977, while Bayern have continued to be dominant in the decades since.
That being said, many fans in Germany maintain that Bayern against Gladbach is the ‘real’ Klassiker given the historical back and forth between the clubs, and it is true that Die Fohlen remain a tricky fixture for the Bavarians to navigate each season.
FC Koln vs. Borussia Monchengladbach – The Rhine Derby
The Rhine Derby between FC Koln and Gladbach is one that started small, but the animosity between the clubs grew over the years as their success contrasted more and more.
Koln won the very first Bundesliga title in 1963-64, and while they were expected to build on that landmark victory, they faltered. In the meantime, Billy Goats legend Hennes Weisweiler – a former player and coach of the club that inspired the name of their famous mascot, Hennes – led Gladbach into the top flight.
Weisweiler then oversaw a period of success that allowed Die Fohlen to grow into one of Germany’s biggest sides, while Koln would have to wait until 1977-78 to get their hands on the crown once again.
The rivalry was further cemented by the 1973 DFB-Pokal final, during which Real Madrid-bound Gunter Netzer famously substituted himself on in extra time to score the winner for Gladbach in a 2-1 triumph over Koln, which served as his farewell to the club.
Hamburger vs. Werder Bremen – Nordderby
There are a variety of fixtures that could be referred to as northern derbies in Germany, but contests between Hamburger and Werder Bremen are the definitive Nordderby, a long-running rivalry that goes back to the very first Bundesliga campaign, when HSV were downed 4-2 by Die Werderaner as Arnold Schutz scored a hat-trick.
The intensity of the Nordderby rivalry was at its highest on the pitch in 2008-09, when the teams clashed four times in 19 days between late April and early May 2009.
During that spell, Werder prevailed in the DFB-Pokal semi-final between the sides after a penalty shootout, before going on to reach the final of the the UEFA Cup in controversial fashion thanks to a bizarre stroke of luck involving a ball of paper.
Known as Die Papierkugel, the ball of paper caused a Michael Gravgaard pass to go out for a corner, from which Bremen’s Frank Baumann scored to help take his team through on aggregate. Humorously, Die Papierkugel is now on display in the Werder Bremen club museum.
Hamburger earned promotion back to the Bundesliga after seven years away, meaning that the Nordderby is a Bundesliga fixture once again in 2025-26. In December 2025, HSV ran out 3-2 winners, coming from behind thanks to goals from Albert Sambi Lokonga, Luka Vuskovic and Yussuf Poulsen.
Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig are one of the youngest teams in the German football pyramid, but their genuine threat to Bayern and at the top end of the Bundesliga has resulted in a rivalry quickly forming between the sides.
However, excluding the Super Cup, Die Roten Bullen have only beaten the Bavarians twice to date, losing nine times and drawing on six further occasions since their inaugural meeting in December 2016, which Bayern won 3-0.
In 2025-26, Vincent Kompany’s Bayern kicked off their campaign with an emphatic 6-0 thrashing of Leipzig, and they remain at the top of the table heading into the business end of the season.
Hertha Berlin vs. Union Berlin – Berlin Derby
When Union Berlin earned promotion to the top flight in 2019, they became the first club from what was formerly East Berlin to reach the Bundesliga. This makes the Berlin derby between Die Eisernen and Hertha Berlin – the most successful capital club – particularly special.
Prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hertha fans would visit Union’s home ground, Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, which was often seen as a meeting point for those in defiance of the division of the city. From there, the friendship between the clubs grew, and Union supporters were known to follow Hertha when they would play fixtures in eastern Europe.
However, some have tried to develop a standard footballing rivalry between two local sides in the years since, though an underlying feeling of unity remains even if fans engage in a tribal back and forth befitting a Berlin derby.
Hamburger vs. St Pauli – Hamburg Derby
Hamburger and St Pauli have often played in different divisions over the years, leading to a scarcity of clashes between the two despite their geographical proximity.
However, the Hamburg derby is more than a simple footballing rivalry, and the heated nature of this fixture has its roots in local politics. St Pauli are a club that are predominantly associated with the working-class in Hamburg, while HSV are connected to the city’s upper-class, suburban populace.
The two teams are back in the Bundesliga in 2025-26, and Kiezkicker can claim the bragging rights for this season having collected four points with a 2-0 win in August 2025 before drawing 0-0 in January.
Stuttgart vs. Karlsruher – Baden-Swabia Derby
Another rivalry in German football with its origins in politics, the tensions between these clubs can be traced back more than 200 years, when Napoleonic rule saw Wurttemberg (Stuttgart) named a kingdom, while Baden (Karlsruher) was designated as a duchy.
This led to Wurttemberg faring better than Baden in a variety of regards due to differing levels of investment and attention, and despite the two being merged in 1951, the feud remains strong.
Stuttgart have dominated this fixture on the pitch, and while Die Roten are pushing for Champions League football in 2025-26, Karlsruhe are languishing in mid-table in the 2.Bundesliga with little hope of promotion.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Borussia Monchengladbach – Borussen Derby
Regional rivals Dortmund and Gladbach have long contested the Borussen derby in the Bundesliga, and while the clubs have not often gone toe-to-toe in a title race, their encounters have made for entertaining and impactful spectacles over the years.
Die Fohlen enjoyed the majority of their success in the 1970s, while BVB have ascended to the position of Bayern’s competitors since the 1990s. With that in mind, some Gladbach fans feel that their side are overlooked in the modern era in favour of their neighbours, who have even taken over their role in the Klassiker.
As a result, the Foals’ supporters take pride in affecting the Black and Yellow’s chance at silverware, though it often means that their other rivals, Bayern, benefit. This season, Dortmund have the upper hand in the Borussen derby after a 2-0 triumph back in December.
