1996–97 Bundesliga

Competition modus

Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received three points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal difference and, if still tied, by goals scored. The team with the most points were crowned champions while the three teams with the least points were relegated to 2. Bundesliga.

Team changes to 1995–96

1. FC Kaiserslautern, Eintracht Frankfurt and KFC Uerdingen 05 were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after finishing in the last three places. They were replaced by VfL Bochum, Arminia Bielefeld and MSV Duisburg.

League table

Source: www.dfb.de
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 won their respective European competitions in this season, so they qualified as title holders. As a consequence, the original UEFA Cup places of Dortmund and Stuttgart, who qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as domestic cup winners, were awarded to Karlsruhe and 1860 Munich; the Intertoto Cup berths of Karlsruhe and 1860 were handed to Köln and, as Mönchengladbach did not apply for this competition, Hamburg.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Source: www.dfb.de
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers