This is the list of 2. Bundesliga top scorers season by season.
The 2. Bundesliga was established in 1974 in two regional divisions and began play in August 1974 with a game between 1. FC Saarbrücken and Darmstadt 98, with Nikolaus Semlitsch of Saarbrücken scoring the first-ever goal of the new league. Bernd Hoffmann of Karlsruher SC and Volker Graul of Arminia Bielefeld became the first-ever top scorers of the southern and northern divisions. From 1981, with the exception of the 1991–92 season, the league operated as a single division.
Horst Hrubesch holds the record for the highest number of goals in a season, 41 for Rot-Weiss Essen in the 1977–78 season of the northern division. The record holder for the single-division era is Rudi Völler of 1860 Munich in 1981–82 with 37 goals. The only player to finish top scorer three times was Emanuel Günther, on all three occasions with Karlsruher SC (shared once). Siegfried Reich, Angelo Vier and Artur Wichniarek (the last shared once) won two titles, with Reich's achievements particularly notable as they occurred seven years apart. Arminia Bielefeld holds the record for top scorers for clubs, having provided the leagues top scorer on six occasions. The most career goals in the league were scored by Dieter Schatzschneider with 154, who was also the leagues top scorer in 1982–83.
Top scorers
The leagues top scorers: