2021-22 European Club Kit Preview: Bundesliga (Germany)

The German Bundesliga’s 2021-22 season kicks off on Friday, Aug. 13, with defending champions Bayern Munich hosting Borussia Monchengladbach. Eighteen teams will battle it out for the title, and all 18 have released their home and away looks for the new season. Let’s take a closer look …

(Includes all kits unveiled as of Aug. 10, 2021)

The green and red stripes on FC Augsburg’s home kit are similar to the shirts worn by the club in 1969, the first season after BC Augsburg and TSV Schwaben Augsburg merged to create the modern club.

Hertha Berlin traditionally has blue and white vertical stripes on their home kits, but this year have opted to have the blue stripes made up of a pattern of lines.

The green trim on Union Berlin’s third kit is a tribute to forests and green spaces in and around the city of Berlin. The tonal grey pattern on the away kit takes inspiration from the club’s early days and its nickname, “Die Eisernen” (“The Iron Ones”).

Arminia Bielefeld’s third kit features the logo of the city of Bielefeld printed on the bottom right of the shirt.

Nike has outfitted VfL Bochum using the same template as Spain’s Sevilla FC at home and an away kit template similar to England’s Tottenham Hotspur (2020-21) and Finland’s away kit at Euro 2020.

Puma has produced shorts and socks in both yellow and black to go with Borussia Dortmund’s 2021-22 home kit. Promotional photos all showed players wearing black shorts and yellow socks, so presumably that would be the first choice, but the team can mix and match to avoid clashes with opponents.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s third kit for 2021-22 is actually the same away kit as the club wore in 2020-21. They also have a fourth kit for UEFA Europa League matches, which uses the same Nike Challenge III template as Hertha Berlin’s third jersey.

SC Freiburg’s third kit featured an embossed graphic of the head of a griffin in the bottom right corner. This same griffin head is found in the club’s crest.

Greuther Fürth are back in the Bundesliga for the first time since 2012-13, and they’re returning in style with kits featuring a a pattern Puma calls “Hexacamo” in two different shades of green.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim has gone with salmon as the base color for their third kits this year. The club crest on both the third kit and the away kit has been recolored to navy blue, a departure from the brighter shade of blue found on their home kit crest.

1.FC Köln’s away kit features a paisley pattern on the front, and their third kit features black logos — including sponsors, manufacturer and the club crest — on a black base. Köln also wore a special edition fourth kit on Saturday, Aug. 28, with the names of season ticket holders who did not take a refund for the 2020-21 season.

RB Leipzig broke out their new away kit for 2021-22 back in May during their 2020-21 Bundesliga finale against Union Berlin. It, like the home kit, is inspired by the club motto, “You Can Do Anything,” which is printed on the back near the collar of both kits.

Bayer Leverkusen’s 2021-22 home kit features red and black vertical stripes on their Jako-manufactured home kit for the first time since 2005-06. In the years between, Bayer’s home kits have mainly been black with some red accents.

Mainz 05 has included nods to the history of their city in both their away and third kits for 2021-22. The away kit features . The gold accents on the third kit allude to the city’s nickname in the 13th century, “Golden Mainz.”

The crest on Borussia Monchengladbach’s home kit is placed inside a green box on the front of the jersey, as it was on shirts the team wore in the 1970s.

Bayern Munich’s home kit for 2021-22 will feature five stars above the crest for the first time. The extra star was added after Bayern won its 50th Bundesliga/German top division championship in 2020-21. The away kit’s colors are based on the Munich city flag, and it also features the city’s coat of arms on the back collar.

While a red stripe around the chest is a tradition home look for VfB Stuttgart, this year’s version adds some black accents. It’s the first time since 2017-18 that Stuttgart has included black accents on their home kits. Typically, they stick to just red and white.

The pattern of VfL Wolfsburg’s home kit mimics that of an “Erlkönig,” a prototype car covered in a visually confusing pattern in order to mask details. This is a nod to the club’s beginnings as a team of workers at the Volkswagen plant in the city.