2022-23 European Football Kit Preview: Bundesliga (Germany)

Germany’s top domestic soccer league, the Bundesliga, kicks off its 2022-23 season on Friday, August 5, when Eintracht Frankfurt — winners of the 2021-22 UEFA Europa League title — square off against defending champions Bayern Munich. Bayern, in fact, have won 10 straight Bundesliga titles, which will be commemorated with a special badge on the chest of their uniforms this season.

NOTE: This preview includes all kit information available as of August 3, 2022.

FC Augsburg launched all three their new home kits on Tuesday, June 28, and then wore the home kits in a preseason friendly against TSV Schwaben Augsburg. The club’s crest and colours are similar to the Augsburg coat of arms.

2022-23 is Bayer Leverkusen’s first season with kit supplier Castore. The soundwaves that make up the tonal hoops on their home jerseys are inspired by the fan chant “LEVERKUSEN ALLEZ.”

Bayern Munich’s away kit in 2021-22 was black with gold accents and the Münchner Kindl, a symbol from the city’s coat of arms, printed on the back collar. The Müncher Kindl returns on the 2022-23 away kit, again in gold on the back collar, but this time on a white shirt. The Bundesliga patches on the sleeves of Bayern’s kits this year feature a special logo commemorating the club’s 10 straight league titles, and a special shield will also be placed mid-chest on match jerseys.

Borussia Dortmund retain their familiar black-and-yellow home colour scheme for 2022-23, but this time with black vertical stripes down the front of a yellow shirt manufactured by Puma. The black stripes contain a tonal pattern inspired by the windows at the Wildschütz restaurant, where 18 men met in 1909 to found the club. The grey pattern on the black away kit symbolizing the flags flown by fans in their home stadium.

Borussia Mönchengladbach were the only Bundesliga team to have not released an away kit as of Wednesday, August 3. But Die Fohlen had released a black third kit, which they had worn a couple of times in preseason friendlies and early rounds of the DFB-Pokal. The third kit features a tonal camouflage print all over.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s third shirt features several areas near the bottom with different black striping patterns. These are patterns from various different Eintracht kits over the decades; the most recent comes from 2018-19.

Hertha Berlin’s third kit is a throwback to the away kit the club wore in 1997, when they won promotion back into the Bundesliga. They did so with a 2-1 win over Unterhachting.

This is 1. FC Köln’s first season with kit supplier Hummel. All of Köln’s kits are chosen by the club’s kit commission. All three 2022-23 kits have the club motto “LEBE wie du bist” (“live as you are”) printed inside the collar.

Mainz 05’s third kit has the same tonal geometric pattern as their home and away kits, but it also includes a map of the city of Mainz. The city’s neighbourhoods are outlined tonally on the front of the shirt.

For their 2022-23 home kit, RB Leipzig’s website says, “The shirt maintains the classic RB Leipzig look: a base white colour, refined by grey and red elements which are real eye-catchers. For this unique look, our brand identity – the Red Bull – has undergone a new and futuristic interpretation and been integrated into the shirt as a red and grey pattern using a bespoke design.”

SC Freiburg released all three of their Nike kits for 2022-23 in late June. The pattern on the white third kit is similar to that used on FC Augsburg’s away kit, while the pattern on the black away kit is similar to that used for Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion’s away kit.

Schalke 04’s away kit features the design elements as the away kit of 2.Bundesliga side 1. FC Nürnberg, only in blue instead of burgundy. This is meant to emphasize the friendship between the two clubs and their fanbases.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s away kit is based off a kit the club wore in the 1990s, when it was still an amateur side. The lines on the home kit symbolize the hilly landscape of the region of southwest Germany where the club is located.

Union Berlin’s away kit made its debut in a preseason friendly against FC Viktoria 1899 Berlin in June. It is mostly black, with small vertical lines in red and grey across the front.

The fronts of VfB Stuttgart’s home and third shirts contain a tonal pattern with 24 different Stuttgart landmarks, including the Wilhelma zoological gardens, the Market Hall, the Collegiate Church and Solitude Palace. The away kit, with red and black hoops and a white polo collar, draws direct inspiration from the club’s 1997-99 away kit.

This is VfL Bochum’s first season with supplier Mizuno. The tonal geometric pattern on the front of the home kit depicts the floodlight masts and crescent-shaped concrete stands of the Vonovia Ruhrstadion.

VfL Wolfsburg’s home kit is the club’s signature shade of neon green, with a tonal pattern all over that represents “the pattern of a prototype from main sponsor Volkswagen” and dark blue accents at the sleeve cuffs and back collar. The away kit is a very dark charcoal grey with neon green and dark blue trim on the sleeve cuffs and collar.

Werder Bremen are back in the Bundesliga for 2022-23 with a home kit that’s tough to describe. It’s made up of an abstract pattern of diamonds with halftone gradients that fade from green to white. The peach away kit is, according to the club, an example of them “doing our thing, which means being courageous and innovative.”