All you need to know about the Bundesliga title | OneFootball

The Bundesliga championship-winning plate: everything you need to know about the Meisterschale!

Bayern Munich will officially be presented with the 2024/25 Bundesliga title - their record-extending 33rd all told - after their final home game of the season on Saturday. bundesliga.com gives you the lowdown on the trophy every club in German football wants to get their hands on, but only 13 have...

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>>> Read our history of Bundesliga champions!

While the Bundesliga’s inaugural season was in 1963/64, the famous silverware dates back even further, with every German champions from 1949 receiving it when it replaced the Viktoria statue that was lost during the turmoil of war.

Designed by art professor Elisabeth Treskow, it features the engraved name of every winner since VfB Leipzig in 1903.

Although referred to as the ‘champions’ shield’ in English, the term 'Meisterschale' literally translates as ‘champions’ bowl’. That and its appearance have often given rise to the nickname of ‘salad bowl’.

Of course, every winner takes up space, meaning a silver ring was added in 1981 to allow more room for future victors. The ring includes five tourmaline cabochons encased in gold, only adding more value to the five larger stones of the same variety already on show. All in all, the trophy weighs 11 kilograms, and is insured for a cool €50,000.

In that respect, it is worth €20,000 more than the Bundesliga 2 shield, which has a rock crystal as its centre-piece and also includes the names of all the teams who have won it since the first second-tier campaign in 1981/82. That trophy was first introduced for the 2008/09 season and weighs 8.5kg.

This year, Bayern will receive the trophy from DFL managing directors Dr. Marc Lenz and Dr. Steffen Merkel. With the Bavarians having wrapped things up before the final matchday, the presentation is far easier to organise.

In years where the title race goes down to the final day, the DFL employ a second trophy. The original is sent to the ground where the league leaders are playing, with a replica used elsewhere for teams still in the hunt. There is no helicopter on standby ready to whisk the Meisterschale to where it’s needed.

Following the Borussia Mönchengladbach fixture on Matchday 33, Bayern players are expected to celebrate the trophy in typical fashion. This includes the Bierdusche, when teammates attempt to cover each other in Paulaner’s finest ale, while players and fans alike will reunite at the Marienplatz in Munich on Sunday 18 May to bask in the glory of their success.

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