The Design and History of the German Champions Trophy

The Meisterschale, the championship trophy of the German Bundesliga, has undergone a significant physical expansion to accommodate future winners. On April 15, 2026, the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga announced that the trophy’s outer ring has been replaced with a larger version to ensure sufficient space for engravings of future German champions.

The redesign was executed by the silver manufacturer Koch & Bergfeld. This latest modification provides enough engraving space to last for the next 30 years. The new outer ring now features five bands, which is an increase of two bands compared to the previous design.

Technical Specifications and Restoration

As part of the expansion process, the trophy was completely disassembled and underwent a thorough restoration. The resulting physical specifications of the trophy now include a diameter of 56 cm and a total weight exceeding eleven kilograms.

The expansion process involved migrating existing data in the form of names; all German champions since 1982 have been engraved onto the new ring.

Historical Design and Evolution

The current iteration of the trophy was originally designed and crafted in 1949 by art professor Elisabeth Treskow at the Cologne School of Arts and Crafts. It was created to replace the Victoria statue, the original trophy used since 1903, which went missing during World War II.

The Meisterschale serves as a permanent record of German football success, with the names of all champions since 1903 immortalized on the trophy. Because of the continuous addition of new titleholders at the end of each season, the trophy has required periodic physical expansions to maintain its function as a complete historical archive.

This 2026 expansion is the third major enlargement in the trophy’s history:

• The first expansion occurred in 1981, involving the addition of a silver ring equipped with engraving plates and five gold-set tourmaline cabochons totaling 71.98 carats.
• The second expansion took place before the final matchday of the 2008-09 season, which added five larger engraving plates for additional names.
• The most recent expansion was completed by April 15, 2026.

Trophy Management and Replicas

Due to the value and size of the original Meisterschale, a system of replicas is utilized. In the 1980s, the German Football Association (DFB) permitted clubs with multiple championships to create slightly smaller replicas for their own trophy cabinets.

These copies are employed during the final rounds of the season when multiple clubs remain in contention for the title. The original trophy is typically sent to the league leader at that time. If a different club eventually wins the league, a replica is awarded until the original trophy can be transferred to the actual champion.

The Meisterschale, also colloquially known as the Salatschüssel (salad bowl), has been awarded to German champions since 1949 and specifically to Bundesliga champions since the 1963-64 season.