| Competition: | 2. Bundesliga |
| Season: | 1978–79 |
| Winners: | Nord: Bayer Leverkusen Süd: TSV 1860 Munich |
| Promoted: | Nord: Bayer Leverkusen Bayer Uerdingen Süd: TSV 1860 Munich |
| Relegated: | Nord: Westfalia Herne FC St. Pauli Wacker 04 Berlin Süd: FC Hanau 93 FC Augsburg KSV Baunatal Borussia Neunkirchen |
| League Topscorer: | Nord: Karl-Heinz Mödrath (28 goals) Süd: Eduard Kirschner (33 goals) |
| Matches: | Nord: 380 Süd: 380 |
| Average Attendance: | Nord: 4,280 Süd: 4,857 |
| Prevseason: | 1977–78 |
| Nextseason: | 1979–80 |
The 1978–79 2. Bundesliga season was the fifth season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system. It was played in two regional divisions, Nord and Süd.
Bayer Leverkusen, TSV 1860 Munich and Bayer Uerdingen were promoted to the Bundesliga while Westfalia Herne, FC St. Pauli, Wacker 04 Berlin, FC Hanau 93, FC Augsburg, KSV Baunatal and Borussia Neunkirchen were relegated to the Oberligas.
For the 1978–79 season saw DSC Wanne-Eickel, Holstein Kiel, Viktoria Köln and Wacker 04 Berlin promoted to the 2. Bundesliga from the Oberliga and Amateurligas while FC St. Pauli had been relegated to the 2. Bundesliga Nord from the Bundesliga.
The league's top scorers:[1]
| Goals | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | Karl-Heinz Mödrath | Fortuna Köln |
| 23 | Matthias Brücken | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Dieter Schatzschneider | Hannover 96 | |
| Gerd-Volker Schock | VfL Osnabrück | |
| Winfried Stradt | Alemannia Aachen | |
| 22 | Wolfgang Lüttges | Bayer Uerdingen |
| 21 | Elmar Jürgens | Preußen Münster |
| 16 | Klaus Beverungen | FC St. Pauli/Westfalia Herne |
| 15 | Klaus-Dieter Czizewski | Viktoria Köln |
| Norbert Lücke | DSC Wanne-Eickel | |
| Frank Mill | Rot-Weiss Essen | |
| Peter Szech | Bayer Leverkusen | |
For the 1978–79 season saw Borussia Neunkirchen, FC Hanau 93, MTV Ingolstadt and SC Freiburg promoted to the 2. Bundesliga from the Amateurligas and 1. FC Saarbrücken and TSV 1860 Munich relegated to the 2. Bundesliga Süd from the Bundesliga.
The league's top scorers:[2]
| Goals | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | Eduard Kirschner | SpVgg Fürth |
| 24 | Uwe Sommerer | SpVgg Bayreuth |
| 23 | Karl Allgöwer | Stuttgarter Kickers |
| 20 | Paul Dörflinger | SC Freiburg |
| 19 | Franz Gerber | TSV 1860 Munich |
| Walter Krause | Kickers Offenbach | |
| Werner Seubert | VfR Wormatia Worms | |
| 18 | Rainer Künkel | 1. FC Saarbrücken |
| 17 | Hermann Bitz | Kickers Offenbach |
| 16 | Raimund Krauth | Karlsruher SC |
The final place in the Bundesliga was contested between the two runners-up in the Nord and Süd divisions. Bayer Uerdingen won on aggregate and were promoted to the Bundesliga.[3]