| Competition: | 2. Bundesliga |
| Season: | 2010–11 |
| Winners: | Hertha BSC |
| Promoted: | Hertha BSC FC Augsburg |
| Relegated: | VfL Osnabrück (via play-off) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Arminia Bielefeld |
| League Topscorer: | Nils Petersen (25 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | E. Cottbus 6–0 E. Aue F. D'dorf 6–0 FSV F'furt |
| Biggest Away Win: | A. Aachen 0–5 Hertha |
| Highest Scoring: | E. Cottbus 5–5 Karlsruhe |
| Matches: | 306 |
| Total Goals: | 835 |
| Average Attendance: | 14,539[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2009–10 |
| Nextseason: | 2011–12 |
The 2010–11 2. Bundesliga was the 37th season of the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second tier of its football league system. The season started on the weekend of 21 August 2010 and ended with the last games on 15 May 2011. The winter break was in effect between weekends around 18 December 2010 and 15 January 2011.[2]
As in the previous year, the league comprise the teams placed fourth through fifteenth of the 2009–10 season, the worst two teams from the 2009–10 Bundesliga, the best two teams from the 2009–10 3. Liga, the losers of the Bundesliga relegation play-off between the 16th-placed Bundesliga team and the third-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the winners of the 2. Bundesliga relegation play-off between the 16th-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3. Liga team.
2009–10 2. Bundesliga champions 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and runners-up FC St. Pauli were promoted to the Bundesliga. They were replaced by VfL Bochum and Hertha BSC who finished 17th and 18th respectively in the 2009–10 Bundesliga season.
TuS Koblenz and Rot-Weiß Ahlen were relegated after the 2009–10 season. They were replaced by 2009–10 3. Liga champions VfL Osnabrück and runners-up FC Erzgebirge Aue.
Two further spots were available through relegation/promotion play-offs and taken by FC Augsburg and FC Ingolstadt 04. Augsburg lost in their promotion play-off against 16th placed Bundesliga team 1. FC Nürnberg and thus retained their 2. Bundesliga spot, while Ingolstadt earned promotion from the 3. Liga by defeating FC Hansa Rostock.
FC Ingolstadt 04 moved into the newly built Audi Sportpark for this season after spending their previous seasons at Tuja-Stadion. Fortuna Düsseldorf increased the capacity of their Esprit Arena from 51,500 to 54,400 by converting some seating areas into standing terraces. Also, the stadia of SpVgg Greuther Fürth and MSV Duisburg were renamed due to new naming rights contracts.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Stadium capacity[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munich | Allianz Arena | 69,000 | ||
| Alemannia Aachen | Aachen | Tivoli | 32,960 | |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Bielefeld | Schüco-Arena | 27,300 | |
| Augsburg | Impuls Arena | 30,660 | ||
| Bochum | rewirPower-Stadion | 30,748 | ||
| Duisburg | Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena | 31,500 | ||
| Cottbus | Stadion der Freundschaft | 22,528 | ||
| Aue | Erzgebirgsstadion | 16,000 Note 1 | ||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Esprit Arena Lena-Arena | 54,400 20,055 Note 2 | ||
| Frankfurt am Main | Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion | 10,826 | ||
| Trolli Arena | 15,200 | |||
| Berlin | Olympiastadion | 74,244 | ||
| Ingolstadt | Audi Sportpark | 15,445 | ||
| Karlsruhe | Wildparkstadion | 29,699 | ||
| Osnabrück | Osnatel-Arena | 16,130 | ||
| Paderborn | Energieteam Arena | 15,000 | ||
| Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | Oberhausen | Niederrheinstadion | 21,318 | |
| Berlin | Alte Försterei | 19,000 |
| Team | Outgoing manager(s) | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hertha BSC | Friedhelm Funkel | End of contract | 30 June 2010[5] | Off-season | Markus Babbel | 1 July 2010[6] | |
| VfL Bochum | Dariusz Wosz | End of tenure as caretaker | 30 June 2010[7] | Friedhelm Funkel | 1 July 2010[8] | ||
| Arminia Bielefeld | Detlev Dammeier Frank Eulberg Jörg Böhme | End of tenure as caretakers | 30 June 2010[9] | Christian Ziege | 1 July 2010[10] | ||
| TSV 1860 Munich |  Ewald Lienen | Mutual Consent | 30 June 2010[11] | Reiner Maurer | 1 July 2010[12] | ||
| Karlsruher SC | Markus Schupp | Sacked | 31 October 2010[13] | 15th | 22 November 2010[14] | ||
| FC Ingolstadt 04 | Michael Wiesinger | Sacked | 6 November 2010[15] | 17th | Benno Möhlmann | 7 November 2010[16] | |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Christian Ziege | Sacked | 6 November 2010[17] | 18th | Ewald Lienen | 7 November 2010[18] | |
| Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | Hans-Günter Bruns | Sacked | 22 February 2011[19] | 16th | Theo Schneider | 24 February 2011[20] | |
| Karlsruher SC | Uwe Rapolder | Sacked | 1 March 2011[21] | 16th | Rainer Scharinger | 2 March 2011[22] | |
| VfL Osnabrück | Karsten Baumann | Sacked | 21 March 2011[23] | 16th |  Joe Enochs | 21 March 2011[24] | |
| VfL Osnabrück | Joe Enochs | End of tenure as caretaker | 11 April 2011 | 16th | Heiko Flottmann | 11 April 2011[25] |
VfL Osnabrück, having finished the season in 16th place, faced 3rd-placed 3. Liga side Dynamo Dresden for a two-legged play-off. Dresden, who played at home first, won 4–2 on aggregate.
----Dynamo Dresden won 4–2 on aggregate; Dynamo promoted, Osnabrück relegated
Source: kicker (German)
Stephan Hain (FC Augsburg)
Emil Jula (Energie Cottbus)
Raffael (Hertha BSC)
Zoltán Stieber (Alemannia Aachen)Source: kicker (German)
Daniel Halfar (1860 Munich) Emil Jula (Energie Cottbus) Stefan Leitl (FC Ingolstadt 04) Michael Thurk (FC Augsburg)
Skerdilaid Curri (Erzgebirge Aue) Jürgen Gjasula (FSV Frankfurt)
Alexander Iashvili (Karlsruher SC) Sascha Rösler (Fortuna Düsseldorf) Timo Staffeldt (Karlsruher SC)
