| Competition: | 2. Bundesliga |
| Season: | 2015–16 |
| Winners: | SC Freiburg |
| Promoted: | SC Freiburg RB Leipzig |
| Relegated: | MSV Duisburg (via play-off) FSV Frankfurt SC Paderborn |
| Matches: | 306 |
| Total Goals: | 808 |
| League Topscorer: | Simon Terodde (25 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Eintracht Braunschweig 6−0 Karlsruher SC |
| Biggest Away Win: | SC Paderborn 0−6 SV Sandhausen |
| Highest Scoring: | SC Freiburg 6−3 1. FC Nürnberg |
| Longest Wins: | 8 games[1] SC Freiburg |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 18 games 1. FC Nürnberg |
| Longest Losses: | 6 games FSV Frankfurt |
| Longest Winless: | 13 games SC Paderborn |
| Highest Attendance: | 54,100 1860 Munich v SC Paderborn |
| Lowest Attendance: | 4,084 Frankfurt v Sandhausen |
| Average Attendance: | 19,176 |
| Prevseason: | 2014–15 |
| Nextseason: | 2016–17 |
The 2015–16 2. Bundesliga was the 42nd season of the 2. Bundesliga.
A total of 18 teams participated in the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga. These include 14 teams from the 2014–15 2. Bundesliga, together with SC Freiburg and SC Paderborn, who directly relegated from the 2014–15 Bundesliga, and Arminia Bielefeld and MSV Duisburg, who directly promoted from the 2014–15 3. Liga. The 16th-placed 2014–15 2. Bundesliga team, 1860 Munich, defeated the third-place finisher in the 2014–15 3. Liga, Holstein Kiel, in a two-legged play-off and avoided relegation.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arminia Bielefeld | Saller | Alpecin | |||
| VfL Bochum | Nike | BOOSTER Energy Drink (H) / Netto (A) | |||
| MSV Duisburg | Iliya Gruev |  | Uhlsport | Black Crevice | |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Nike | SEAT | |||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf |  | Puma | o.tel.o | ||
| SC Freiburg | | Nike | Ehrmann | ||
| FSV Frankfurt | Saller | Ayondo | |||
| SpVgg Greuther Fürth | Hummel | Ergo Direkt Versicherungen | |||
| 1. FC Heidenheim | Nike | Hartmann Gruppe | |||
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Uhlsport | Maxda | |||
| Karlsruher SC | Jako | Klaiber Markisen | |||
| RB Leipzig | Nike | Red Bull | |||
| 1860 Munich |  | Macron | Volkswagen | ||
| 1. FC Nürnberg |  | adidas | Wolf-Möbel | ||
| SC Paderborn 07 | Saller | kfzteile24 | |||
| SV Sandhausen |  | Puma | Verivox | ||
| FC St. Pauli | Hummel | Congstar | |||
| 1. FC Union Berlin | Macron | kfzteile24 |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RB Leipzig | Achim Beierlorzer | End of caretaker stint | 11 May 2015 | Preseason | Ralf Rangnick | 29 May 2015[4] | |
| Greuther Fürth | Mike Büskens | Stepped down | 28 May 2015[5] | Stefan Ruthenbeck | 12 June 2015[6] | ||
| SC Paderborn | André Breitenreiter | Left | 12 June 2015[7] | Markus Gellhaus | 13 June 2015[8] | ||
| Union Berlin | Norbert Düwel | Sacked | 31 August 2015[9] | 14th | Sascha Lewandowski | 1 September 2015[10] | |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Kosta Runjaić | Resigned | 23 September 2015[11] | 12th | Konrad Fünfstück | 23 September 2015 | |
| 1860 Munich | Torsten Fröhling | Sacked | 6 October 2015[12] | 17th | Benno Möhlmann | 6 October 2015 | |
| SC Paderborn | Markus Gellhaus | Sacked | 6 October 2015 | 15th | Stefan Effenberg | 13 October 2015[13] | |
| MSV Duisburg |  Gino Lettieri | Sacked | 2 November 2015[14] | 18th | Iliya Gruev | 3 November 2015[15] | |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Frank Kramer | Sacked | 23 November 2015[16] | 17th | Peter Hermann (interim) | 23 November 2015 | |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Peter Hermann (interim) | Replaced | 23 December 2015[17] | 15th | Marco Kurz | 23 December 2015 | |
| SC Paderborn | Stefan Effenberg | Sacked | 3 March 2016[18] | 17th | René Müller | 3 March 2016 | |
| Union Berlin | Sascha Lewandowski | Stepped down | 4 March 2016[19] | 11th | André Hofschneider | 4 March 2016[20] | |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Marco Kurz | Sacked | 13 March 2016[21] | 16th | Friedhelm Funkel | 14 March 2016[22] | |
| FSV Frankfurt | Tomas Oral | Sacked | 10 April 2016[23] | 14th | Falko Götz | 11 April 2016[24] | |
| 1860 Munich | Benno Möhlmann | Sacked | 19 April 2016[25] | 17th | Daniel Bierofka | 19 April 2016 | |
| 1860 Munich | Daniel Bierofka | Permit expired | 9 May 2016[26] | 14th | Denis Bushuev | 19 April 2016 |
The team which finished sixteenth faced the third-placed 2015–16 3. Liga side for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2016–17 2. Bundesliga.
| width=25 | ! | width=25 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 28 | Robert Wulnikowski (c) | ||
| RB | 22 | |||
| CB | 11 | Richard Weil | ||
| CB | 5 | Clemens Schoppenhauer | ||
| LB | 16 | Peter Kurzweg | ||
| CM | 30 | Emanuel Taffertshofer | ||
| CM | 26 |  Royal-Dominique Fennell | ||
| RW | 10 | Nejmeddin Daghfous | ||
| AM | 4 | Rico Benatelli | ||
| LW | 14 | |||
| CF | 33 | |||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 1 | Dominik Brunnhübner | ||
| DF | 32 | Lukas Billick | ||
| MF | 2 | Dennis Schmitt | ||
| MF | 7 | |||
| MF | 9 | |||
| MF | 20 | |||
| FW | 27 | Adam Jabiri | ||
| Manager: | ||||
| Bernd Hollerbach | ||||
| width=25 | ! | width=25 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 30 | Marcel Lenz | ||
| RB | 28 | Steffen Bohl | ||
| CB | 25 | Thomas Meißner | ||
| CB | 5 | Branimir Bajić (c) | ||
| LB | 27 | Dan-Patrick Poggenberg | ||
| RM | 36 | |||
| CM | 23 |  James Holland | ||
| CM | 3 | Enis Hajri | ||
| LM | 17 | |||
| CF | 10 | |||
| CF | 11 | Stanislav Iljutcenko | ||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 39 |  Timothy Dieng | ||
| DF | 21 |  Rolf Feltscher | ||
| MF | 13 | Zlatko Janjić | ||
| MF | 14 | Tim Albutat | ||
| MF | 19 | |||
| FW | 8 | |||
| FW | 33 | |||
| Manager: | ||||
| Iliya Gruev | ||||
Match rules:
| width=25 | ! | width=25 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 30 | Marcel Lenz | ||
| CB | 25 | Thomas Meißner | ||
| CB | 23 | James Holland | ||
| CB | 3 | Enis Hajri | ||
| RM | 21 | Rolf Feltscher | ||
| CM | 36 | |||
| CM | 14 | |||
| CM | 17 | |||
| LM | 27 | Dan-Patrick Poggenberg | ||
| CF | 15 | |||
| CF | 10 |  Kingsley Onuegbu (c) | ||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 39 | Timothy Dieng | ||
| DF | 28 | Steffen Bohl | ||
| MF | 13 | Zlatko Janjić | ||
| MF | 19 | |||
| MF | 38 | Barış Özbek | ||
| FW | 8 | |||
| FW | 11 | |||
| Manager: | ||||
| Iliya Gruev | ||||
| width=25 | ! | width=25 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | 28 | Robert Wulnikowski (c) | ||
| RB | 11 | Richard Weil | ||
| CB | 5 | Clemens Schoppenhauer | ||
| CB | 26 | |||
| LB | 16 | |||
| CM | 30 | Emanuel Taffertshofer | ||
| CM | 4 | Rico Benatelli | ||
| RW | 22 | Dennis Russ | ||
| AM | 14 | |||
| LW | 7 | Marco Haller | ||
| CF | 33 | |||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| GK | 1 | Dominik Brunnhübner | ||
| DF | 3 | |||
| DF | 6 | Niklas Weißenberger | ||
| DF | 32 | |||
| MF | 9 |  Amir Shapourzadeh | ||
| MF | 18 | Nico Gutjahr | ||
| FW | 27 | |||
| Manager: | ||||
| Bernd Hollerbach | ||||
Match rules:
Würzburger Kickers won 4–1 on aggregate.
| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nils Petersen | SC Freiburg | 1. FC Nürnberg | 6−3 | 27 July 2015 | [28] | |
| Lennart Thy4 | FC St. Pauli | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 4−0 | 9 November 2015 | [29] | |
| Nils Petersen | SC Freiburg | SC Paderborn | 4−1 | 22 November 2015 | [30] | |
| Rubin Okotie | 1860 Munich | SC Paderborn | 4−4 | 28 November 2015 | [31] | |
| Niclas Füllkrug | 1. FC Nürnberg | Union Berlin | 6−2 | 23 April 2016 | [32] | |
| Simon Terodde | VfL Bochum | 1. FC Heidenheim | 4−2 | 15 May 2016 | [33] |