| Fortuna Düsseldorf beat 08 Homburg 4-1 (H) on 30 Jul 1988 |
| 08 Homburg beat Fortuna Köln 2-0 (H) on 23 Jul 1988 |
| Fortuna Köln beat Wattenscheid 3-1 (A) on 27 Aug 1988 |
| Wattenscheid beat Saarbrücken 3-2 (H) on 13 Aug 1988 |
| Saarbrücken beat SV Meppen 4-1 (H) on 3 Sep 1988 |
| SV Meppen beat Viktoria Aschaffenburg 4-1 (H) on 13 Aug 1988 |
| Viktoria Aschaffenburg beat Freiburg 2-1 (H) on 30 Jul 1988 |
| Freiburg beat Rot Weiss Essen 5-3 (H) on 23 Jul 1988 |
| Rot Weiss Essen beat Schalke 2-1 (H) on 20 Aug 1988 |
| Schalke beat Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 (H) on 13 Aug 1988 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig beat Alemannia Aachen 1-0 (A) on 27 Aug 1988 |
| Alemannia Aachen beat Blau Weiß Berlin 2-1 (A) on 23 Jul 1988 |
| Blau Weiß Berlin beat Darmstadt 2-1 (H) on 27 Aug 1988 |
| Darmstadt beat Kickers Offenbach 3-0 (H) on 30 Jul 1988 |
| Kickers Offenbach beat Hertha Berlin 4-1 (H) on 27 Aug 1988 |
| Hertha Berlin beat SG Union Solingen 2-1 (A) on 23 Jul 1988 |
| SG Union Solingen beat Mainz 2-0 (H) on 20 Aug 1988 |
| Mainz beat SpVgg Bayreuth 1-0 (H) on 3 Sep 1988 |
| SpVgg Bayreuth beat VfL Osnabrück 4-1 (H) on 23 Jul 1988 |
FLP: Thick arrows show the earliest chain of wins that passes through every team.