| 1. Round | 23/07/1988 | SC Freiburg | - | Rot-Weiss Essen | 5:3 |  |
|||
| 2. Round | 30/07/1988 | Rot-Weiss Essen | - | SV Meppen | 2:1 | |
|||
| 9. Round | 09/08/1988 | Rot-Weiss Essen | - | Viktoria Aschaffenburg | 0:0 | ||||
| 3. Round | 13/08/1988 | Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin | - | Rot-Weiss Essen | 2:0 | ||||
| 5. Round | 27/08/1988 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | - | Rot-Weiss Essen | 2:0 |  |
|||
| 6. Round | 03/09/1988 | Rot-Weiss Essen | - | Alemannia Aachen | 3:1 | ||||
| 7. Round | 10/09/1988 | Eintracht Braunschweig | - | Rot-Weiss Essen | 2:1 | ||||
| 8. Round | 14/09/1988 | Rot-Weiss Essen | - | FC 08 Homburg | 0:3 | ||||
| 10. Round | 20/09/1988 | SV Darmstadt 98 | - | Rot-Weiss Essen | 0:2 | ||||
| 11. Round | 01/10/1988 | Rot-Weiss Essen | - | VfL Osnabrück | 2:1 | |
|||
| 12. Round | 08/10/1988 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | - | Rot-Weiss Essen | 0:2 | ||||
| 13. Round | 22/10/1988 | Rot-Weiss Essen | - | Hertha BSC | 0:0 |
Germany