Jürgen began playing football as a youngster in his hometown of Gingen, Germany. As a 9-year old striker he scored 106 goals in one season with a record 16 goals in one game during a 20-0 win against the town of SV Aichelberg. From 1974 until 1978 Jürgen played for SC Geislingen, scoring more than 250 goals over those 4 years.

As a 14-year old, Jürgen joined the youth program of Stuttgarter Kickers and signed a professional contract at the age of 16. He made his debut at the age of 17 for the Kickers in the second division Bundesliga. By his third season at the professional level, Jürgen had blossomed into a prolific scorer notching 19 goals in 35 matches.

He made his national team debut in 1987 against Brazil and helped Germany win the bronze medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

At the start of the 1989/1990 season, Jürgen joined fellow German international players Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthäus at Internazionale in Milan, Italy. With Inter, coached by Giovanni Trappatoni, he won the Italian Super Cup in 1989 and the UEFA Cup in 1991.

Juergen played the 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 seasons with AS Monaco of the French Ligue 1. Arsene Wenger was the coach. In his first season at AS Monaco, Juergen was third in goal scoring during league play. Then during the 1993/1994 season, Juergen helped lead AS Monaco to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Jürgen played the 1992/1993 and 1993/1994 seasons with AS Monaco of the French Ligue 1. Arsene Wenger was the coach.

Having experienced success in three of Europe’s best professional leagues, Jürgen decided to next test his abilities in the English Premier League. Consequently, he joined Tottenham Hotspur, coached by Ossie Ardiles, for the 1994/1995 season. Although there was initial skepticism about how he would be received by English fans since he had helped eliminate England in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, Jürgen scored 21 goals that season and was named the England Footballer of the Year in 1995.

For the 1995/1996 and 1996/1997 seasons, Jürgen returned to Germany to play in the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich, coached by Otto Rehhagel. He was Bayern Munich’s leading goal scorer for both seasons as he continued to score almost 1 goal every 2 matches. Jürgen helped lead Bayern to win the UEFA Cup in 1996 by producing a record 15 goals in 12 matches. With Bayern he also won the Bundesliga title for the 1996/1997 season.

In advance of the 1998 World Cup, Jürgen played the 1997/1998 club season with Sampdoria of Italy under Cesar Luis Menotti and then Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League. Jürgen joined Tottenham mid season and helped the club fight off relegation, including scoring 4 goals against Wimbledon in the match that ensured Tottenham would not be relegated. Jürgen closed out his professional club career by scoring a goal against Southampton on the final day of the 1997/1998 season.

Jürgen retired as a professional player after the 1998 World Cup. By this time, he had played 17 seasons in 4 major European football leagues, scoring 226 goals in 506 club matches. In addition, Jürgen played for Germany 108 times, scoring 47 goals, which at the time was the second most goals scored for the German national team. Jürgen represented Germany in 3 European Championships (1998, 1992, and 1996), including winning in 1996. He was the first player to score in 3 different European Championships. Jürgen also represented Germany in 3 World Cups (1990, 1994, and 1998), including winning in 1990. He was the first player to score at least 3 goals in 3 different World Cups. Jürgen was named German Football of the Year in 1988 and 1994, and he was team captain of Germany from 1994 to 1998