Hoffenheim failed to make use of a two-man advantage in gaining just a draw at home against Schalke but will spend the winter break as Bundesliga leaders.
Gerald Asamoah gave Schalke the lead in the 40th minute but Hoffenheim responded in the 72nd minute with a goal by Selim Teber.
Schalke finished the game with just nine players as Jermaine Jones was given his second yellow card in the 57th minute and Orlando Engelaar was dismissed in the 81st.
Hoffenheim bounced back well from their loss at Bayern Munich last week to finish the first half of the Bundesliga campaign with 35 points - level on points but with superior goal difference to Bayern.
Ralf Rangnick's team are the first promoted side in Bundesliga history to finish the first half of the season top of the table.
In a showdown between the league's best attack in Hoffenheim against the best defence of Schalke, the visitors started the game on the front foot and had the first chance after just three minutes with Asamoah blasting well off-target from just six yards out.
Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was called on 10 minutes later, diving to his left to save Sejad Salihovic's curling free-kick from 18 yards.
Chinedu Obasi's ball into the area in the 36th minute landed at the feet of Demba Ba, who tried to loop the ball over Neuer but his effort went wide of the left post.
Ba was again just off-target from eight yards in the 38th after a pass from Vedad Ibisevic.
But it was Schalke who grabbed the lead two minutes later. Halil Altintop split two defenders with a pass to Asamoah, who slotted through Hoffenheim goalkeeper Daniel Haas' legs.
The match grew more and more intense after the break with five bookings within eight minutes, including a second for Jones in the 57th for a challenge from behind on Luiz Gustavo.
Schalke assistant Youri Mulder was sent to the stand in the 64th minute for complaining.
Hoffenheim equalised in the 72nd minute with Teber's free-kick from 20 yards curling over the wall and past Neuer at the left post.
Tobias Weis was just inches away from giving Hoffenheim the lead with 10 minutes left but his 20-yard blast went just over the crossbar.
Schalke were reduced to nine men in the 81st minute as Holland midfielder Engelaar was shown his second yellow card for fouling Teber.
Neuer saved two more chances before Schalke's other assistant Mike Buskens was also sent-off with two minutes left.
Bayern Munich have made captain Mark van Bommel an offer to extend his contract beyond the end of the season, the club have confirmed.
The Dutch midfielder is out of contract in the summer and has been strongly linked with a move away after Bayern recently held talks with Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Anatoli Tymaschuk.
But Bayern have now offered the new 31-year-old a new deal, although details of the contract have not been disclosed.
In a statement on their official website, the club added they are hoping Van Bommel will have made a decision on his future by the end of the winter break.
Bayern Munich have confirmed midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has agreed a new three-year contract with the club.
The Germany international put pen to paper on the deal over the weekend to end speculation linking him with a move abroad with his previous contract due to expire in the summer.
"We are happy we have been able to tie down in a positive manner a further important player in Bastian Schweinsteiger," said chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on the club's website.
The 24-year-old has come through the ranks with Bayern, whom he joined as a schoolboy in 1998.
He made his first-team debut in 2002 and has since made 168 Bundesliga appearances and been capped 62 times by Germany.
His performances for the national team at Euro 2008 and during the first half of the season have attracted a lot of interest from many of Europe's top clubs, including Juventus, but he has followed team-mate Philipp Lahm by committing to Bayern.
Schweinsteiger's new contract with Bayern will run until June 2012.
Ten-man Bayern Munich moved to the top of the Bundesliga for the first time this season despite picking up only a point from their trip to Stuttgart this afternoon.
A last-gasp equaliser from Sami Khedira ensured the game finished 2-2 to deny the defending champions, while also maintaining new Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel's unbeaten record.
Bayern, who had Massimo Oddo dismissed five minutes from time, had come from behind with second-half goals from Tim Borowski and Luca Toni after Khedira put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time.
The point was enough to take Jurgen Klinsmann's side above Hoffenheim at the top, but they could slip back down to second if the Bundesliga newcomers avoid defeat in their final game of 2008 against Schalke tomorrow.
Hertha Berlin ensured their best-ever start to a Bundesliga campaign as they climbed up to third place, two points behind Bayern, with a thumping 4-0 win against lowly Karlsruhe.
Maximilian Nicu opened the scoring after just eight minutes before all three of Hertha's substitutes - Valeri Domovchiyski, Fabian Lustenberger and Raffael - found the net in the second half.
Mladen Petric scored the only goal of the game as Hamburg also moved two points off the lead with a 1-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayer Leverkusen missed their chance to close in at the top, however, as a stoppage-time equaliser from Energie Cottbus substitute Jiayi Shao condemned them to a 1-1 draw.
Simon Rolfes had put Leverkusen ahead 13 minutes from time, but Shao's late equaliser meant the hosts dropped to fifth.
Werder Bremen needed an own goal to collect their fourth straight victory as they came from behind to beat Wolfsburg 2-1.
Christian Gentner gave the Wolves the lead after just three minutes, but Per Mertesacker equalised in the 27th and Wolfsburg captain Josue handed Bremen the victory by putting through his own net just after the hour.
Artur Wichniarek's 10th goal of the season salvaged a point for Arminia Bielefeld as they drew 1-1 at Hannover.
Jiri Stajner had put the hosts ahead after 32 minutes with a close-range header before Wichniarek restored parity just before the hour.
Manasseh Ishiaku's late goal gave nine-man Cologne a vital 2-1 win at Bochum in a battle between two relegation-threatened teams.
Kevin McKenna put Cologne ahead in the 44th minute only for Christoph Dabrowski to level matters 13 minutes after the interval, but Ishiaku struck the winner with three minutes let to snap a four-game losing run.
The visitors finished the game two men down as Geromel was sent off for a second bookable offence seven minutes from time and Milivoje Novakovic went the same way in the final minute.
On Friday night, Borussia Dortmund ensured they would head into the winter break in the top half of the table with a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
Former national team goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, until recently under contract with FC Valencia, has signed a deal to join Hoffenheim. The 29-year old terminated his contract with the Spanish team six days ago.
“That was the right move for Timo. His situation in Valencia was up in the air, while his new coach is counting on him. Which is always good to know for every player”, said Joachim Löw, coach of the German national team.
After a 17-month stay in Valencia, Hildebrand returns to the Bundesliga, which he left after winning the German championship with VfB Stuttgart in May 2007. He is expected to be given his debut for the league leaders after the upcoming Christmas break, in a game against Energie Cottbus on January 31, 2009. Hildebrand has 7 caps with the German national team.
Interestingly, current Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick was the man who gave Hildebrand his professional debut for Stuttgart eight years ago.
Striker Mladen Petric scored twice in the first half to give Hamburg a 2-1 away win against Cologne on Sunday and catch fourth-placed Hertha Berlin on 30 points.
Hamburg are fifth on goal difference.
It was Hamburg's first Bundesliga away win in more than two months, coming days after Martin Jol's team qualified for the next stage of the UEFA Cup with an away win against Slavia Prague.
Petric's sixth goal of the season came after 15 minutes when Marcell Jansen sprinted past two defenders on the left and floated a deep cross for Petric to head in at the far post.
The Croatian scored his second of the match just after the half hour mark with a diving header from two metres after Jori Mathijsen headed on a Piotr Trochowski corner.
Milivoje Novakovic pulled one back for the hosts in the 83rd.
But it was not all good news for Hamburg, who saw defender Alex Silva hobble off after only two minutes following a tackle by Roda Antar.
In the only other match of the day Wolfsburg beat Hanover 2-1 to move up to sixth place.
Wolfsburg struck first with defender Cristian Zaccardo after a swift combination on the right between Christian Gentner and Zvjezdan Misimovic.
Jiri Stajner equalised for Hanover in the 59th with a nice volley but four minutes later scored an own goal heading a Misimovic free kick past keeper Florian Fromlowitz.
Fromlowitz was red carded for a foul inside the box in the 81st but central defender-turned keeper Frank Fahrenhorst did well to save the penalty taken by Edin Dzeko.
Surprise packages Hoffenheim still lead the table with 34 points from 16 games despite a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich on Friday.
Bayern are second on goal difference while Hertha's 1-0 defeat to Schalke on Saturday dropped them to fourth on 30 points.
Bayer Leverkusen have moved up to third on 31 points following their 3-1 victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Schalke 04 recovered from their midweek UEFA Cup defeat by Twente Enschede to overcome Hertha Berlin 1-0 to climb to sixth in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Surprise packages Hoffenheim still lead the table with 34 points from 16 games despite a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich on Friday.
Bayern have the same points but are second on goal difference while Hertha's defeat dropped them to fourth on 30 points.
Schalke were in desperate need of a win after losing five of their last six matches and with the management pledging changes during the winter break.
Gerald Asamoah struck the only goal in the 65th minute when he headed a deep Jefferson Farfan cross into an unguarded net after Hertha keeper Jaroslav Drobny failed to get his hands on the ball.
"There had to be a reaction from us after all the games without a point," Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones told the club's website (www.schalke04.de).
"It's a start. Next week we have to be courageous when we play Hoffenheim. We have to stick together."
Asamoah said: "This was an extremely important victory for us. We were well aware we had not played well the past few weeks."
Visiting Hertha, who also lost in the UEFA Cup to Galatasaray in midweek, never really threatened as Kevin Kuranyi and Halil Altintop wasted several chances to increase Schalke's advantage.
Bayer Leverkusen moved up to third on 31 points with a 3-1 triumph at Borussia Moenchengladbach, returning to winning ways after last week's defeat by Bayern.
Stefan Kiessling scored twice in the first half and set up Patrick Helmes for his 12th league goal of the season before bottom club Moenchengladbach pulled one back through Tony Jantschke in the 61st.
VfB Stuttgart won 3-0 at Energie Cottbus, with Roberto Hilbert on target after only four minutes.
Jan Simak and Sami Khedira added two more goals in the second half as Stuttgart chalked up their second consecutive win under new coach Markus Babbel.
Werder Bremen's rollercoaster season continued when they lost 1-0 at lowly Karlsruhe to slip to ninth. The away team also had striker Claudio Pizarro sent off in the last minute.
Eintracht Frankfurt crushed relegation-threatened VfL Bochum 4-0 after the visitors had Daniel Fernandes dismissed in the fifth minute.
Arminia Bielefeld and Borussia Dortmund shared a 0-0 draw.
On Sunday, Cologne host Hamburg SV and VfL Wolfsburg entertain Hanover 96 (both 1600 GMT).
German soccer's long winter break will be cut by more than two weeks next season, the German Football Federation (DFB) said on Thursday.
German soccer traditionally grinds to a halt for a month-and-a half during the winter, among the longest breaks in the sport.
The DFB said the changes, agreed with the German soccer league (DFL), would benefit the national team as they attempted to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa which kicks off on June 11, 2010.
"The solution found by the DFB und DFL is absolutely positive for the World Cup preparations of the national squad," DFB general secretary Wolfgang Niersbach said.
The 2009-2010 Bundesliga season will start on Aug. 7 and end on May 8, with a break from December 18 to January 15.
This season's break begins in mid-December and play resumes on January 30.
VfB Stuttgart beat Schalke 2-0 on Sunday to give Markus Babbel a great start to his new career as a Bundesliga coach.
Babbel assumed the Stuttgart job after Armin Veh's sacking last weekend and he was punching the air in delight when Jan Simak ran on to a hopeful long ball and lobbed it over the keeper and into the top right-hand corner for the 80th minute opener.
Mario Gomez finished off another swift break a few minutes from time to secure Stuttgart's first win in six league games.
Hamburg SV lost further ground in the race for Champions League places when they were lucky to get a 1-1 draw at Bochum, while Borussia Dortmund were held to a goalless draw at home to VfL Wolfsburg.
With 15 matches played, and two to go before the long mid-season break, Hoffenheim lead with 34 points after a 3-0 win at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.
Hoffenheim's next match is away to champions Bayern Munich, who climbed to second on 31 points with a 2-0 win away to Bayer Leverkusen. Hertha Berlin are third on 30 following their 2-1 win at home to Cologne on Friday.
Hamburg's failure to beat Bochum leaves them fifth on 27 points, while Dortmund are sixth on 25 and Schalke 04 are ninth with 23.
Stuttgart remain down in 10th place on 21 but they will look forward to the second half of the season with more optimism after gaining reward for a gritty display against Schalke.
"It was a very nervy win," win said Babbel, the former Germany defender who retired as a player after a career that took in Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Liverpool and Stuttgart.
"We were unsettled in the first half but we improved after the break and took our chances."
Schalke should have taken the lead in the first half when Kevin Kuranyi won a penalty but Jefferson Farfan's effort was well saved by Jens Lehmann, low to his left.
Stuttgart took control in the second half and Mario Gomez wasted three good chances before Simak's eye-catching strike set them on their way to a deserved win.
