Timo Scheider gave Audi its first pole at the Norisring since 2005 in a turbulent qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Mattias Ekstrom will join his Abt Sportsline teammate on the front row, as Audi bids to win on the German street track for the first time since Laurent Aiello's 2002 victory.
Qualifying was chaotic, with changing weather conditions and confusion over the rules all playing their part. The track was wet for Q1, but by the end of Q2 it was drying quickly. That caught out several drivers, with Tom Kristensen and Paul di Resta being bumped out of the top eight in the dying seconds.
There was a sprinkle of rain at the start of Q3, but when that ceased the track dried again, meaning that completing a lap at the end was key.
Ralf Schumacher, Maro Engel and Jamie Green all stayed out and thought they had got themselves into Q4, but they exceeded the maximum number of laps, so missed out on the pole shootout.
After a long delay while the situation was cleared up, that left Scheider and Ekstrom battling the Mercedes of Bruno Spengler and Gary Paffett for pole, with the C-class drivers going first in the one lap showdown.
While Spengler's time was enough to prevent Paffett taking the top spot at the time, the Canadian was bumped down to third when the Audis came across the line.
Green, who had been one of the pacesetters throughout qualifying, was classified fifth in his one-year-old car, while another star of the session was Katherine Legge, who is set to start from eighth.
Despite missing out on Q4 in the confusion, Ralf Schumacher still scored his best-ever DTM qualifying result with seventh. However, the order of places fifth to eighth could still change, with the stewards currently looking into the matter.
TIMES:Pos Driver Car Time
1. Timo Scheider Audi 49.012s
2. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 49.123s
3. Bruno Spengler Mercedes 49.159s
4. Gary Paffett Mercedes 49.329s
5. Jamie Green Mercedes 48.744s
6. Maro Engel Mercedes 49.061s
7. Ralf Schumacher Mercedes 49.085s
8. Katherine Legge Audi 49.406s
9. Tom Kristensen Audi 49.356s
10. Paul di Resta Mercedes 49.440s
11. Susie Stoddart Mercedes 49.511s
12. Mike Rockenfeller Audi 49.653s
13. Martin Tomczyk Audi 49.939s
14. Alexandre Premat Audi 49.944s
15. Mathias Lauda Mercedes 54.127s
16. Tomas Kostka Audi 54.178s
17. Oliver Jarvis Audi 54.199s
18. Christian Bakkerud Audi 54.365s
19. Markus Winkelhock Audi