Mattia Pasini smashed the Moto2 Sachsenring lap record to claim his second pole of the 2018 season ahead of Luca Marini.
A frantic opening to the qualifying for the intermediate class saw the top of the order shuffled continuously in the first 10 minutes.
Intact GP's Xavi Vierge set the initial pace at a new track record of 1:24.037s, 0.055s clear of Marc VDS' Joan Mir.
Vierge's time at the top was short lived, as Pasini usurped him by 0.068s with the first sub 1:23s lap of the Sachsenring in the Moto2 class of 1:23.969s.
Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia missed out on demoting Pasini by just 0.001s on his Sky VR46 machine, though the Italtrans man would put almost two tenths between the pair with his next effort of 1:23.787s.
After the flurry of fast laps at the start, the session stagnated, with only a handful of improvements coming lower down the order.
Pasini's 1:23.787s went unchallenged through to the chequered flag, Luca Marini guiding his Sky VR46 Kalex to his second-successive front row start in second, missing out on pole by 0.181s.
Bagnaia completed the front row, while main championship rival Miguel Oliveira's mystifying loss of qualifying form continued in Germany, with the KTM Ajo rider four tenths adrift in 15th.
Sam Lowes just missed his first front row start since the Austin race in fourth, the Briton 0.001s down on Bagnaia and a few hundredths ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri.
Early pacesetter Vierge dropped to the back of the second row in sixth, edging Alex Marquez in seventh. Mir, home hero Marcel Schrotter and the second Ajo KTM of Brad Binder completed the top 10.
Fabio Quartararo was left with work to do in qualifying after crashing at Omega corner in the opening six minutes, and could do no better than 18th once back on track. Khairul Idham Pawi in 24th was the only other faller in qualifying.
Forward Racing's Stefano Manzi put his Suter 27th on the grid, but will start from 30th after being handed a three-place penalty for causing a collision with Federico Fuligni in FP2 on Friday.
SIC Racing rider Niki Tuuli was absent from qualifying after withdrawing from the event following FP2 due to ongoing injury issues with the hand he injured in a crash at Assen two weeks ago.
