With a provisional top-six berth at stake, Freiburg began purposefully, and Vincenzo Grifo was cursing his luck just eight minutes in when he controlled a pass inside the box and saw his attempted shot blocked well.
Florian Muller then had to be alert to prevent Daniel Svensson’s header from finding the net at the other end, and at the other end, Freiburg were left aggrieved at twice being denied a penalty.
Following that minor scare, Dortmund got their act together as the first half wore on, and started to look more like the title-challenging sides of recent years and eventually took the lead 10 minutes before half-time.
A break down the right saw Julian Ryerson beat Jordy Makengo for pace, putting in a cross that fortuitously deflected off Max Beier into the path of Karim Adeyemi. With his trademark quick feet, he drifted to the left side of the goal and fired into the far corner past Muller’s despairing lunge.
Dortmund channeled the confidence generated by that goal into the second half and soon put themselves firmly on course to make it seven successive head-to-head wins by a multi-goal margin, doubling their lead within five minutes of the restart.
There was nothing fortuitous about Beier’s involvement this time, as he received the ball in the middle of the park and opened up the Freiburg defence with a searing ball through to Carney Chukwuemeka. Though he was marshalled well by Makengo, he got a shot away that deflected off Philipp Lienhart and past a wrong-footed Muller.
Freiburg’s frustration only grew from there, as Dortmund pulled three clear after Chukwuemeka sent Julian Brandt bursting into the box before he selflessly squared across for Serhou Guirassy to tap in and end the match as a serious contest.
And there was more humiliation in store for Freiburg, with Ryerson turning his marker exquisitely and lofting in a cross for the onrushing Jamie Gittens to head in at point-blank range.
There was a consolation for Freiburg as the 90-minute mark approached, though, with a beautiful drive into the top-left corner from Maximilian Eggestein - a strike completely against the run of play in an otherwise atrocious second-half performance from the Breisgau Brazilians.
This was ultimately a stroll for Dortmund in any case, and they have moved to within touching distance of fourth-placed Mainz, who infamously denied them the title with a last-day draw two years ago.
It will no doubt spur them on in their looming trio of fixtures, which sees two Champions League clashes against LaLiga leaders Barcelona sandwiching a Klassiker against Bayern, with all three challenges now potentially future-defining.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund)