Major differences in the transcriptional program underlying the phenotypic switch between exponential and post-exponential growth of Legionella pneumophila were formerly described characterizing important alterations in infection capacity. Additionally, a third state is known where the bacteria transform in a viable but non-culturable state (VBNC) under stress, such as starvation. We here describe phase-related proteomic changes in exponential phase (E), post-exponential phase (PE) bacteria, and unculturable microcosms (UNC) containing VBNC cells, and identify phase-specific proteins. We present data on different bacterial subproteomes of E and PE, such as soluble whole cell proteins (swcp), outer membrane-associated proteins (omap), and extracellular proteins (extr). In total, 1368 different proteins were identified, 922 were quantified and 397 showed differential abundance in E / PE. The quantified subproteomes of swcp, omap, and extr; 841, 55, and 77 proteins, respectively, were visualized in Voronoi treemaps. 95 proteins were quantified exclusively in E, such as cell division proteins MreC, FtsN, FtsA, and ZipA; 33 exclusively in PE, such as motility-related proteins of flagellum biogenesis FlgE, FlgK, and FliA; and 9 exclusively in UNC swcp, such as hypothetical, as well as transport/binding-, and metabolism-related proteins. A high frequency of differentially abundant or phase-exclusive proteins was observed among the 91 quantified effectors of the major virulence-associated protein secretion system Dot/Icm (> 60 %). 24 were E-exclusive, such as LepA/B, YlfA, MavG, Lpg2271, and 13 were PE-exclusive, such as RalF, VipD, Lem10. The growth phase-related specific abundance of a subset of Dot/Icm virulence effectors was confirmed by means of Western blotting. We therefore conclude that many effectors are predominantly abundant at either E or PE which suggests their phase specific function. The distinct temporal or spatial presence of such proteins might have important implications for functional assignments in the future or for use as life-stage specific markers for pathogen analysis.