Thomas Mueller had given Germany the lead shortly after half-time, converting a penalty for his ninth goal in the qualifiers, before it was cancelled out nearly immediately by Jaba Kankava.
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Lewandowski nailed the host’s 2-1 win with a brilliant header to Krzysztof Maczynski’s cross in the 42nd.
Germany needed just a point against Georgia in Leipzig to guarantee themselves a top-two finish in Group D but Max Kruse’s 79th-minute victor ensured Joachim Loew’s men progressed as group winners.
In Warsaw, Grzegorz Krychowiak fired Poland ahead in the 13th, only for Jon Walters to equalize three minutes later with a penalty.
“In the group’s other game, Steven Fletcher scored a hat-trick as Scotland finished their unsuccessful campaign with a 6-0 mauling of Gibraltar in Portugal”.
Romania’s 3-0 away win over the Faeroe Islands was enough to clinch second place behind Northern Ireland in Group F.
They have to be content with a playoff place after finishing three points behind Poland.
The coach, who guided Romania to Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup, began his third spell in charge last October, replacing Piturca who quit after agreeing to join Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad on a lucrative contract.
Nani gave the Group I winners a fifth-minute lead, before Zoran Tosic equalised an hour later.
But Portugal had the last laugh as Joao Moutinho netted a victor with 12 minutes remaining on the clock, before Serbia saw both Nemanja Matic and Aleksandar Kolarov sent off late on.
Anghel Iordanescu revelled in Romania’s Euro 2016 berth but lamented the fact his team did not book their spot in France earlier.
Earlier, Albania qualified for their first major global tournament as they beat Armenia 3-0, while Portugal, already through as group winners, registered their seventh successive qualifying victory as they overcame Serbia 2-1 in Belgrade.
A slip-up for Romania could have seen Hungary take second place in Group F, but they managed to pick up the three points with a comfortable victory.
An own goal by Armenia’s Kamo Hovhannisyan put Albania in front after nine minutes and they added further goals through defender Berat Djimsiti and striker Armando Sadiku.
Northern Ireland drew 1-1 with Finland in Helsinki after allowing a late equalizer by Paulus Arajuuri.
Konstantinos Stafylidis opened the scoring for Greece after just five minutes, only for Gergo Lovrecsics to find an equaliser for Hungary soon after.
Iordanescu’s side could not have wished for a better start, going ahead thanks to Budescu’s first worldwide goal after a well-worked free kick in the fourth minute.
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Greece finally ended its miserable run when substitute Panayiotis Kone headed in the victor in the 86th minute.
