German capitals

Stuttgart

Stuttgart sits in a valley basin on the Neckar and is the heart of Germany's car industry: both Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are headquartered here, each with its own museum.

💡 Did you know? Vineyards reach almost into the city centre: Stuttgart is one of the few major European cities where wine is grown inside city limits.

Munich

Munich on the Isar is Germany's largest state capital and the country's third-largest city after Berlin and Hamburg: home of Oktoberfest, the Frauenkirche and the English Garden.

💡 Did you know? At about 375 hectares, the English Garden is one of the world's largest urban parks: bigger than New York's Central Park.

Berlin

Berlin is a special case: the city is a federal state and the national capital at the same time: state and federal politics sit side by side.

💡 Did you know? Berlin has around 960 bridges: considerably more than Venice.

Potsdam

Potsdam was the residence of the Prussian kings; Sanssouci Palace with its terraced vineyards is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

💡 Did you know? Potsdam's Babelsberg district is home to the world's oldest large-scale film studio: movies have been shot there since 1912.

Bremen

The state of Bremen consists of two cities: Bremen and Bremerhaven, some 60 kilometres apart. The capital of Germany's smallest state is the city of Bremen, whose town hall and Roland statue are UNESCO World Heritage.

💡 Did you know? The bronze statue of the Town Musicians of Bremen has stood beside the town hall since 1953; the donkey's front hooves are polished shiny from countless touches.

Hamburg

Hamburg is a city-state (its own federal state) and its port on the Elbe is Germany's largest seaport.

💡 Did you know? The Speicherstadt, the world's largest connected warehouse district, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015.

Wiesbaden

Hesse's capital is not much-larger Frankfurt but the spa town of Wiesbaden: a classic quiz trap.

💡 Did you know? Wiesbaden has 26 hot springs and ranks among Europe's oldest spa towns: the Romans already bathed here.

Schwerin

Schwerin is Germany's smallest state capital; its landmark, the fairytale Schwerin Palace on an island, houses the state parliament today.

💡 Did you know? The capital title went to Schwerin rather than larger Rostock: partly because the palace made such a representative seat of parliament.

Hanover

Hanover is a trade-fair city of world rank: it hosted Expo 2000, and its fairgrounds are among the largest anywhere.

💡 Did you know? From 1714 to 1837 the House of Hanover also provided the kings of Great Britain in personal union.

Düsseldorf

The capital of Germany's most populous state is Düsseldorf on the Rhine: not larger Cologne. The rivalry between the two cities is legendary.

💡 Did you know? Düsseldorf hosts Germany's largest Japanese community; the area around Immermannstraße is known as Little Tokyo.

Mainz

Mainz on the Rhine is Gutenberg's city and a media hub: Johannes Gutenberg invented printing with movable type here around 1450, and public broadcaster ZDF transmits from the Lerchenberg.

💡 Did you know? Mainz Carnival ranks with Cologne and Düsseldorf as one of the three strongholds of Rhenish carnival.

Saarbrücken

Saarbrücken lies on the river Saar right on the French border: France's proximity shapes the Saarland's food, culture and everyday life.

💡 Did you know? The baroque Ludwigskirche is the city's landmark and one of Germany's most important Protestant baroque churches.

Dresden

Dresden is nicknamed Florence on the Elbe for its baroque skyline: the Zwinger, Semperoper and Frauenkirche.

💡 Did you know? The war-destroyed Frauenkirche was only reconsecrated in 2005: funded largely by donations from around the world.

Magdeburg

Magdeburg on the Elbe was the imperial residence of Otto the Great; his tomb lies in Magdeburg Cathedral, the first cathedral in Germany begun in the Gothic style.

💡 Did you know? With the Magdeburg hemispheres, mayor Otto von Guericke spectacularly demonstrated air pressure in 1654 to 1716 horses could not pull them apart.

Kiel

Kiel sits on a Baltic fjord and is Germany's gateway to Scandinavia, with ferries to Norway and Sweden.

💡 Did you know? Kiel Week is the largest sailing event in the world, drawing about three million visitors every year.

Erfurt

Erfurt has one of Germany's best-preserved medieval city centres; on the Domberg hill, the cathedral and St Severus' Church stand side by side.

💡 Did you know? The Krämerbrücke is Europe's longest bridge continuously built over and inhabited: people still live and trade on it today.