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Well-Known German Car Plates

50 questions · Geography

Almost every car in Germany carries a little secret code front and back: one to three letters that reveal where the vehicle comes from. Those who can read them recognise at a glance on the motorway whether the neighbour is from the big city or the countryside: turning every drive into a little guessing game. This pack lets you match the best-known German car plates to their cities: recognise the plain B for the capital Berlin and the coveted M for Munich, the HH for the Hanseatic city of Hamburg and the K for the cathedral city of Cologne, the F for Frankfurt am Main and the S for Stuttgart, the DD for Dresden and the L for Leipzig, the N for Nuremberg and the D for Düsseldorf, as well as the HB for Bremen and the KI for Kiel: recognise which city lies behind each code, and you will never again overlook a number plate. A boring car journey turns into a little geography quiz in which every passing vehicle reveals which corner of the country it comes from, from the busy capital to the smallest country town.

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All questions with answers

Which city has the car plate code “B”?

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Berlin

The capital simply bears “B”.

💡 Did you know? Short codes often mean big cities.

Which city has the code “M”?

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Munich

Bavaria's capital.

💡 Did you know? “M” is a much-wanted code.

Which city has the code “HH”?

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Hamburg

“HH” means “Hanseatic City of Hamburg”.

💡 Did you know? The first H marks Hanseatic status.

Which city has the code “K”?

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Cologne

The cathedral city on the Rhine.

💡 Did you know? “K” for Köln (Cologne).

Which city has the code “F”?

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Frankfurt am Main

Germany's financial hub.

💡 Did you know? Frankfurt (Oder) instead has “FF”.

Which city has the code “S”?

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Stuttgart

The capital of Baden-Württemberg.

💡 Did you know? Home of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

Which city has the code “DD”?

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Dresden

The capital of Saxony.

💡 Did you know? Known for the Frauenkirche and Zwinger.

Which city has the code “L”?

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Leipzig

One of Saxony's largest cities.

💡 Did you know? Known for its trade fair and music.

Which city has the code “N”?

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Nuremberg

Known for its Christmas market.

💡 Did you know? Bavaria's second-largest city.

Which city has the code “D”?

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Düsseldorf

The capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.

💡 Did you know? Known for fashion and the Königsallee.

Which city has the code “HB”?

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Bremen

“HB” means “Hanseatic City of Bremen”.

💡 Did you know? Known for the Town Musicians of Bremen.

Which city has the code “KI”?

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Kiel

The capital of Schleswig-Holstein.

💡 Did you know? Known for the Kiel Week sailing event.

Which city has the code “E”?

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Essen

Major city in the Ruhr area.

💡 Did you know? Was European Capital of Culture in 2010 (with the Ruhr).

Which city has the code “DO”?

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Dortmund

Largest city of the Ruhr area.

💡 Did you know? Home of BVB and the German Football Museum.

Which city has the code “H”?

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Hanover

The capital of Lower Saxony.

💡 Did you know? Known for the Hanover trade fair.

Which city has the code “HRO”?

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Rostock

“HRO” means “Hanseatic City of Rostock”.

💡 Did you know? Largest city of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Which city has the code “MD”?

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Magdeburg

The capital of Saxony-Anhalt.

💡 Did you know? Known for Magdeburg Cathedral.

Which city has the code “EF”?

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Erfurt

The capital of Thuringia.

💡 Did you know? Known for the Krämerbrücke bridge.

Which city has the code “SB”?

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Saarbrücken

The capital of Saarland.

💡 Did you know? Sits right on the French border.

Which city has the code “MZ”?

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Mainz

The capital of Rhineland-Palatinate.

💡 Did you know? Home of Gutenberg and broadcaster ZDF.

Which city has the code “WI”?

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Wiesbaden

The capital of Hesse.

💡 Did you know? Hesse's capital is Wiesbaden: not Frankfurt.

Which city has the code “P”?

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Potsdam

The capital of Brandenburg.

💡 Did you know? Known for Sanssouci Palace.

Which city has the code “SN”?

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Schwerin

The capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

💡 Did you know? Known for Schwerin Castle.

Which city has the code “HL”?

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Lübeck

“HL” means “Hanseatic City of Lübeck”.

💡 Did you know? Known for the Holsten Gate and marzipan.

Which city has the code “A”?

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Augsburg

One of Germany's oldest cities.

💡 Did you know? The Fuggerei is the world's oldest social housing complex.

Which city has the code “R”?

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Regensburg

Major city on the Danube.

💡 Did you know? Its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Which city has the code “W”?

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Wuppertal

Major city in the Bergisches Land.

💡 Did you know? Famous for its suspension railway.

Which city has the code “BO”?

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Bochum

Major city in the Ruhr area.

💡 Did you know? Known from Grönemeyer's song “Bochum”.

Which city has the code “DU”?

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Duisburg

City on the Rhine and Ruhr.

💡 Did you know? Has Europe's largest inland port.

Which city has the code “GE”?

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Gelsenkirchen

City in the Ruhr area.

💡 Did you know? Home of FC Schalke 04.

Which city has the code “BI”?

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Bielefeld

Largest city of East Westphalia.

💡 Did you know? The “Bielefeld conspiracy” jokingly claims the city doesn't exist.

Which city has the code “MS”?

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Münster

City of the Peace of Westphalia.

💡 Did you know? Considered Germany's cycling capital.

Which city has the code “BN”?

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Bonn

The former West German capital.

💡 Did you know? Birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Which city has the code “AC”?

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Aachen

Germany's westernmost major city.

💡 Did you know? Charlemagne made Aachen his residence.

Which city has the code “KA”?

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Karlsruhe

Seat of the Federal Constitutional Court.

💡 Did you know? The “fan city”: its streets radiate from the palace.

Which city has the code “MA”?

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Mannheim

The “city of squares” on Rhine and Neckar.

💡 Did you know? Carl Benz built the first automobile here.

Which city has the code “HD”?

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Heidelberg

Famous for its castle and university.

💡 Did you know? Germany's oldest university (founded 1386).

Which city has the code “FR”?

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Freiburg im Breisgau

Major city on the edge of the Black Forest.

💡 Did you know? Considered one of Germany's sunniest cities.

Which city has the code “UL”?

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Ulm

City on the Danube.

💡 Did you know? Ulm Minster has the world's tallest church tower.

Which city has the code “WÜ”?

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Würzburg

City on the Main in Lower Franconia.

💡 Did you know? The Würzburg Residence is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Which city has the code “C”?

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Chemnitz

Saxony's third-largest city.

💡 Did you know? Was called Karl-Marx-Stadt in GDR times.

Which city has the code “J”?

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Jena

University city in Thuringia.

💡 Did you know? World-famous for Carl Zeiss and its optics industry.

Which city has the code “KS”?

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Kassel

City in northern Hesse.

💡 Did you know? Hosts the documenta art show every five years.

Which city has the code “OL”?

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Oldenburg

Major city in north-western Lower Saxony.

💡 Did you know? Gave its name to the Oldenburg horse breed.

Which city has the code “OS”?

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Osnabrück

City of the Peace of Westphalia (with Münster).

💡 Did you know? Birthplace of Erich Maria Remarque.

Which city has the code “BS”?

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Braunschweig

The “Lion City” in Lower Saxony.

💡 Did you know? Henry the Lion made it his residence.

Which city has the code “WOB”?

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Wolfsburg

Headquarters of Volkswagen.

💡 Did you know? Founded in 1938 around the VW plant.

Which city has the code “IN”?

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Ingolstadt

City on the Danube, home of Audi.

💡 Did you know? In Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein creates his monster here.

Which city has the code “FL”?

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Flensburg

City on the Danish border.

💡 Did you know? Seat of the Federal Motor Transport Authority: hence Germany's famous “points in Flensburg”.

Which city has the code “GÖ”?

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Göttingen

University city in southern Lower Saxony.

💡 Did you know? More than 40 Nobel laureates lived or worked here.

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