German States

1.Berlin- Berlin is Germanys largest city, with a population of 3.4 million people.  The city was once divided into East Berlin and West Berlin. 


2.Bremen- Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.  Bremen is home to the football team SV Werder Bremen which won the German Football Championship for the fourth time and the German Football Cup for the fifth time in 2004.


3.Thuringen-  It is known as the Green Heart of Germany, due to the dense forest that covers the terrain.  The mountains in the Thuringian Forest provide a backdrop for one of Germany’s most beautiful trails, the 160-kilometer long Rennsteig.


4.Hamburg-  With its tanker terminals, the port is home to all the major oil-refining companies.  It is also known for its musicals, which every month bring thousands of visitors to the city.   


5.Sachsen-Anhalt- By size, it is the 8th largest state in Germany, and by population, the 10th largest.  The capital of Saxony-Anhalt is Magdeburg.


6.Bayern- It is by far the largest German state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany. Bavaria's capital is Munich.




7.Baden-Wurttemberg- It is third largest in both area and population among the country's sixteen states. The state capital is Stuttgart. 


8.Sachsen- It is the tenth-largest German state in area and the sixth largest in population.  Except for Dresden and perhaps Leipzig, Saxony is not known as a primary destination for foreign tourists.

9.Nordrhein-Westfalen- It is the most populous, and the most economically powerful state of Germany.  The capital city is Düsseldorf, and the largest city is Cologne.


10.Rheinland-Pfalz-  Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the most popular tourist regions among the German locals. It is also popular with Americans living in Germany, who love to congregate at the region's many festivals.


11.Saarland- The capital is Saarbrücken.  In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states (Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg).


12.Brandenburg- The capital is Potsdam.  It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany.


13.Schleswig-Holstein - The capital city is Keil.  Schleswig-Holstein also combines Danish and German aspects of culture.


14.Hessen- The state capital is Wiesbaden.  The locals speak a Rhine Franconian dialect known as Hessisch.




15.Niedersachsen- In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, is still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. It is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany.




 16.Mecklenburg-Vorpommern- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the sixth largest German state by territory, and the least densely populated one. The capital is schwerin 
 
Germany Map