Can you name all 16 states of Germany?
Germany is a federal republic of 16 states, or Länder. Three of them are cities: Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg. Name every state to fill in the map, in English or in German.
How to play
- Type the name of any state in the box at the bottom of the map. Capital letters, accents and punctuation do not matter, and German names such as “Bayern” or “Nordrhein-Westfalen” are accepted.
- A correct name is accepted by itself after a short pause. It turns green on the map and is ticked off in its group below the map. A wrong name costs nothing; just keep typing.
- Use the + and − buttons to zoom in on small states, then drag to move around. With the map selected, the + and − keys zoom and the arrow keys move it. Select a state you have named to highlight it.
- There is no timer. The game ends when you have named all 16, or press Finish at any time to end it and reveal the states you missed.
- Your result is saved in this browser. Once enough people have played a game, the results also show how your score ranks, and you can copy or share an image of your result, or replay.
Tips for playing
Start with the big states: Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in the south, and Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia in the north-west. Then fill in the states between them. Berlin sits inside Brandenburg, Bremen inside Lower Saxony and Hamburg between Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, so zoom in for the city-states.
All 16 states of Germany
Show all 16 answers
| State | Capital | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | Stuttgart | Baden-Wurttemberg, Baden-Wuerttemberg, BW |
| Bavaria | Munich | Bayern |
| Berlin | Berlin | — |
| Brandenburg | Potsdam | — |
| Bremen | Bremen | Free Hanseatic City of Bremen |
| Hamburg | Hamburg | — |
| Hesse | Wiesbaden | Hessen |
| Lower Saxony | Hanover | Niedersachsen |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Schwerin | Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, MV |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Düsseldorf | Nordrhein-Westfalen, NRW |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | Mainz | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| Saarland | Saarbrücken | — |
| Saxony | Dresden | Sachsen |
| Saxony-Anhalt | Magdeburg | Sachsen-Anhalt |
| Schleswig-Holstein | Kiel | — |
| Thuringia | Erfurt | Thüringen, Thuringen, Thueringen |
Names as the quiz shows them, grouped as the game groups them, with each capital for reference; the quiz asks only for the names. Every name in the last column is accepted too.
Frequently asked questions
How many states does Germany have?
16: 13 territorial states and 3 city-states, Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg.
Can I use German names like Bayern?
Yes. English and German names both count: Bavaria or “Bayern”, Lower Saxony or “Niedersachsen”, Thuringia or “Thüringen”. “NRW” works for North Rhine-Westphalia and “MV” for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Why does Bremen have two parts?
The state of Bremen is made up of two cities, Bremen and Bremerhaven, with Lower Saxony between them. Both parts fill in when you name Bremen.
What are the capitals of the German states?
Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are their own capitals. The others are Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg), Munich (Bavaria), Potsdam (Brandenburg), Wiesbaden (Hesse), Hanover (Lower Saxony), Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia), Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarbrücken (Saarland), Dresden (Saxony), Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt), Kiel (Schleswig-Holstein) and Erfurt (Thuringia).
Which is the largest of Germany’s states?
Bavaria. Measured on this map, it covers the most area of the 16 answers, and Bremen the least.
East and west
Five of the states, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, were re-established in East Germany in 1990 and joined the Federal Republic that year, when Berlin was reunited. If you know the old border, it splits the map neatly into two recall groups.
Which states count?
All 16 states, including the three city-states. Islands belong to the states around them, such as Rügen with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sylt with Schleswig-Holstein.
More about Germany
Sources
Source: Natural Earth · Admin-1 states and provinces, 1:10m, v5.1.2
Public domain boundaries, simplified for a quiz. Projection: Lambert conformal conic, standard parallels 48.5°N and 54°N, central meridian 10.5°E. Names, groups, alternative names and capitals are curated from the references below; codes follow ISO 3166-2. The map is not a surveying or legal reference.
Found an incorrect answer or a source that needs updating? Send a correction with the game name and a reference.