Thuringia (German: Thüringen) is one of the least known German states amongst foreign travellers but enjoys a good reputation with local holidaymakers. A predominantly mountainous and forested region, Thuringia is also known for a quartet of beautiful ancient cities and the Wartburg Castle - a UNESCO world heritage site and erstwhile refuge of Martin Luther that is regarded by Germans as one of the most important castles in the country.
Hesse (German: Hessen) is a state in west-central Germany, with around six million inhabitants, most of them living in the Rhine-Main region of the southwest. The rest of Hesse is hilly, with 40 per cent of the land area covered by forests.
The Saarland is a small federal state of Germany, located in the west of the country and forming part of the German border with France and Luxembourg. Its name is very literal - the state is formed by the territory of the Saar river basin, although not all of it, as the river starts in France and flows into the larger Moselle river in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Rhineland-Palatinate (German: Rheinland-Pfalz) is a state of Germany. The largest wine producing area in Germany, it is home to 7 of the 12 wine-producing districts in Germany and is full of museums, exhibitions and castles.
North Rhine-Westphalia (German Nordrhein-Westfalen) is the most populous state in Germany, with 17.5 million inhabitants, located in the west of the country. It consists of two historically independent parts - Nordrhein, the urbanized area across the river Rhine in the southwest, and Westfalen in the northeast, which is quite diverse as it includes both the heavy industrialized and densely populated Ruhr Valley and the very green Teutoburg Forest.
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost state of Germany. It borders Denmark and has coasts on both the North and Baltic Seas.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a Land (state) in Germany, located in the northeastern corner of the country between Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and the Baltic Sea, and the neighboring country of Poland. The name is sometimes abbreviated in German to Meck-Pomm (think Mc-Pom), though locals of the state are unlikely to use the name, but you will be understood.
Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen) is a federal state in northwestern Germany. It is the second largest state by area (47,618 km²) (after Bavaria) and fourth largest by population (8 million in 2021) among the country's sixteen states. It was created after World War II by the British; most of its territory had been the Kingdom, later Province, of Hanover.
The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg) is Germany's second-largest city and, at the same time, one of Germany's 16 federal states or Bundesländer. Prior to the formation of the modern German state, Hamburg for centuries enjoyed a status as de facto independent city state and regional power and trade hub in the North Sea.
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is a city in northern Germany with a major port on the river Weser. The population is 567,000 (2020). It is also the name of one of the states of Germany which consists of two separated enclaves on the river Weser.