Germany states quiz

The 16 states in the quiz

Germany has 16 states (Länder): 16 in the quiz. Use the Capitals button in the panel to find their capitals instead.

How to play

In Point mode we name a state and you tap it on the map; in Type mode one lights up and you type its name (accents don’t matter); and in Time trial you get 6 seconds per question. If you miss, we show you where it was, which way it lies and a hint drawn from the data: its size rank and its neighbors.

Each game has 10, 20 or all the questions, and at the end you can practice just the ones you missed. Your best score for each mode is saved in this browser only: neither we nor anyone else can see it, and there’s no sign-up.

The hardest ones

The smallest states are the hardest, since they barely show on the map: Bremen (about 150 sq mi), Hamburg (about 300 sq mi), and Berlin (about 340 sq mi). Zoom in with the buttons or two fingers to tap them.

And watch out for look-alike names: Lower Saxony, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.

Tips to learn them

• Start with the three largest: Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Baden-Württemberg cover 43% of the area of Germany.
• The 3 states bordering France trace that border on the map: Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland.
• 11 of the 16 have no coastline: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia.
• Lower Saxony has the most neighbors: it borders 9 states. Once you place it, you have a landmark for many more.

Playing in class

If you teach in Germany, start with your school’s state and its neighbors and add a few each day. Otherwise, it’s a good way to get to know the country before studying it.

With the Challenge your class link, everyone gets the same questions in the same order, with no accounts or passwords, and each student sees their own score, time and streak. To practice on paper, there’s a printable worksheet of the same map with an answer key.

List of all 16 states

1. Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart
2. Bavaria Munich
3. Berlin Berlin
4. Brandenburg Potsdam
5. Bremen Bremen
6. Hamburg Hamburg
7. Hesse Wiesbaden
8. Lower Saxony Hanover
9. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Schwerin
10. North Rhine-Westphalia Düsseldorf
11. Rhineland-Palatinate Mainz
12. Saarland Saarbrücken
13. Saxony Dresden
14. Saxony-Anhalt Magdeburg
15. Schleswig-Holstein Kiel
16. Thuringia Erfurt