History UsefulNotes / TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland

* '''Frankfurt an der Oder:''' Not to be confused with the bigger and more important one in Hesse, Frankfurt an der Oder unsuccessfully applied to become Brandenburg's capital, and is divided by the Oder river from its eastern suburb, now the Polish city of Slubice. Brandenburg is home to an old university, which in 1810 was moved to Breslau (now Wroclaw) but which was founded anew in 1991. The dramatist Heinrich von Kleist was born here. And the boxer Henry Maske as well.

* '''Dresden:''' State capital and largest city. Infamous as the target of a controversial Allied air raid in 1945 with a high civilian death toll (albeit recent evidence not only dials down the death toll to at least 25,000, in contrast to 200,000 as propagandized by the Nazis -- basically inflating the count by a power of 10 -- but also shows that the raid was justified by the existence of actual military targets), which is still commemorated annually (and, sadly, attracts a lot of Neo-Nazis). Having been part of East Germany, it took some decades longer than elsewhere to rebuild several famous sites that got bombed during the war. This is especially true for sites like the Semperoper and even more so for its Church Of Our Lady (Frauenkirche).

** The states of ''Bayern'' (Bavaria), ''Sachsen'' (Saxony) and ''Thüringen'' (Thuringia) bear the title ''Freistaat'' (free state), meaning nothing else but having a pre-war legacy when almost any state of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic was either called ''Freistaat'' or ''Volksstaat'' (literally "people's state", not yet bearing communist connotations) in contrast to the cookie-cutter states than came to prominence after the war under Allied occupation that are universally named ''Land [insert random state name here]''.

* '''Rostock:''' Largest city in the state, home to one of the world's oldest universities, and a member of the UsefulNotes/HanseaticLeague. The most notable resident was aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel, the most famous son of the town was Field Marshal Blücher.

Baden-Württemberg is noted for innovative businessmen, scientists, and engineers, and also for very thick accents. One of their business slogans some time ago was "Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch." ("We can do anything. Except [speak] [[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Standard German]].")[[note]]According to the German-language chapter of Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}, the ad agency behind the slogan first offered it to Saxony, which declined.[[/note]]

* '''Düsseldorf:''' The state capital and home to the world's largest digital clock. Two of its most famous natives are Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII, and fashion designer Claudia Schiffer. Close by is the Neandertal (Old Spelling: Neanderthal) where some very well-known prehistoric human fossils were found. ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is also set in the city (most likely due to the fact that the city has one of the largest Japanese communities in Europe), as is ''Series/AufWiedersehenPet'' (first series).

->'''Capital (and largest city):''' Magdeburg\\

'''Population (2012):''' 676,463\\

''Governing Mayor:''' Franziska Giffey (SPD)\\

''Mayor:''' Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD)\\

'''Population (2012):''' 4,050,204\\

'''Minister-President:''' Michael Kretschmer\\

'''Population (2012):''' 2,259,393\\
'''Minister-President:''' Reiner Haseloff\\

'''Population (2012):''' 2,806,531\\

'''Minister-President:''' Daniel Günther\\

'''Population (2012):''' 2,170,460\\

'''Stadtkreise:''' Erfurt, Eisenach, Gera, Jena, Suhl and Weimar\\
'''Minister-President:''' Bodo Ramelow\\

'''Population (2012):''' 10,569,111\\

'''Minister-President:''' Winfried Kretschmann\\

'''Population (2012):''' 12,519,571\\

'''Stadtkreise:''' Amberg, Ansbach, Aschaffenburg, Augsburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Coburg, Erlangen, Fürth, Hof, Ingolstadt, Kaufbeuren, Kempten, Landshut, Memmingen, Munich (München), Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Passau, Regensburg, Rosenheim, Schwabach, Schweinfurt, Straubing, Weiden and Würzburg\\
'''Minister-President:''' Markus Söder\\

'''Population (2012):''' 3,415,091\\
'''First Mayor:''' Michael Müller\\

->'''Capital:''' Potsdam\\

'''Population (2012):''' 2,449,511\\

'''Minister-President:''' Dietmar Woidke\\

'''Population (2012):''' 660,999\\
'''First Mayor:''' Andreas Bovenschulte\\

'''Population (2013):''' 1,751,775\\
'''First Mayor:''' Peter Tschentscher\\

'''Population (2012):''' 6,016,481\\

'''Minister-President:''' Volker Bouffier\\

'''Population (2009):''' 1,652,000\\

'''Minister-President:''' Manuela Schwesig\\

'''Population (2012):''' 7,774,253\\

'''Minister-President:''' Stephan Weil\\

'''Population (2012):''' 17,554,329\\

'''Minister-President:''' Armin Laschet\\

'''Population (2012):''' 3,990,278\\

'''Minister-President:''' Malu Dreyer\\

'''Population (2012):''' 994,287\\

'''Minister-President:''' Tobias Hans\\