List of major cities in Germany

This list of the major cities in Germany provides an overview of all current and former major cities in Germany .

According to a definition of the International Statistics Conference of 1887, large cities are all cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. However , z. For example, around 1880 only ten cities now in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany met this criterion, which indicates that it used to be a much more exclusive "title". The German metropolitan regions , or the regiopolises in a regional context, occupy a special position alongside the big cities .

Since 2019 there have been 81 large cities in Germany, of which 30 (corresponds to 38%) are in North Rhine-Westphalia , 9 (11%) in Baden-Württemberg , 8 each (10%) in Bavaria and Lower Saxony , 5 in Hesse , 5 in Rhineland-Palatinate and 3 in Saxony , otherwise only 2 or 1 per federal state.

Four major German cities are metropolises , another eleven have around half a million inhabitants or more. The high number of half a million cities is striking compared to other populous countries in the European Union. The fifth largest city has around three quarters of a million inhabitants, ten cities (ranks 6 to 15) have a population between 635,000 and 495,000. The next smaller cities with fewer than 370,000 inhabitants follow at a considerable distance. Around half of the major German cities have fewer than 200,000 inhabitants. The 15 cities with currently more than 495,000 inhabitants have been the 15 cities with more than 425,000 inhabitants in the respective territorial status and 450,000 inhabitants in the current territorial status in every year since 1960.

Historical development

In the overview of the “former large cities”, the cities are listed that once had more than 100,000 inhabitants, including cities that have since been incorporated into neighboring cities. Further overviews contain large cities that belonged to Germany from January 18, 1871, the establishment of the German Reich , to August 31, 1939, one day before the start of the Second World War , according to the respective territorial status of the Reich.

Current major cities

Preliminary remarks

The table contains all cities that had more than 100,000 inhabitants at the end of 2019, as well as the results of the censuses from 1939 and 1950, the results of the extrapolation of the official population figures by the regional statistical offices (only main residences ) for the years 1960, 1970, 1980 , 1990, 2000, 2010, 2018 and 2019 (31 December each) as well as the area and population density (as of 2018).

The population development between 2018 and 2019, the country to which the city belongs, and the year in which the limit of 100,000 inhabitants was crossed for the first time are also listed . Since then, numerous cities have temporarily fallen below this limit and thus temporarily lost their status as large cities. These are marked separately with ¹ . The population figures refer to the current territorial status of the municipality without politically independent suburbs.

Changes in space and population caused by regional reforms lead to different results for time series on population growth if the data of the past years are calculated for the respective or current territorial status. Taking into account the respective territorial status, Potsdam had the highest annual population growth of 1.95% between 2000 and 2010 of the major German cities due to the incorporation in 2003, followed by Munich (1.12%), Dresden (0.91%), Freiburg in Breisgau (0.89%) and Mainz (0.86%). If, on the other hand, the territorial status of 2010 is taken as the basis, Munich was in first place with an annual growth of 1.12% in the period mentioned. They are followed by Potsdam (1.10%), Dresden (0.91%), Freiburg im Breisgau (0.89%) and Mainz (0.86%).

Since around 2010, the population growth in large cities has been increasing noticeably overall due to immigration, so that their gains in 2013, 2014 and 2015 also led to an increasing total population in the Federal Republic. The metropolises with over 500,000 inhabitants in particular grew strongly, but smaller cities were also able to benefit. 2015 was the first year in a long time in which all large cities recorded population increases.

There are 13 large cities in Germany that belong to a district or a municipal association of a special kind . These are:

• Aachen
• Bergisch Gladbach
• Goettingen
• Gutersloh
• Hanover
• Hildesheim
• Moers
• Neuss
• Paderborn
• Recklinghausen
• Reutlingen
• Saarbrücken
• Wins

Except for the city of Moers (is part of the Wesel district ), it is a district town or the seat of a local authority association.

table

Rank (2019)	Surname	population										Area in km² (2016)	Ew./km² (2018)	Population development [%] (2019 compared to 2018)	Big city for the first time 1	state
		1939	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2018	2019
1	Berlin 1st	4 321 521	3 336 026	3 274 016	3 208 719	3 048 759	3 433 695	3 382 169	3 460 725	3,644,826	3,669,491	891.68	4,088	0.68	1747	Berlin
2	Hamburg 1	1 698 388	1 605 606	1 836 958	1 793 640	1 645 095	1 652 363	1 715 392	1 786 448	1,841,179	1,847,253	755.22	2,438	0.33	1787	Hamburg
3	Munich	815 212	831 937	1 101 384	1 311 978	1 298 941	1 229 026	1 210 223	1 353 186	1,471,508	1,484,226	310.70	4,736	0.86	1852	Bavaria
4th	Cologne 1	768 352	594 941	801 142	849 451	976 694	953 551	962 884	1 007 119	1,085,664	1,087,863	405.02	2,681	0.20	1852	North Rhine-Westphalia
5	Frankfurt am Main	548 220	532 037	675 009	666 179	629 375	644 865	648 550	679 664	753.056	763.380	248.31	3,033	1.37	1875	Hesse
6th	Stuttgart	454 346	497 677	637 366	634 202	580 648	579 988	583 874	606 588	634.830	635.911	207.35	3,062	0.17	1874	Baden-Württemberg
7th	Dusseldorf	535 753	500 516	697 891	660 963	590 479	575 794	569 364	588 735	619.294	621,877	217.41	2,849	0.42	1882	North Rhine-Westphalia
8th	Leipzig	702 155	617 574	589 632	583 885	562 480	511 079	493 208	522 883	587.857	593.145	297.80	1,974	0.90	1871	Saxony
9	Dortmund	537 865	507 349	640 802	640 642	608 297	599 055	588 994	580 444	587.010	588.250	280.71	2,091	0.21	1894	North Rhine-Westphalia
10	eat	664 523	605 411	729 462	696 419	647 643	626 973	595 243	574 635	583.109	582.760	210.34	2,772	-0.06	1896	North Rhine-Westphalia
11	Bremen	354 109	444 549	563 270	592 533	555 118	551 219	539 403	547 340	569.352	567,559	325.56	1,749	-0.31	1875	Bremen
12	Dresden	629 713	494 187	493 603	502 432	516 225	490 571	477 807	523 058	554,649	556.780	328.48	1,689	0.38	1852	Saxony
13	Hanover	464 646	444 296	574 672	521 003	534 623	513 010	515 001	522 686	538.068	536.925	204.14	2,636	-0.21	1875	Lower Saxony
14th	Nuremberg	420 349	362 459	458 401	478 181	484 405	493 692	488 400	505 664	518.365	518.370	186.38	2,781	0.00	1881	Bavaria
15th	Duisburg 2	433 530	410 783	503 641	452 721	558 089	535 447	514 915	489 599	498,590	498,686	232.80	2.142	0.02	1903	North Rhine-Westphalia
16	Bochum	305 469	289 804	362 490	343 809	400 757	396 486	391 147	374 737	364,628	365,587	145.66	2,503	0.26	1904	North Rhine-Westphalia
17th	Wuppertal 3	399 718	363 224	421 378	417 694	393 381	383 660	366 434	349 721	354,382	355.100	168.39	2,105	0.20	1884	North Rhine-Westphalia
18th	Bielefeld 1	126 711	153 613	174 527	168 609	312 708	319 037	321 758	323 270	333.786	334.195	258.82	1,290	0.12	1930	North Rhine-Westphalia
19th	Bonn 1	98 702	115 394	146 889	275 722	288 148	292 234	302 247	324 899	327.258	329,673	141.06	2,320	0.74	1934	North Rhine-Westphalia
20th	Munster 1	132 760	118 496	180 871	198 878	269 696	259 438	265 609	279 803	314,319	315.293	303.28	1,036	0.31	1915	North Rhine-Westphalia
21st	Karlsruhe	184 489	198 840	240 450	259 091	271 892	275 061	278 558	294 761	313.092	312.060	173.46	1,805	-0.33	1901	Baden-Württemberg
22nd	Mannheim	280 365	245 634	311 383	332 378	304 303	310 411	306 729	313 174	309.370	310,658	144.96	2.134	0.42	1897	Baden-Württemberg
23	augsburg	180 039	185 183	206 422	213 230	248 346	256 877	254 982	264 708	295.135	296,582	146.84	2.010	0.49	1909	Bavaria
24	Wiesbaden 1	165 646	220 741	257 293	250 715	274 464	260 301	270 109	275 976	278,342	278.474	203.93	1,365	0.05	1905	Hesse
25th	Mönchengladbach 1 , 5	128 418	124 879	152 414	151 085	128 329	259 436	263 014	257 993	261.454	261.034	170.47	1,534	-0.16	1921	North Rhine-Westphalia
26th	Gelsenkirchen 4	317 505	315 460	388 608	347 074	304 386	293 714	278 695	257 981	260,654	259,645	104.94	2,484	-0.39	1903	North Rhine-Westphalia
27	Braunschweig	189 628	223 760	242 489	223 275	261 141	258 833	245 816	248 867	248.292	249,406	192.18	1,292	0.45	1890	Lower Saxony
28	Aachen 1	159 631	129 811	170 367	175 451	243 947	241 861	244 386	258 664	247.380	248.960	160.85	1,538	0.64	1888	North Rhine-Westphalia
29	Kiel	261 298	254 449	271 610	271 070	250 062	245 567	232 612	239 526	247,548	246,794	118.65	2,086	-0.30	1900	Schleswig-Holstein
30th	Chemnitz 6	334 713	293 373	286 329	299 411	317 644	294 244	259 246	243 248	247.237	246.334	221.05	1,118	-0.37	1883	Saxony
31	Halle (Saale) 8	217 480	289 119	277 855	257 261	232 294	310 234	247 736	232 963	239.257	238,762	135.02	1,772	-0.21	1890	Saxony-Anhalt
32	Magdeburg	329 824	260 305	261 594	272 237	289 032	278 807	231 450	231 549	238.697	237,565	201.00	1,188	-0.47	1882	Saxony-Anhalt
33	Freiburg im Breisgau 1	108 487	109 717	141 637	163 568	175 106	191 029	205 102	224 191	230.241	231.195	153.06	1,504	0.41	1934	Baden-Württemberg
34	Krefeld 7	170 205	171 875	211 479	222 666	223 969	244 020	239 916	235 076	227.020	227,417	137.77	1,648	0.17	1888	North Rhine-Westphalia
35	Mainz 1	154 033	88 369	133 089	174 858	187 392	179 486	182 870	199 237	217.118	218,578	97.74	2,221	0.67	1908	Rhineland-Palatinate
36	Lübeck	149 502	238 276	232 140	239 955	220 588	214 758	213 399	210 232	217.198	216,530	214.21	1.014	-0.31	1912	Schleswig-Holstein
37	Erfurt	159 201	188 650	186 448	195 994	211 575	208 989	200 564	204 994	213,699	213.981	269.88	792	0.13	1906	Thuringia
38	Oberhausen 1	191 829	202 808	258 626	246 199	228 947	223 840	222 151	212 945	210,829	210.764	77.09	2,735	-0.03	1914	North Rhine-Westphalia
39	Rostock 1	118 048	133 109	158 630	198 636	232 506	248 088	200 506	202 735	208,886	209.191	181.26	1,152	0.15	1935	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
40	Kassel 1	211 624	162 132	206 354	214 785	195 912	194 268	194 766	195 530	201,585	202.137	106.78	1,888	0.27	1899	Hesse
41	Hagen	151 481	146 401	195 500	201 042	218 927	214 449	203 151	188 526	188.814	188,686	160.45	1,177	-0.07	1928	North Rhine-Westphalia
42	Saarbrücken 1	131 285	111 450	129 801	128 251	193 554	191 694	183 257	175 741	180.741	180.374	167.09	1,082	-0.20	1909	Saarland
43	Potsdam	126 241	118 180	115 004	111 336	130 900	139 794	129 324	156 906	178.089	180.334	188.61	944	1.26	1939	Brandenburg
44	Hamm	56 684	59 866	68 775	84 629	171 869	179 639	182 427	181 783	179.111	179.916	226.43	791	0.45	1975	North Rhine-Westphalia
45	Ludwigshafen am Rhein 1	143 934	123 869	164 657	176 257	159 399	162 233	163 383	164 177	171,061	172.253	77.55	2,206	0.70	1921	Rhineland-Palatinate
46	Mülheim an der Ruhr	136 828	149 589	183 979	192 183	181 279	177 681	172 862	167 344	170,880	170,632	91.28	1,872	-0.15	1908	North Rhine-Westphalia
47	Oldenburg (Oldb)	74 141	122 809	122 337	131 545	136 764	143 131	154 832	162 173	168.210	169.077	102.99	1,633	0.52	1946	Lower Saxony
48	Osnabrück 1	97 918	109 538	135 821	144 864	157 367	163 168	164 101	164 119	164,748	165.251	119.80	1,375	0.31	1939	Lower Saxony
49	Leverkusen	49 927	65 531	93 940	107 626	160 825	160 919	161 047	160 772	163,838	163,729	78.87	2,077	-0.07	1963	North Rhine-Westphalia
50	Heidelberg	84 273	116 488	127 595	121 398	133 227	136 796	140 259	147 312	160.355	161,485	108.84	1,473	0.70	1946	Baden-Württemberg
51	Darmstadt 1	110 552	94 788	138 736	141 847	138 201	138 920	138 242	144 402	159.207	159,878	122.09	1,304	0.42	1937	Hesse
52	Solingen	140 453	147 845	170 619	177 124	166 085	165 401	164 973	159 927	159,360	159,245	89.54	1,780	-0.07	1929	North Rhine-Westphalia
53	Herne 1	94 639	111 591	113 252	103 849	182 542	178 132	174 529	164 762	156.374	156,449	51.42	3,041	0.05	1933	North Rhine-Westphalia
54	Neuss	59 649	63 478	93 680	116 013	149 334	147 019	150 013	151 388	153,796	153,896	99.52	1,545	0.07	1963	North Rhine-Westphalia
55	regensburg	90 651	117 291	123 751	130 888	132 604	121 691	125 676	135 520	152.610	153.094	80.70	1,891	0.32	1940	Bavaria
56	Paderborn	39 955	40 270	52 773	68 207	110 155	120 680	139 084	146 283	150,580	151,633	179.59	838	0.70	1975	North Rhine-Westphalia
57	Ingolstadt	31 370	40 523	52 540	70 594	90 490	105 489	115 722	125 088	136.981	137.392	133.37	1,027	0.30	1989	Bavaria
58	Offenbach am Main	85 128	89 030	115 051	118 841	110 993	114 992	117 535	120 435	128,744	130.280	44.89	2,868	1.19	1954	Hesse
59	Fuerth 1	78 838	99 890	98 615	94 415	99 088	103 362	110 477	114 628	127,748	128,497	63.35	2.017	0.59	1950	Bavaria
60	Wurzburg	101 345	78 443	115 541	116 395	128 652	127 777	127 966	133 799	127,880	127.934	87.63	1,459	0.04	1932	Bavaria
61	Ulm 1	68 585	71 132	90 383	93 158	100 671	110 529	117 233	122 801	126,329	126,790	118.69	1,064	0.36	1980	Baden-Württemberg
62	Heilbronn	74 214	64 643	87 203	102 300	111 938	115 843	119 305	122 879	125,960	126,592	99.88	1,261	0.50	1970	Baden-Württemberg
63	Pforzheim	78 320	54 143	81 373	91 104	106 500	112 944	117 156	119 781	125,542	125,957	98.00	1,281	0.33	1975	Baden-Württemberg
64	Wolfsburg 9	6 797	25 422	62 577	90 115	125 935	128 510	121 805	121 451	124.151	124.371	204.09	608	0.18	1972	Lower Saxony
65	Goettingen	49 668	78 680	77 785	109 892	129 656	121 831	124 132	121 060	119,801	118,911	116.89	1,025	-0.74	1964	Lower Saxony
66	Bottrop	83 381	93 268	111 246	106 225	114 571	118 936	120 611	116 771	117,383	117,565	100.61	1,167	0.16	1953	North Rhine-Westphalia
67	Reutlingen	37 421	45 735	66 659	79 705	95 456	103 687	110 650	112 484	115.966	115.865	87.06	1,332	-0.09	1988	Baden-Württemberg
68	Koblenz	86 501	66 444	97 867	120 079	113 676	108 733	107 950	106 417	114.024	114.052	105.13	1,085	0.02	1962	Rhineland-Palatinate
69	Bremerhaven 1 , 10	110 982	114 070	141 017	142 919	138 728	130 446	120 822	113 366	113,634	113,643	93.82	1,211	0.01	1939	Bremen
70	Erlangen 1	33 471	50 011	68 569	85 061	101 845	102 440	100 778	105 629	111,962	112,528	76.95	1,455	0.51	1974	Bavaria
71	Bergisch Gladbach	23 286	32 681	41 409	50 228	101 472	104 037	105 693	105 723	111,966	111,846	83.09	1,348	-0.11	1977	North Rhine-Westphalia
72	Trier 1	81 808	75 526	85 210	103 598	95 536	97 835	99 410	105 260	110,636	111,528	117.13	945	0.81	1969	Rhineland-Palatinate
73	Recklinghausen	86 302	104 791	130 405	125 369	119 418	125 060	124 785	118 365	112,267	111,397	66.50	1,688	-0.77	1949	North Rhine-Westphalia
74	Jena 1	68 377	80 309	81 190	88 130	103 718	102 518	99 893	105 129	111,407	111,343	114.76	971	-0.06	1975	Thuringia
75	Remscheid 1	103 912	103 276	125 912	136 822	129 082	123 155	119 287	110 563	110.994	111,338	74.52	1,489	0.31	1929	North Rhine-Westphalia
76	Salzgitter 1 , 11	45 598	100 667	108 872	119 031	113 600	114 355	112 302	102 394	104,948	104.291	223.92	469	-0.63	1942	Lower Saxony
77	Moers 1	29 646	34 832	45 908	53 410	99 923	104 595	107 062	105 506	103.725	103.902	67.68	1,533	0.17	1975	North Rhine-Westphalia
78	Wins 1	37 622	38 787	48 210	57 563	112 320	109 174	108 476	103 424	102,836	102,770	114.69	897	-0.06	1975	North Rhine-Westphalia
79	Hildesheim 1st	68 679	72 292	94 352	93 373	102 619	105 291	103 909	102 794	101,990	101,693	92.18	1.106	-0.29	1974	Lower Saxony
80	Gutersloh	32 841	43 111	52 346	75 297	78 221	86 807	95 156	96 404	100.194	100,861	112.02	894	0.67	2018	North Rhine-Westphalia
81	Kaiserslautern 1	65,890	62,761	88,668	100,696	98,745	99.351	99,825	99.184	99,845	100.030	139.74	715	0.19	1970	Rhineland-Palatinate
rank	Surname	population										Area [km²] (2016)	Ew./km² (2018)	Population development [%] (2018 compared to 2017)	Big city for the first time 1	state
		1939	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2018	2019

¹ The population of the cities marked in this way has been below this limit at times since the limit of 100,000 was exceeded for the first time.

²From August 1, 1929 to March 31, 1935, Duisburg was called Duisburg-Hamborn .

³Wuppertal was created on August 1, 1929 from the merger (among others) of the large cities of Barmen and Elberfeld . Both cities already had more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1884. Until the renaming on January 24, 1930, the city was called Barmen-Elberfeld .

^4thGelsenkirchen was called Gelsenkirchen-Buer from April 1, 1928 to May 20, 1930 .

⁵Mönchengladbach was called Munich-Gladbach until July 31, 1929 , from August 1, 1929 to July 31, 1933 (with the incorporated city of Rheydt ) Gladbach-Rheydt , from August 1, 1933 (again without Rheydt ) M. Gladbach ( first with the pronunciation Munich Gladbach, from December 20, 1950 with the pronunciation Mönchen Gladbach) and from October 11, 1960 Mönchengladbach .

^6thChemnitz was called Karl-Marx-Stadt from May 10, 1953 to May 31, 1990 .

^7thFrom August 1, 1929 to April 24, 1940, Krefeld was called Krefeld- Uerdingen a. Rh.

^8thPopulation 1990 after the incorporation of Halle-Neustadt on May 6th of the same year.

⁹From July 1, 1938 to May 24, 1945, Wolfsburg was called the city ​​of the KdF car near Fallersleben .

¹⁰Bremerhaven was called Wesermünde from November 1, 1939 to December 31, 1946 .

¹¹Salzgitter was called Watenstedt-Salzgitter until January 22, 1951 .

Population development since reunification until 2008. Figures in 1000 inhabitants scaled logarithmically.

Decrease in population

Population increase

Former cities

The data relate to the respective historical territorial status of a city, which is why there may be deviations from the information provided by statistical offices, which sometimes use today's territorial status and extrapolate it into the past.

Today's medium-sized cities

The table contains the cities that had more than 100,000 inhabitants in the past, in the order of the current number of inhabitants, as well as the results of the censuses from 1939 and 1950, the results of the extrapolation of the state statistical offices (only main residences ) for 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2018 and 2019 (December 31st each) and the years in which the limit of 100,000 inhabitants was exceeded for the first time and for the last time. During this period, some cities temporarily fell below this limit and thus temporarily lost their status as large cities. These are marked separately with ¹² . The state to which the city belongs is also listed. The population figures refer to the respective municipality within its political limits at the respective point in time. For the ranking of today's medium-sized cities, see the list of large and medium-sized cities in Germany .

Surname	Ew. 1939	Ew. 1950	Ew. 1960	Ew. 1970	Ew. 1980	Ew. 1990	Ew. 2000	Ew. 2010	Ew. 2018	Ew. 2019	Big city for the first time	Big city for the last time	state
cottbus	53 468	60 874	66 813	83 444	113 479	125 891	108 491	102 091	100.219	99,678	1976	2018	Brandenburg
Witten	73,548	76,312	96,731	97,687	105,876	105.403	103.196	98,233	96,563	96,459	1975	2007	North Rhine-Westphalia
Schwerin	60,938	93,576	92.508	97,389	121,175	127,447	101,267	95,220	95,818	95,653	1972	2001	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Gera	81,931	98,576	101,373	111,535	125,383	129,037	112,835	99,262	94,152	93.125	1959	2009	Thuringia
Flensburg	68,042	102,832	97,899	95,366	87,862	86,977	84.281	88,759	89.504	90.164	1945	1952	Schleswig-Holstein
Zwickau 12	84,399	138,844	129,138	126,988	122.129	114,632	103.008	93,750	89,540	88,690	1944	2003	Saxony
Dessau-Roßlau 12 , 13	85,424	91,973	93,459	98,402	102,529	96,754	83.153	86.906	81,237	80.103	1935	1990	Saxony-Anhalt
Wilhelmshaven 12	112,147	101.210	100,533	102,978	99.230	90,561	85.287	81,324	76,278	76,089	1938	1979	Lower Saxony
Plauen 12	109,556	84,438	79.056	82.026	78,828	71,774	71,543	66,098	64,931	64,597	1904	1945	Saxony
Goerlitz	91,554	100.147	89.909	87,492	81,399	72,237	61,599	55,596	56,324	55,980	1949	1951	Saxony

¹² The number of inhabitants was temporarily below this limit between the first and the last time the limit of 100,000 inhabitants was exceeded.

¹³Until 2000 information on the city of Dessau. This merged with the city of Roßlau (Elbe) on July 1, 2007 and has since been called Dessau-Roßlau (incorporation of Roßlau for the first time on April 1, 1935, outsourced on April 1, 1945).

Other former large cities

The overview contains the cities that were previously large cities, but no longer exist in this form as a municipality. Most of them have since been incorporated into neighboring cities. Lahn was not incorporated, but dissolved ; Elberfeld and Barmen merged with other communities to form the city of Wuppertal .

The last number of inhabitants before the end of the city, the time at which the 100,000 population limit was exceeded for the first time and the name of the city into which the municipality was incorporated, or the other fate of the city are listed. Before the incorporation, some cities temporarily fell below this limit and thus lost their status as large cities. These are marked separately with ¹⁵ . The population figures are official updates by the city administration based on the respective historical territorial status of the municipality. They relate to December 31 of the specified year. The results of the census of October 8, 1919 are given for the cities incorporated in Berlin.

Surname	Residents	date	Big city for the first time	comment
Altona	248,589	December 31, 1937	1884	April 1, 1938: Incorporation in Hamburg
Barmen	190.929	December 31, 1928	1884	August 1, 1929: Merger with Elberfeld to form Wuppertal
Buer	104,654	December 31, 1927	1925	April 1, 1928: Merger with (de facto: incorporation into ) Gelsenkirchen
Charlottenburg	322,766	October 8, 1919	1893	October 1, 1920: Incorporation in Berlin
Elberfeld	173.235	December 31, 1928	1884	August 1, 1929: Merger with Barmen to Barmen-Elberfeld , since 1930 Wuppertal
Hamborn 15 , 16	129,400	December 31, 1928	1910	August 1, 1929: Incorporation in Duisburg
Harburg-Wilhelmsburg	112.293	December 31, 1937	1927	April 1, 1938: Incorporation in Hamburg
Lahn	153,678	December 31, 1978	1977	August 1, 1979: Dissolution of the newly formed city in Gießen , Wetzlar , Heuchelheim , Lahnau and Wettenberg on January 1, 1977
Lichtenberg	144,643	October 8, 1919	1912	October 1, 1920: Incorporation in Berlin
Rheydt 15	99,963	December 31, 1974	1968	January 1, 1975: Incorporation in Mönchengladbach
Rixdorf (Neukölln) 17	262.127	October 8, 1919	1902	October 1, 1920: Incorporation in Berlin
Schöneberg 18	175.092	October 8, 1919	1905	October 1, 1920: Incorporation in Berlin
Spandau 15	95,474	October 8, 1919	1914	October 1, 1920: Incorporation in Berlin
Wanne-Eickel 15	92,472	December 31, 1974	1955	January 1, 1975: Incorporation in Herne
Wilmersdorf 19	139.406	October 8, 1919	1909	October 1, 1920: Incorporation in Berlin

^15th The number of inhabitants was temporarily below this limit between the first time the limit of 100,000 inhabitants was exceeded and the incorporation.

¹⁶The municipality of Hamborn only received town rights on April 1, 1911, making it the only “large village” in Germany for a year.

^17thThe city of Rixdorf was renamed Neukölln on January 27, 1912 .

^18thThe city of Schöneberg was officially renamed Berlin-Schöneberg in 1912 .

^19thThe city ​​called Wilmersdorf was called Deutsch-Wilmersdorf until 1912 and was then renamed Berlin-Wilmersdorf .

Big cities that used to belong to Germany

From 1871 to 1937

The overview contains large cities that belonged to Germany between 1871 and 1937 according to the respective territorial status - within the borders recognized under international law (see also German Empire within the borders of December 31, 1937 ). The population figures refer to the census of May 17, 1939. The result of the census of December 1, 1910 is given for Danzig, Mulhouse, Poznan and Strasbourg. The first time the 100,000-inhabitant limit was crossed and the administrative unit to which the city belonged are also listed.

Surname	Residents 2016	Residents on ...	date	Big city for the first time	Administrative unit
Bytom	169,617	101.084	May 17, 1939	1933	Prussia , Upper Silesia Province (until 1945), today Poland
Wroclaw	637.683	629,565	May 17, 1939	1842	Prussia, Lower Silesia Province (until 1945), today Poland
Danzig	463.754	170,337	December 1, 1910	1876	Prussia, West Prussia Province (until 1920), today Poland
Gliwice	182.156	117,240	May 17, 1939	1926	Prussia, Upper Silesia Province (until 1945), today Poland
Hindenburg	175,459	126.220	May 17, 1939	1927	Prussia, Upper Silesia Province (until 1945), today Poland
Koenigsberg	459,560	372.164	May 17, 1939	1864	Prussia, East Prussia Province (until 1945), today Russia
Mulhouse	108,999	95,041	December 1, 1910	1914	Alsace-Lorraine (until 1919), now France
Poses	540,372	156.691	December 1, 1910	1899	Prussia, Posen Province (until 1920), today Poland
Szczecin	404.878	271,575	May 17, 1939	1886	Prussia, Pomerania Province (until 1945), today Poland
Strasbourg	279.284	178,891	December 1, 1910	1878	Alsace-Lorraine (until 1919), now France

Added from March 12, 1938 to August 31, 1939

Austria was annexed on March 12, 1938 . The number of large cities grew by the following places listed in the table:

Surname	Residents 2018	Resident May 17, 1939	Administrative unit
Vienna	1,888,776	1,929,976	Reichsgau Vienna
Graz	286.292	207,747	Reichsgau Styria
Linz	204,846	128.195	Reichsgau Upper Danube

In early October 1938, the Sudetenland and other smaller areas of Czechoslovakia were annexed; there were no big cities in it. As a result of the so-called " smashing of the rest of the Czech Republic " in March 1939, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia with the following large cities was created, which was part of the Reich territory according to internal German law at the time :

Surname	Residents 2018	Resident June 30, 1940	Administrative unit
Prague	1,294,513	976.759	Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Brno	379,527	295,400
Moravian-Ostrava	290,450	129.993
Pilsen	170.936	119,832

See also

• List of cities in Germany
• List of large and medium-sized cities in Germany
• List of the largest German cities
• List of the largest districts in Germany
• List of former cities in Germany
• List of the 100 largest municipalities in Germany
• List of German municipalities, sorted according to population density
• List of the largest agglomerations in Germany
• List of the smallest municipalities in Germany by population
• List of the smallest cities in Germany by population
• List of the largest cities in the European Union
• List of the largest metropolitan areas in the world
• List of city lists by country

literature

• Imperial Statistical Office (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook for the German Empire , 1880–1918.
• Statistisches Reichsamt (Ed.): Statistical yearbook for the German Reich , 1919–1941 / 42.
• German Association of Cities (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook of German Communities , 1890 ff.
• Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Official municipality register for the Federal Republic of Germany , 1952 ff.
• Federal Statistical Office (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook for the Federal Republic of Germany , 1952 ff.
• State Central Administration for Statistics (Ed.): Statistical Yearbook of the German Democratic Republic , 1955–1989.
• Statistical Office of the GDR (ed.): Statistical yearbook of the German Democratic Republic . Rudolf Haufe Verlag, Berlin 1990, ISSN  0323-4258 .

Web links

• Statistical offices of the federal and state governments - directory of local authorities
• State statistical offices
• Members . German Association of Cities
• City population - the largest cities and agglomerations in Germany
• Coordinates, distances and research links between major cities in Germany
• DIW study on the development of the 16 largest German cities since 1999 (from around 500,000 inhabitants), April 2010 (PDF; 765 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Population of Potsdam in 2000 based on the current territorial status: 140,668 ( source ).
2. ↑ ^{a b} The permanent population of the German Reich according to the results of the 1939 census, volume 2; Berlin 1941 . The number of the resident population was sometimes several thousand higher.

This version was added to the selection of informative lists and portals on November 11, 2006 .