93 articles
Aachen
Aachen (Aken, Aix-la-Chapelle) is a German border city of about 261,000 near Belgium and the Netherlands, built on hot springs, Charlemagne's residence and coronation site of German kings until 1531, home of RWTH Aachen.
Bad Bertrich
Bad Bertrich, a spa town in the Vulkaneifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, in the Üßbach valley; Roman Bertriacum; 32 °C Glauber's-salt thermal spring, Germany's only; Prussian state spa from 1815.
Bad Nauheim
Bad Nauheim: Hessian spa town in the Wetterau, Germany, on brine springs worked by Celts from the 5th century BC, a Roman fort and Limes signal tower, later the Söderdorf Niwiheim and a 19th-century health resort.
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler is a spa town of about 27,900 people and the county seat of the Ahrweiler district in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, formed in 1969 by merging the towns of Bad Neuenahr and Ahrweiler.
Bendorf
Bendorf, a town in Mayen-Koblenz district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine; recorded as Bodofrica in 643, a Roman Limes fort site, iron industry center (Sayner Hütte, 1769), with the Kulturpark Sayn; distinct from Bendorf in Haut-Rhin, France.
Bergisch Gladbach
Bergisch Gladbach, Kreisstadt of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia near Cologne; about 111,000-114,000 residents, merged with Bensberg in 1975, former papermaking center (Zanders), home to Miltenyi Biotec and Saint-Gobain ISOVER.
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is a German city in North Rhine-Westphalia, founded around 1214 by the Counts of Ravensberg. About 343,500 residents, Sparrenburg castle landmark, Bielefeld University (1969), and first place for objective quality of life in the 2026 Glücksatlas city ranking.
Blankenheim
Blankenheim, a town in the Eifel, North Rhine-Westphalia (Kreis Euskirchen), first recorded as Blancio in 721; seat of the counts of Manderscheid-Blankenheim, with Burg Blankenheim (1115), the Ahr source, and the Römervilla, one of the largest Roman villas in the Rhineland.
Bocholt, Germany
Bocholt is a city of about 71,000 in the western Münsterland, district of Borken, North Rhine-Westphalia, near the Dutch border. Chartered 1222, a former textile town, retail hub, cycling city, and site of a costly town hall renovation.
Bochum
Bochum, city in the central Ruhr, Germany (~375,000 residents); former coal and steel giant (74 collieries by 1929), now a university and technology hub with Ruhr University, the world's largest mining museum, and the MARK 51°7 quarter on the former Opel site.
Bonn
Bonn is a city of about 324,000 on the Rhine in western Germany, the birthplace of Beethoven and the capital of West Germany from 1949 until reunification in 1990.
Bottrop
Bottrop, a county-free city of about 117,000 in Germany's Ruhr area, grew around coal mining from 1856, closed its last mine in 2018, and is known for the Tetraeder landmark, InnovationCity climate program, Movie Park Germany, and the Alpincenter indoor ski slope.
Cologne
Cologne (Köln), Germany's fourth-largest city with about 1.1 million residents, a Rhine metropolis founded as a Roman colony, home of the Cologne Cathedral, Kölsch beer and dialect, Carnival, and a media, trade-fair and insurance economy rivaled in NRW only by Düsseldorf.
Darmstadt
Darmstadt, a city in southern Hesse, Germany, in the Rhine-Main region; official City of Science since 1997. Known for TU Darmstadt, ESA/ESOC, EUMETSAT, the UNESCO Mathildenhöhe Artists' Colony, and the element darmstadtium.
Dortmund
Dortmund, a kreisfreie city in North Rhine-Westphalia's Ruhr region, had 612,165 residents in 2025 and ranks ninth among German cities. A former coal, steel, and beer center, it is now a technology hub, home of Borussia Dortmund and Germany's largest stadium.
Duisburg
Duisburg, German city in North Rhine-Westphalia at the Rhine-Ruhr confluence; Europe's leading steel location and home of Duisport, the world's largest inland port; about 506,500 residents, first mentioned in 883.
Duisburg-Rheinhausen
Duisburg-Rheinhausen, a left-bank borough of Duisburg, Germany; former Krupp steelworks town (town rights 1934, closed 1993 after the 1987 workers' protest), now the Logport logistics site, with the Roman fortlet Werthausen on the UNESCO Lower German Limes.
Düren (city)
Düren is a Kreisstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the Rur; about 94,500 residents, first recorded 747, paper industry since 1576, center destroyed in the 1944 air raid and rebuilt.
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf (Dusseldorp), city on the Rhine and state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia since 1946; chartered 1288, sixth largest German city, 659,312 residents in 2025, major trade-fair, fashion, and Japanese business hub.
Essen
Essen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the Ruhr area, with about 590,000 residents, nine boroughs, and the UNESCO Zollverein coal mine complex; fourth largest city in NRW.
Euskirchen-Kreuzweingarten
Euskirchen-Kreuzweingarten, formerly Weingarten (Wingarden, 893), a district of Euskirchen, Germany, renamed 1926/27 for its Holy Cross veneration; known for the Alter Burgberg Iron Age ringwall, the Roman Eifel aqueduct section, a Roman villa, and the Heilig Kreuz parish church.
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main, German city on the Main river in Hesse; first recorded as Franconofurd in 794, a free imperial city until 1866, now Germany's financial center with the ECB, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Messe Frankfurt, and 781,337 residents (end 2025).
Fulda
Fulda, a baroque town in eastern Hesse, Germany, on the river Fulda; founded around a Benedictine monastery (744) and town charter (774). About 71,000 residents, Fulda Cathedral with St Boniface's tomb, St Michael's Church, and Hochschule Fulda distinguish it.
Gelnhausen
Gelnhausen (Barbarossastadt) is a Hessian town founded in 1170 by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa; site of the 1180 Gelnhausen Document against Henry the Lion, the Kaiserpfalz, and Grimmelshausen's birthplace.
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen, a Ruhr city in North Rhine-Westphalia with about 265,000 residents, chartered in 1875, once called the City of a Thousand Fires for its coal and steel industry, now focused on urban renewal.
Gernsheim
Gernsheim (Schöfferstadt), town in Kreis Groß-Gerau, Hesse, Germany, on the Rhine; first recorded 852, town rights 1356, birthplace of Peter Schöffer, and site of a Roman cohort fort (70/80–110/120 AD) and vicus.
Gießen
Gießen, university city in central Hesse on the Lahn, about 92,000 residents, youngest city in Hesse (average age 38), Germany's top student city with roughly 37,000 students; university founded 1607, Justus Liebig professor there 1824–1852.
Göllheim
Göllheim is a North Palatinate village in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, first recorded as Gylnheim in 819; site of the 1298 Battle of Hasenbühl where King Adolf of Nassau fell, marked by the Königskreuz.
Gütersloh
Gütersloh, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and Kreisstadt since 1973; first recorded 1184, town since 1825, home of Bertelsmann and Miele, over 100,000 inhabitants since 2016.
Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Hagen (Stadt der FernUniversität) is an independent city of about 190,000 in Arnsberg district, North Rhine-Westphalia, at the southern edge of the Ruhr; a former steel city with the FernUniversität, 42% green space, and the Hagen-Pakt housing program.