Cities in western Germany

Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia

Hamm (Westfalen) is a district-free city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, founded 1226 by Count Adolf von der Mark; about 179,000 inhabitants, railway and wire-industry hub of the northeastern Ruhr with collieries de Wendel, Maximilian, Radbod, and Sachsen.

Hanau

Hanau, a city in Hesse, Germany, in the FrankfurtRheinMain region and birthplace of the Brothers Grimm; a kreisfreie Stadt since 1 January 2026 after leaving the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, with about 98,000-107,000 residents.

Heftrich

Heftrich is a village in the eastern Hintertaunus in Germany, first recorded in 1234 and granted town rights by Emperor Charles IV in 1367; its population was 1,578 in 2021.

Heppenheim

Heppenheim, a Hessian district town on the Bergstrasse with about 28,000 residents, first mentioned in 755, known for Starkenburg castle (1065), St. Peter's "Dom der Bergstraße", and wine-growing.

Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia

Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia: kreisfreie Stadt in the central Ruhr area, 156,266 inhabitants on 51.42 km², fourth-densest German city; former coal town (Shamrock, Mont-Cenis), chartered 1897, now logistics and health economy.

Hofheim

Hofheim am Taunus, Hesse, Germany: district town 18 km from Frankfurt, with Palaeolithic finds, the Michelsberg Kapellenberg hilltop settlement, Roman Erdlager and Steinkastell forts, first mentioned 1254, town charter 1352.

Hürth

Hürth, Germany: town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, near Cologne; formed 1930 from six municipalities, town rights 1978; about 61,700 residents; former lignite mining and briquette industry, now a Cologne commuter and TV production center.

Igel

Igel is a Moselle village in Rhineland-Palatinate near Trier, first documented 929 as Villa Agullia, home of the 23-meter Roman Igeler Säule tomb of the Secundinii cloth merchants, UNESCO-listed since 1986, and the Grutenhäuschen burial temple.

Imsbach

Imsbach, a village of about 1,000 people on the southern slope of the Donnersberg in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; former mining village (Bergmannsdorf) with iron mining from Roman times, copper, silver, and cobalt from the 15th century, mining ended in the 1920s, now a mining heritage site with visitor mines Weiße Grube and Grube Maria.

Iserlohn

Iserlohn is a town of about 91,300 people in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; granted town rights around 1250 by the Counts of the Mark, historically a metalworking center, also called Waldstadt (forest city).

Jülich

Jülich, town in Kreis Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the Rur; about 35,000 residents, 90.39 km². Roman Juliacum, Pasqualini's Renaissance citadel, and Forschungszentrum Jülich research center.

Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern, a city of about 100,000 in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, named after the Lauter river; imperial palace under Barbarossa, Speyer town rights 1276, former Palatinate industrial center, university city since 1970.

Kall

Kall, Eifel municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, known for a Roman Buntsandstein quarry (2nd/3rd century AD), over 2,000 medieval iron-ore pits (Pingen), the Roman Eifel water pipeline, and the Frankish Kall-Sistig cemetery.

Karben

Karben, a town in the Wetteraukreis, Hesse, Germany, formed 1970-1972 from seven villages; name Carben first documented in an 827 Lorsch donation charter; Roman fort at Okarben.

Kassel

Kassel is a district-free city in northern Hesse, Germany, first recorded as Chassalla in 913. Known as the documenta city and Brothers Grimm city, it has about 197,000 residents and ranked Germany's happiest large city in 2025.

Koblenz

Koblenz is a kreisfreie city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, at the Rhine-Moselle confluence (Deutsches Eck). About 113,000 residents; Roman origin as Confluentes; service and administration hub with UNESCO Upper Middle Rhine Valley tourism.

Köln-Marienburg

Köln-Marienburg, a Cologne district in borough Rodenkirchen, hosts the Roman Alteburg, main base of the classis Germanica fleet (7.36 ha, UNESCO Lower Germanic Limes), plus a villa colony and Prussian Zwischenwerk VIIIb fortress museum.

Korschenbroich-Liedberg

Korschenbroich-Liedberg, a district of Korschenbroich in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, Germany, sits on the Liedberg, a ~30 m quartzite hill with a nature reserve, Schloss Liedberg, and a historic half-timbered village core, first recorded in 1166.

Kottenheim

Kottenheim, an Ortsgemeinde in the Verbandsgemeinde Vordereifel, Mayen-Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; first mentioned 1008; basalt quarrying from the Bellerberg volcano since the Neolithic; Mühlsteinrevier UNESCO bid rejected 2023.

Kruft

Kruft is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the Laacher See, with two millennia of volcanic tuff mining, first recorded in 1093.

Landau

Landau in der Pfalz, a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, with about 48,000 residents; founded 1274, French fortress until 1816, university city since 1990, and Germany's largest wine-growing municipality.

Leverkusen

Leverkusen: district-free city in North Rhine-Westphalia between Cologne and Düsseldorf; founded 1930, enlarged 1975; named after Carl Leverkus; Bayer chemical city of about 168,300 inhabitants.

Limburg an der Lahn

Limburg an der Lahn: Hessian district town on the Lahn, first mentioned 910, cathedral consecrated 1235, about 38,200 inhabitants, medieval trade town and ICE-served retail center.

Lippstadt

Lippstadt, a town of about 72,400 in the Soest district, North Rhine-Westphalia, on the Lippe river; founded 1185 by Bernhard II zur Lippe as Westphalia's first planned town, chartered around 1220, Hanseatic 1280–1669, joint-ruled 1445–1851, home of FORVIA HELLA.

Ludwigshafen

Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine opposite Mannheim, home to BASF's headquarters and the largest integrated chemical complex of a single company; 177,355 residents, city rights 1859.

Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia

Lünen is a city of about 87,000 in the Unna district, North Rhine-Westphalia, on the Lippe at the Ruhr area's northern edge. A Hanseatic town chartered in 1341, it was a coal-mining city from 1873 to 1992 and is now a recycling and technology center.

Lützelbach

Lützelbach is a municipality in the Odenwaldkreis district of Hesse, Germany, comprising five villages along the Roman Odenwald Limes, with 7,109 residents as of 2024.

Mainz

Mainz (Magenza), capital of Rhineland-Palatinate on the Rhine with about 224,000 residents; Roman Mogontiacum, ShUM Jewish heritage, Gutenberg's printing city, GDP 24.6 billion euros.

Marburg

Marburg (an der Lahn) is a university town in Middle Hesse, Germany, seat of the Philipps-Universität (founded 1527, oldest surviving Protestant university), burial place of Saint Elisabeth, with about 77,000 residents.