Tourism in Germany

thumb|400px|Physical map of Germany

Tourism in Germany is a significant sector of the national economy. As of 2023, Germany is the world's third-largest travel and tourism market, with the sector contributing approximately $487.6 billion to the country's GDP. It is the eight-most-visited country in the world, with a total of 407.26 million overnight stays in 2012. This number includes 68.83 million nights by foreign visitors. In 2012, over 30.4 million international tourists arrived in Germany, bringing over US$38 billion in international tourism receipts to the country.

Germany’s main tourist destinations include its major cities as well as rural and scenic areas such as the Bavarian Alps, the Black Forest, the Rhine Valley, and the Baltic and North Sea coastlines. The country contains numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites and national parks as well as a large number of museums, historic monuments, castles, and churches that draw culturally motivated visitors.

Germany is also known internationally for several recurring events and traditions that attract tourists, including the Munich Oktoberfest and the Christmas markets held in many towns and cities during the Advent season. Business and conference tourism is an additional component of the sector, with Germany hosting a number of major international trade fairs throughout the year.

Tourism infrastructure in Germany includes an extensive rail network, motorway system, and several major international airports. The sector is supported at the national level by the German National Tourist Board, which promotes Germany as a travel destination in international markets. The ITB Berlin is the world's leading tourism trade fair.

According to Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Reports, Germany is ranked 3 out of 136 countries in the 2017 report, and is rated as one of the safest travel destinations worldwide. According to surveys, the top three reasons for tourists to come to Germany are the German culture, outdoor activities, German holidays and festivities, the countryside and rural areas, and the German cities.

History

The history of tourism in Germany goes back to cities and landscapes being visited for education and recreation. From the late 18th century onwards, cities like Dresden, Munich, Weimar and Berlin were major stops on a European Grand Tour.

Spas and Seaside resorts on the North and Baltic Sea (e.g. Rugia and Usedom islands, Heiligendamm, the islands Norderney and Sylt) particularly developed during the 19th and early 20th century, when major train routes were built to connect the seaside spas to urban centers. An extensive bathing and recreation industry materialized in Germany around 1900. At rivers and close to natural landscapes (along the Middle Rhine valley and in Saxon Switzerland for example) many health spas, hotels and recreational facilities were established since the 19th century.

Since the end of World War II tourism has expanded greatly, as many tourists visit Germany to experience a sense of European history and the diverse German landscape. The country features 14 national parks, including the Jasmund National Park, the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park, the Müritz National Park, the Wadden Sea National Parks, the Harz National Park, the Hainich National Park, the Saxon Switzerland National Park, the Bavarian Forest National Park and the Berchtesgaden National Park. In addition, there are 14 Biosphere Reserves, as well as 98 nature parks.

The countryside has a pastoral aura, while the bigger cities exhibit both a modern and classical feel. Small and medium-sized cities often preserved their historical appearance and have old towns with remarkable architectural heritage – these are called Altstadt in German.

Statistics

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thumb|[[Bavaria is the German state with the most visitors.]]

thumb|[[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with its beaches at the Baltic Sea has the highest density of tourists. It is favourably located between Germany's major cities Berlin and Hamburg.]]

thumb|The [[Harz with its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia and has a long history of mining and being a seat of German political power, represented in the Unesco world heritage sites of Goslar and Quedlinburg.]]

thumb|The [[Black Forest is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland.]]

The table below shows the distribution of national and international visitor nights spent in each of the sixteen states of Germany in 2017.

Germany overall had 459 million visitor nights in 2017, of which 83 million were of foreign guests. With 94.3 million nights spent in hotels, hostels or clinics, Bavaria has the most visitors. With 18.4 nights per inhabitant, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the highest density of tourists per population (German average: 5.5 nights per inhabitant).

|valign=top|

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! valign=bottom; | State

! valign=bottom; | Nr. of nights in 2017 in million

! valign=bottom; | of whom foreign visitors in million

! valign=bottom; | nights per inhabitant

|style="text-align:left;"| Germany

| 459

| 83

| 5.5

|style="text-align:left;"| Baden-Württemberg

| 52.9

| 11.3

| 4.8

|style="text-align:left;"| Bavaria

| 94.3

| 19.1

| 7.2

|style="text-align:left;"| Berlin

| 31.1

| 13.9

| 8.7

|style="text-align:left;"| Brandenburg

| 13.0

| 0.96

| 5.2

|style="text-align:left;"| Bremen

| 2.4

| 0.49

| 3.6

|style="text-align:left;"| Hamburg

| 13.8

| 3.4

| 7.6

|style="text-align:left;"| Hesse

| 34.1

| 7.6

| 5.4

|style="text-align:left;"| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

| 29.7

| 1.0

| 18.4

|style="text-align:left;"| Lower Saxony

| 43.4

| 3.7

| 5.4

|style="text-align:left;"| North Rhine-Westphalia

| 51.5

| 11.0

| 2.8

|style="text-align:left;"| Rhineland-Palatinate

| 22.2

| 5.2

| 5.4

|style="text-align:left;"| Saarland

| 3.0

| 0.46

| 3.0

|style="text-align:left;"| Saxony

| 19.5

| 2.0

| 4.7

|style="text-align:left;"| Saxony-Anhalt

| 8.1

| 0.63

| 3.6

|style="text-align:left;"| Schleswig-Holstein

| 29.8

| 2.0

| 10.3

|style="text-align:left;"| Thuringia

| 9.9

| 0.62

| 4.6

Most visitors arriving to Germany on short-term basis are from the following countries of nationality:[https://www-genesis.destatis.de/datenbank/online/table/45412-0008/table-toolbar]

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="color:white;"

! style="width:5px; background:#00966E;"|Rank

! style="width:170px; background:#00966E;"| Country

! style="width:50px; background:#00966E;"| 2024

|1|| || 5,261,187

|2|| || 3,326,404

|3|| || 3,226,355

|4|| || 2,376,674

|5|| || 2,140,298

|6|| || 1,855,356

|7|| || 1,581,377

|8|| || 1,530,693

|9|| || 1,476,207

|10|| || 1,469,679

!colspan=1|

Surveys

The official body for tourism in Germany is the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), represented worldwide by National Tourist Offices in 29 countries. Surveys by the GNTB include perceptions and reasons for holidaying in Germany, which are as follows: culture (75%), outdoors/countryside (59%), cities (59%), cleanliness (47%), security (41%), modernity (36%), good hotels (35%), good gastronomy/cuisine (34%), good accessibility (30%), cosmopolitanism/hospitality (27%), good shopping opportunities (21%), exciting nightlife (17%) and good price/performance ratio (10%) (multiple answers were possible).

Countryside

Health

thumb|right|[[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with its beaches at the Baltic Sea has many seside resorts, like the pictured Grand Hotel Heiligendamm, built between 1793 and 1870]]

About 242 million nights, or two-thirds of all nights spent in hotels in Germany, are spent in spa towns. Germany is well known for health tourism, with many of the numerous spa towns having been established at a hot spring, offering convalescence (German: Kur) or preventive care by means of mineral water and/or other spa treatment. Spa towns and seaside resorts carry official designations such as Mineral and mud spas (Mineral- und Moorbäder), Healthy climate resorts (Heilklimatische Kurorte), Kneipp cure resorts (Kneippkurorte = water therapy resorts), Seaside resorts (Seebäder), Climatic resorts (Luftkurorte), and Recreation resorts (Erholungsorte). The largest and most well known resorts also have casinos, most notably at Bad Wiessee, Baden-Baden (Kurhaus), Wiesbaden (Kurhaus), Aachen, Travemünde and Westerland (Kurhaus).

Regions

thumb|upright|[[Dune on the North Frisian island of Sylt]]

thumb|upright|[[Jasmund National Park|Stubbenkammer on the Baltic island of Rügen]]

The most visited tourist regions in Germany are the East Frisian and North Frisian Islands, the Baltic Sea coasts of Holstein, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern, the Rhine Valley, the Bavarian and Black Forest, and the Bavarian Alps.

The table below shows the five most visited rural districts in 2008:

{| class="wikitable"

! valign=bottom; style="text-align:left" | rank

! valign=bottom | district

! valign=bottom | # of nights in 2008

| 1

| Nordfriesland

| 6.96 million

| 2

| Rügen

| 5.57 million

| 3

| Oberallgäu

| 5.29 million

| 4

| Ostholstein

| 5.27 million

| 5

| Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald

| 4.41 million

Other popular regions include

in the north: Usedom, Holstein Switzerland, the Lüneburg Heath, Harz and Mecklenburg Lake District
in the west: Teutoburg Forest, Sauerland, Eifel and the Moselle Valley
in the east: Saxon Switzerland, Thuringian Forest, Ore Mountains and the Elbe Valley
in the south: Taunus, Spessart, Rhön, Odenwald and Allgäu.

Theme routes

thumb|120px|right|A cuckoo clock, symbol of the Black Forest

Since the 1930s, local and regional governments have set up various theme routes, to help visitors get to know a specific region and its cultural or scenic qualities. The table below shows some of the most prominent theme routes. Other popular German theme routes include parts of the European Route of Brick Gothic and European Route of Industrial Heritage, the Harz-Heide Road, Bertha Benz Memorial Route and Bergstrasse.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ List of theme routes (incomplete)

! Route

! Established

! Theme

! Length

| German Wine Road (Deutsche Weinstraße)

| style="text-align:right" | 1935

| Palatinate wine route

| style="text-align:right" | 85 km

| German Avenue Road (Deutsche Alleenstraße)

| style="text-align:right" | 1993

| Tree-sided avenues and lush countrysides

| style="text-align:right" | 2900 km

| Romantic Road (Romantische Straße)

| style="text-align:right" | 1950

| Romanticism

| style="text-align:right" | 366 km

| Black Forest High Road (Schwarzwaldhochstraße)

| style="text-align:right" | 1952

| Black Forest

| style="text-align:right" | 60 km

| Castle Road (Burgenstraße)

| style="text-align:right" | 1954

| Castles in Germany

| style="text-align:right" | 1,000 km

| Road of Weser Renaissance (Straße der Weserrenaissance)

| style="text-align:right" |

| Weser Renaissance

| style="text-align:right" | 350 km

| Romanesque Road (Straße der Romanik)

| style="text-align:right" | 1993

| Romanesque architecture

| style="text-align:right" | 1,195 km

| German Ferries Route

| style="text-align:right" | 2004

| Fords, ferries, bridges and tunnels

| style="text-align:right" | 250 km

| German Timber-Frame Road

| style="text-align:right" | 1990

| Timber framing (Fachwerk)

| style="text-align:right" | 3,000 km

| German Clock Road (Deutsche Uhrenstrasse)

| style="text-align:right" |

| Cuckoo clock Manufacturers, clock-face paintings workshops, museums, Black Forest and Baar villages, landscapes

| style="text-align:right" | 320 km

| Industrial Heritage Trail (Route der Industriekultur)

| style="text-align:right" |

| Industrial heritage of the Ruhr area

| style="text-align:right" | 400 km

| German Fairy Tale Route (Deutsche Märchenstraße)

| style="text-align:right" |

| Fairy tales and legends of the Brothers Grimm

| style="text-align:right" | 600 km

Winter sport

thumb|upright|View of [[Bolsterlang, Oberallgäu]]

The main winter sport regions in Germany are the Bavarian Alps and Northern Limestone Alps, as well as the Ore Mountains, Harz Mountains, Fichtel Mountains and Bavarian Forest within the Central Uplands. First class winter sport infrastructure is available for alpine skiing and snowboarding, bobsledding and cross-country skiing.

In most regions, winter sports are limited to the winter months November to February. During the Advent season, many German towns and cities host Christmas markets.

Cities

In terms of numbers of overnight stays, travel to the twelve largest cities in Germany more than doubled between 1995 and 2005, the largest increase of any travel destination. This increase mainly arises from growth of cultural tourism, often in conjunction with educational or business travel. Consequently, the provision and supply of more and higher standards of cultural, entertainment, hospitality, gastronomic, and retail services also attract more international guests.

The table below shows the ten most visited cities in Germany in 2012. Other cities and towns with over 1 million nights per year are Rostock, Hannover, Bremen, Cuxhaven, Bonn, Freiburg, Münster, Lübeck, Wiesbaden, Essen and Regensburg.

Berlin

thumb|[[Spree (river)|Spree river, Museum Island, Berlin TV Tower and Berlin Palace in the centre of Berlin, Mitte]]

Berlin has a yearly total of about 135 million day visitors, which puts it in third place among the most-visited city destinations in the European Union. Berlin had 781 hotels with over 125,000 beds in June 2012. The city recorded 20.8 million overnight hotel stays and 9.1 million hotel guests in 2010. In the first half of 2012, there was an increase of over 10% compared to the same period the year before. The tourism sector employs more than 175,000 people full-time and brings in revenue of €9.3 billion, making the tourism industry a major economic force in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Hamburg has one of the fastest-growing tourism industries in Germany. From 2001 to 2007, the overnight stays in the city increased by 55.2% (Berlin +52.7%, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania +33%).

A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis (called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt) and the harbour promenade (Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing buses connect these points of interest. As Hamburg is one of the world's largest harbours many visitors take one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Major destinations also include museums.

The area of Reeperbahn in the quarter St. Pauli is Europe's largest red light district and home of strip clubs, brothels, bars and nightclubs. The Beatles had stints on the Reeperbahn early in their careers. Others prefer the laid-back neighbourhood Schanze with its street cafés, or a barbecue on one of the beaches along the river Elbe. Hamburg's famous zoo, the Tierpark Hagenbeck, was founded in 1907 by Carl Hagenbeck as the first zoo with moated, barless enclosures.

Gallery

File:Berlin Brandenburger Tor Abend.jpg|The Brandenburg Gate at night. Berlin is Germany's largest and most visited city.

File:AlsterPanorama.jpg|View over Hamburg Binnenalster

File:Heidelberg_corr.jpg|Heidelberg with its famous Castle ruins

File:Semperoper at night.jpg|The Semperoper in Dresden is the most famous building of an opera house in Germany.

File:Nuremberg panorama morning 3.jpg|View over Nuremberg's Old Town from the Nuremberg Castle

File:13-04-20-bremen-by-RalfR-026.jpg|Bremen Market Square in Bremen

File:Neues Rathaus bei Nacht.jpg|New Town Hall in Hannover

File:GraphyArchy - Wikipedia 00589.jpg|Kö-Bogen in Düsseldorf

File:Erfurt, Dom und Severikirche.jpg|Erfurt Cathedral and St Severus' Church in Erfurt

File:Neues Schloss Schlossplatzspringbrunnen Schlossplatz Stuttgart 2015 01.jpg|Castle Square with New Palace in Stuttgart

File:Hildesheim Knochenhauer-HD.jpg|The Butchers' Guild Hall in Hildesheim is one of the most famous half-timbered houses in Germany.

File:Altes Rathaus, Nikolaikirche, von Norden Leipzig 20180814 001.jpg|View over Leipzig old town, Germany's Boomtown

File:Quedlinburg asv2018-10 img04 pano from Muenzenberg.jpg|View over Quedlinburg

File:Rothenburg BW 4.JPG|The small town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a destination for tourists from around the world.

File:Regensburg 08 2006 2.jpg|The Stone Bridge and Cathedral St. Peter of Regensburg (UNESCO world heritage)

File:Kongresshalle Nbg Juli 2021 1.jpg|The Kongresshalle (Congress Hall) on the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg

File:Www.gerhard-blank.de_münchen_ansicht_von_oben.jpg|View over Munich's Old Town

File:TrierKonstantinbasilikaNachtsH3dFB.jpg|The Aula Palatina of Trier, a basilica constructed during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine I (r. 306–337 AD)

File:Pfalzkapelle vom Katschhof 2014.jpg|The Palatine Chapel, Aachen, built during the reign of the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne (r. 800-814 AD)

File:Holstentor in Lübeck Frontseite - Zuschnitt.jpg|The Holsten Gate in Lübeck, a landmark of the Hanseatic League in Germany

</gallery>

Events

The table below shows some of the largest annually recurring events in Germany:

{| class="wikitable style="font-size:90%"

! valign="bottom;" | Type

! valign=bottom | Event

! valign=bottom | Location

! valign=bottom | Season

! valign=bottom | # of visitors

! valign=bottom | Notes

| Volksfest

| Oktoberfest

| Munich

| September/October

| 6.0 million

| Volksfest

| Cannstatter Volksfest

| Stuttgart

| September/October

| 4.2 million

| locally called "Cannstatter Wasen"

| Fair

| Largest Fair on the Rhine

| Düsseldorf

| July/August

| 4.0 million

|Sailing regatta

| Kiel Week

| Kiel

| last week of June (ending the last Sunday in June)

| 3.5 million

| Largest sailing event of the world, one of the largest "Volksfeste" in Germany

| Volksfest

| Nuremberg

| April

| 2.3 million

| locally called "Frühlingsfest"

| Volksfest

| Nuremberg

| August/September

| 2.0 million

| locally called "Herbstfest"

| Volksfest

| Libori

| Paderborn

| End of July

| 1.7 million

| 9 days, one of the biggest and oldest city center fests

|Techno music festival

| Love Parade

| varies

| June/July

| 1.6 million

| canceled following the Love Parade disaster in 2010

| Carnival parade

| Cologne Carnival

| Cologne

| February

| 1.5 million

| number of visitors for Rosenmontagszug

| Gay pride

| Cologne Pride

| Cologne

| June/July

| 1.2 million

| Maritime festival

| Hanse Sail

| Rostock

| 2nd weekend of August

| 1.1 million

| one of Europe's biggest events for sailors

|Rock music festival

| Bochum Total

| Bochum

| June/July/August

| 1.0 million

| Anniversary

| Port of Hamburg birthday

| Hamburg

| 7 May

| 1.0 million

| Fireworks show

| Cologne

| July

| 1.0 million

|contemporary art exhibition

| documenta Kassel

| Kassel

| 0.9 million

| only held once every 5 years

|Rock music festival

| Rock am Ring and Rock im Park

| Nürburgring & Nuremberg

| May/June

| 0.8 million

| Wine festival

| Wurstmarkt

| Bad Dürkheim

| 2nd—3rd weekend in September

| 0.6 million

| Film festival

| Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival)

| Berlin

| February

| 0.5 million

| Film festival

|Rhine river fireworks

| Rhein in Flammen

| Bonn

| May

| 0.5 million

|Classical music

| Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival

| throughout Schleswig-Holstein

| July/August

| 0.2 million

|World Marathon Major

| Berlin Marathon

| Berlin

| September

| nowrap|contemporary art exhibition

| Düsseldorf

| September/January

| only held once every 4 years

Note: This list only includes the largest, annually recurring events in selected categories. This list may be incomplete.

Trade fairs

thumb|upright|Visitors at [[Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung|IAA 2007]]

thumb|upright|The [[Leipzig Book Fair in 2012]]

Germany is home to several of the world's largest trade fairgrounds, and many of the international exhibitions are considered trend-setters or industry leaders. Thousands of national and international trade fairs, conventions and congresses are held in Germany annually. In 2008, 10.3 million people visited the 150 largest trade fairs alone. More than half of these visitors come from abroad, more than one third from countries outside Europe. The table below shows some of the most visited trade fairs.

{| class="wikitable style="font-size:90%"

! valign=bottom | Trade fair ground

! valign=bottom | City

! valign=bottom | Trade fair

! valign=bottom | Industry

! valign=bottom | # of visitors

! valign=bottom | Notes

| Messe Frankfurt

| nowrap|Frankfurt, Main

| Internationale Automobilausstellung (IAA)

| motor show

| nowrap|850,000 in 2009

| held in Hanover every other year as a truck show

| Frankfurt, Main

| Frankfurt Book Fair

| books

| 300,000 in 2008

| ISH

| heating, ventilation and air conditioning

| 201,000 in 2009

| biennial

| Messegelände

| Hanover

| CeBIT

| computer expo

| 334,000

| 87,000 foreign visitors

| Hanover

| Hannover Messe

| industrial technology

| 250,000 in 2011

| world's biggest industrial fair

| Messe München

| Munich

| BAUMA

| construction machinery

| 530,000 in 2013

| triennial

| Munich

| BAU

| architecture, materials, systems engineering

| 212,000 in 2009

| biennial

| Messe Nürnberg

| Nuremberg

| Consumenta

| consumer goods

| 214,209 in 2003

| biennial

| Nuremberg

| Holz-Handwerk

| machine technology, equipment and supplies for woodworking

| 193,169 in 2001

| biennial

| Messe Berlin

| Berlin

| International Green Week (IGW)

| sustainable agriculture

| 425,000

| 9,000 foreign visitors

| Berlin

| Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA)

| consumer electronics

| 240,000 in 2012

| Messe Düsseldorf

| Düsseldorf

| Drupa

| print media

| 390,000

| 230,000 foreign visitors, quadrennial

| Düsseldorf

| Boot Düsseldorf

| boats

| 267.000

| 43,000 foreign visitors

| Düsseldorf

| Kunststoffmesse (K)

| plastics

| 242,000 in 2007

| triennial

| Koelnmesse

| Cologne

| Gamescom

| video games

| 345,000 in 2015

| organised by Leipzig Trade Fair until 2008 as Games Convention

Note: This list only includes trade fairs with 250,000 visitors per year or more. This list may be incomplete.

Most visited

Protected areas

The table below shows the most visited protected areas in Germany.

File:Bayerischer_wald_intakt.jpg|Bavarian Forest National Park

File:Pilsumer Watt from the Leyhörn 2.jpg|Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park

File:Herbst in den Berchtesgadener Alpen.jpg|Berchtesgaden National Park

File:Wattenmeer-Nordfriesland.jpg|Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park

File:Die Alpen, gesehen vom Lusen.JPG|View from Mt. Lusen in the Bavarian Forest over the Alpine Foreland

File:Zollernalb MichaD.jpg|Swabian Jura

File:Aus dem Zeppelin fotografiert, Insel Mainau, Bodensee. 10.jpg|Mainau

File:Kölpinsee bei Jabel.jpg|The Kölpinsee, Jabelscher See and Fleesensee in the Mecklenburg Lake Plateau

File:Bremm und Calmont 0016.jpg|View over the Moselle and past the village of Dorf Bremm to the Calmont in the Eifel

File:Wilseder Berg 005.jpg|Wilseder Berg in the Lüneburg Heath

File:Lilienstein Saxon Switzerland.jpg|Lilienstein at Saxon Switzerland

File:Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft, Darß--Grenze zur Kernzone, Blick Richtung Pramort (1).jpg|The Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park

</gallery>

{| class="wikitable style="font-size:90%"

! valign=bottom | Rank

! valign=bottom | Protected area

! valign=bottom | Location

! valign=bottom | Type

! valign=bottom | # of visitors in 2002

! valign=bottom | # of visitors in 2008

| 1

| nowrap|Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park

| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

| nowrap|National park

| style="text-align:center"|2.50 million

| style="text-align:center"|3.00 million

| 2

| Saxon Switzerland National Park

| Saxony

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|2.15 million

| style="text-align:center"|2.90 million

| 3

| Bavarian Forest National Park

| Bavaria

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|2.00 million

| 4

| Jasmund National Park

| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|2.00 million

| 5

| Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park 1

| Lower Saxony

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|2.00 million

| 6

| Berchtesgaden National Park

| Bavaria

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|1.50 million

| 7

| Harz National Park

| nowrap|Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|1.50 million

| 8

| nowrap|Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park1

| Schleswig-Holstein

| National park

| style="text-align:center"|1.50 million

| 9

| Mainau Island

| Baden-Württemberg

| nowrap|garden island

| style="text-align:center"|1.30 million

Landmarks

File:Cologne Cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge b.jpg|The Cathedral of Cologne is Germany's most visited landmark.

File:Berlin reichstag west panorama 2.jpg|Reichstag building in Berlin

File:Schloss Neuschwanstein 2013.jpg|Neuschwanstein Castle was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

File:Dresden-Zwinger.courtyard.04.JPG|The Zwinger in Dresden

</gallery>

The German Tourism Association (Deutscher Tourismusverband) irregularly publishes statistics on the most visited landmarks. With an average of over 6 million visitors entering Cologne Cathedral per year, the cathedral is Germany's most visited landmark. Second and third places go to the Reichstag building in Berlin and the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. Other much visited architectural landmarks include the Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim (3.0m), the medieval old towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber (2.5m), Regensburg (2.0m), Frauenkirche in Dresden (2.5m), Bad Münstereifel (2m), the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and the Holsten Gate in Lübeck 1.

{| class="wikitable style="font-size:90%"

! valign=bottom | Rank

! valign=bottom | Landmark

! valign=bottom | Location

! valign=bottom | Subject

! valign=bottom | # of visitors

| 1

| Cologne Cathedral 1

| Cologne

| Gothic Cathedral

| 6.0 million (2004)

| 2

| Reichstag building

| Berlin

| Bundestag

| 2.70 million (2006)

| 3

| Hofbräuhaus

| Munich

| Brewery

| 1.80 million

| 4

| Heidelberg Castle

| Heidelberg

| Renaissance architecture

| 5

| Neuschwanstein Castle

| Schwangau

| Bavarian King Ludwig II's castle

| 1.5 million (2018)

| 6

| nowrap|Zwinger and Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister

| Dresden

| Dresden State Art Collections

| 7

| Fernsehturm

| Berlin

| TV and observation tower

| 8

| Aachen Cathedral 1

| Aachen

| Holy Roman Imperial Cathedral

| 1.5 million

Theme parks

The table below shows some of the most visited theme parks or related facilities in Germany.

thumb|upright|[[Atlantica SuperSplash in Europa-Park]]

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! valign=bottom | Name

! valign=bottom | Location

! valign=bottom | Type

! valign=bottom | # of visitors in 2002

| Berlin Zoological Garden

| Berlin

| Zoo

|3.0 million

| VW Autostadt

| Wolfsburg

| Automobile park

| 2.1 million

| Nürburgring

| Nürburg

| Formula One park

| 2.0 million

| Therme Erding

| Erding

| Water park

| 1.5 million

| Movie Park Germany

| Bottrop

| Amusement park

| 1.3 million

| Legoland Deutschland

| Günzburg

| Miniature park

| 1.3 million

| Leipzig Zoological Garden "Zoo of the future"

| Leipzig

| Zoo

| 1.2 million

| 2.1 million

| Phantasialand

| Brühl

| Amusement park

| 1.75 million

| Heide Park Resort

| Soltau

| Amusement park

| 1.6 million

| Deutsches Museum

| Munich

| Museum

| 1.4 million

| Hamburg Planetarium

| Hamburg

| Planetarium

| 0.4 million

Note: This list only includes the largest theme parks/facilities in selected categories. This list may be incomplete.

References

Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland (Federal Statistical Office)
DZT / World Travel Monitor
World Tourism Organization

https://www.deutschertourismusverband.de/fileadmin/Mediendatenbank/Dateien/ZDF_2016.pdf

External links

Official Germany tourism website
Germany Travel Guide (tourism.de)
Best time to visit Germany Travel Guide

History

Statistics

Surveys

Countryside

Health

Regions

Theme routes

Winter sport

Cities

Berlin

Gallery

Events

Trade fairs

Most visited

Protected areas

Landmarks

Theme parks

See also

References

External links