Members of the Hanseatic League

Berlin is the capital of Germany, as well as its largest city by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of Germany, being the third-smallest state in the country by area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, bordering Brandenburg's capital Potsdam to the southwest. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.6 million, making it the most populous in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and i

Stockholm (; ) is the capital and most populous city of Sweden, as well as the largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately 1 million people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. T

Hamburg, officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and seventh-largest city in the European Union, with a population of over 1.9 million. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region has a population of over 5.1 million and is the tenth-largest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. At the southern tip of the Jutland Peninsula, Hamburg stands on the branching River Elbe at the head of a estuary to the North Sea, at the confluence of the Alster and Bille. Hamburg is one of Germany's three city-states alongside Berlin and Bremen, and

Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Located on a bay in northern Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of 456,518 as of 2025 and administratively lies in Harju County. Tallinn is the main governmental, financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located northwest of the country's second largest city, Tartu, however, only south of Helsinki, Finland. It is also west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, north of Riga, Latvia, and east of Stockholm, Sweden. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, T

Riga ( ) is the capital, primate, and largest city of Latvia and the second largest in the Baltics. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 847,162 (as of 2025). The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers and lies above sea level on a flat and sandy plain.

Cologne ( ; ; ) is the fourth-most populous city of Germany and the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urban region. Cologne is also part of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is located on the River Rhine (Lower Rhine), about southeast of the North Rhine-Westphalia state capital Düsseldorf and northwest of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany.

', officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków', is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.

Gdańsk (; ) is a city on the Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, it is Poland's sixth-largest city and its major seaport. Gdańsk lies at the mouth of the Motława River and is situated at the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay, close to the city of Gdynia and the resort town of Sopot; these form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of approximately 1.5 million.

Bremen (), officially the City Municipality of Bremen, is the capital of the German state of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen () a two-city-state consisting of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. It is an important port city with about 586,000 inhabitants, the Hanseatic city is the 11th-largest city of Germany and the second-largest city in Northern Germany after Hamburg.

Wrocław (; ; also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder (Odra) River in the Silesian Lowlands. In 2025, the official population of Wrocław was 672,545, making it the third-largest city in Poland. The population of the Wrocław metropolitan area is around 1.25 million.

Kaliningrad (known as Königsberg until 1946) is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia). Located on the Pregolya River at the head of the Vistula Lagoon, it is the only ice-free Russian port on the Baltic Sea. Its population in 2020 was 489,359. Kaliningrad is the second-largest city in the Northwestern Federal District, after Saint Petersburg, and the seventh-largest city on the Baltic Sea.

Dortmund (; ; ) is a city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the third-largest city in the state, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the ninth-largest city in the country. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city (by area and population) of the Ruhr as well as the largest city of Westphalia. It lies on the Emscher and Ruhr rivers (tributaries of the Rhine) in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union, and is considered the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of the eastern Ruhr. D

Szczecin (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and seventh-largest city of Poland. the population was 391,566.

Erfurt () is the capital and largest city of the Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the River Gera, in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest, and in the middle of a line of the six largest Thuringian cities (Thüringer Städtekette), stretching from Eisenach in the west, via Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Jena, to Gera in the east. Together with Kassel and Göttingen, it is one of the cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants lying closest to the geographic centre of Germany. Erfurt is south-west of

Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Bay of Kiel and lies in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula, on the mouth of the Schwentine River, approximately northeast of Hamburg. The world's busiest artificial waterway, the Kiel Canal, has a terminus in Kiel's Holtenau district. This canal connects the Baltic to the North Sea, with its other end in Brunsbüttel. Most of Kiel is part of Holstein. The boroug

Magdeburg ( , , ; ) is the capital of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river.

Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and the second-largest city in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, after its capital of Kiel. It is the 36th-largest city in Germany.

Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the two largest lakes in Estonia, Lake Võrtsjärv and Lake Peipus. From the 13th century until the end of the 19th century, Tartu was known in most of the world by variants of its historical name Dorpat. thumb|Aerial view of Toomemägi, Tartu cathedral and Tartu downtown

Duisburg (; , ) is a major city in the western part of Germany, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. With around half a million inhabitants, it is one of the largest cities in the Ruhr urban area and part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, one of the biggest population centers in Europe. Duisburg is situated at the confluence of the Ruhr and the Rhine, a geographic position that has historically made it an important center of trade, industry, and transportation. Administratively, Duisburg forms an independent city ().

Klaipėda ( ; ), formerly in German period mostly called Memel, is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third-largest city in Lithuania, the fifth-largest city in the Baltic states, the capital of Klaipėda County, the only major seaport in the country and the busiest port in the Baltic states.

Münster (; ) is an independent city (Kreisfreie Stadt) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and the historic capital of the Westphalia region, as well being the centre of a state district. During the Protestant Reformation, Münster was the location of the Anabaptist rebellion. Münster and Osnabrück were the sites of the signing of the Treaties of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Today, it is known as the bicycle capital of Germany.

Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, the population of Göttingen was 124,548.

city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt

thumb|Rostock Rostock (; ), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, close to the border with Pomerania. With around 210,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city on the German Baltic coast after Kiel and Lübeck, the eighth-largest city in the area of former East Germany, as well as the 39th-largest city of Germany. Rostock was the largest coastal and most important port city in East Germany.

thumb|upright|Logo of the City of Bielefeld

Arnhem ( ; ; Ernems: Èrnem) is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development.

Groningen is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest city as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of the country; as of January 2025, it had 244,807 inhabitants, making it the sixth largest city/municipality in the Netherlands and the second largest outside the Randstad. The Groningen metropolitan area has a population of about half a million inhabitants.

Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser. In 2024, it had a population of 272,417. The Braunschweig-Wolfsburg-Salzgitter region had 1.02 million residents including the cities Wolfsburg and Salzgitter, it is the second largest urban center in Lower Saxony after Hanover. The urban agglomeration of Braunschweig had a population of 551,000 with almost 45% having a migration background, making

thumb|Market square thumb|Weighhouse (1613) thumb|Concert hall Opera Concertgebouw de Vereeniging thumb|A sculpture from 2020 inspired by the Nijmegen Helmet thumb|Kronenburgerpark thumb|Terraces Molenstraat

Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federal state, and the 16th-largest city in Germany. On the Ruhr Heights () hill chain, between the rivers Ruhr to the south and Emscher to the north (tributaries of the Rhine), it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the Ruhr after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. It lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Germany's larg

Pärnu () is a city in southwest Estonia. Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga, which is a part of the Baltic Sea. In the city, the Pärnu River drains into the Gulf of Riga.

Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: Osnaburg) is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168,145 Osnabrück is the fourth largest city in Lower Saxony.

Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality, after Enschede, and has a population of 132,441 as of December 2023. Zwolle borders the province of Gelderland and lies on the eastern side of the River IJssel.

Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Scandinavia, and, since 1995, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Among the most notable historical remains are the long town wall that encircles the town center, and a number of church ruins and its small decorative alleyways. The decline as a Hanseatic city in the Late Middle Ages was the cause for many s

Paderborn (; Westphalian: Patterbuorn, also Paterboärn) is a city in the eastern Detmold region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and Born, an old German term for the source of a river. The river Pader originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.

Toruń (; ) is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–1998) and the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1921–1945). Since 1999, Toruń has been a seat of the local government of the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship and is one of its two capitals, together with Bydgoszcz. The cities and neighboring counties form the Bydgoszcz–Toruń twin city metropolitan area.

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, north-central Germany. With a population of over 100,000, it is located southeast of Hanover on the Innerste river, a tributary of the Leine.

Neuss (; written Neuß until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its historic Roman sites, as well as the annual Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest. Neuss and Trier share the title of "Germany's oldest city", and in 1984 Neuss celebrated the 2000th anniversary of its founding in 16 BCE.

city in Brandenburg, Germany

city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of the regional authority of the Rhineland.

Hagen () is a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr. In 2023, the population was 197,677.

Stralsund (; Swedish: Strålsund), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: Hansestadt Stralsund), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and Greifswald, and the second-largest city in the Pomeranian part of the state. It is located on the southern coast of the Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea separating the island of Rügen from the Pomeranian mainland.

Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic city, Hamburg, and belongs to that city's wider metropolitan region. The capital of the district which bears its name, it is home to roughly 77,000 people. Lüneburg's urban area, which includes the surrounding communities of Adendorf, Bardowick, Barendorf and Reppenstedt, has a population of around 103,000. Lüneburg has been allowed to use the title ('Hanseatic Town') in its name since 2007, in recognition

Hafnarfjörður, officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region, on the southwest coast of the country. At about 31,500 inhabitants, Hafnarfjörður is the third-most populous city in Iceland after Reykjavík and Kópavogur. It has established local industry and a variety of urban activities, with annual festival events.

Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020 the municipality of Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but it also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen (with a population of about 5,000 people) was merged with Deventer as part of a national effort to reduce bureaucracy in the country.

Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of influence under the Ottonian dynasty in the 10th and 11th centuries. The castle, church and old town with around 2,100 timber houses, dating from this time of influence, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994 because of their exceptional preservation and outstanding Romanesque architecture.

Greifswald (; ), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald () is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpassed Stralsund for the first time, and became the largest city in the Pomeranian part of the state. It sits on the River Ryck, at its mouth into the Danish Wiek, a sub-bay of the Bay of Greifswald, which is itself a sub-bay of the Bay of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea.

Goslar (; Eastphalian: Goslär) is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and is located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar with over 1.500 timber houses and the Mines of Rammelsberg are UNESCO World Heritage Sites for their millennium-long testimony to the history of ore mining and their political importance for the Holy Roman Empire and Hanseatic League. Each year Goslar awards the Kaiserring to an international artist, called the "Nobel Prize" of the art world.

Viljandi () is a city and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,255 in 2024. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu.

Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in West Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Elbląg (; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County.

Hamelin ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Słupsk (; ; ) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifically in its part known in contemporary Poland as Central Pomerania () within the wider West Pomerania (). According to Statistics Poland, it has a population of 88,835 inhabitants while occupying , thus being one of the most densely populated cities in the country as of December 2021. In addition, the city is the administrative seat of Słupsk County and the rural Gmina Słupsk, despite belonging to neither.

right|thumb|Propsteikirche Arnsberg (; ) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochsauerlandkreis district.

Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland, with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section divided by the Oder and Vistula Rivers). It is the capital of Kołobrzeg County.

Iserlohn (; Westphalian: Iserlaun) is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, in west-central Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.

Halberstadt (; Eastphalian: Halverstidde) is a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center, which was largely destroyed by Allied bombings in the late stages of World War II after local Nazi leaders refused to surrender. The town was rebuilt in the following decades.