List of English exonyms for German toponyms
This list is a compilation of German toponyms (i.e., names of cities, regions, rivers, mountains and other geographical features situated in a German-speaking area) that have traditional English exonyms.
Usage notes:
- While in the case of regions, rivers and mountains, English exonyms are the definite choice (not least of all because the features they describe often cross language borders), some lesser-known city exonyms whose difference is merely orthographic and does not affect pronunciation (Cassel, Coblenz, Leipsic, Hanover, Mayence) have begun to retreat in favour of the endonymic forms. The media are divided about the use of the English exonyms Basle, Berne, and Zurich. (The Times Style guide encourages the continued use of Basle and Berne. [1]) Usage may also depend on context; the spelling Kleve could be used in a news story about an incident in that city, but the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England is always referred to in English as Anne of Cleves, never Anne of Kleve.
- Exonyms that are used exclusively in historical and/or ecclesiastical contexts are marked accordingly (h/e).
- The definite article is given where necessary. Often, the article is correct in only one of the two languages (Styria – die Steiermark).
A
B
- Basle – Basel h/e
- Baltic Sea, the – die Ostsee ('the Eastern Sea')
- Bavaria – Bayern
- Berne – Bern h/e
- Black Forest, the – der Schwarzwald
- Blenheim – Blindheim h/e
- Brunswick – Braunschweig
C
- Carinthia – Kärnten
- Cassel – Kassel h/e
- Cleves – Kleve
- Coblenz, Coblentz, Coblence – Koblenz h/e
- Cologne – Köln
- Constance – Konstanz h/e
- Constance, Lake – der Bodensee
- Dettingham -- Dettingen
- Danube, the – die Donau
- Ditmarsh – Dithmarschen h/e
- Dantwich -- Danzig
E
- Eastphalia – Ostfalen
F
- Franconia – Franken
- Frankfurt – Frankfurt am Main h/e
- Frisia – Friesland
- East Frisia – Ostfriesland
- North Frisia – Nordfriesland
- Fuld – Fulda
G
- Germany – Deutschland
- Grisons – Graubünden
H
- Hamelin – Hameln
- Hanover – Hannover
- Heligoland – Helgoland
- Hesse – Hessen
- Hither Pomerania or Western Pomerania – Vorpommern
- Holsatia – Holstein h/e
J
- Juliers – Jülich h/e
L
- Leipsic or Lipswick – Leipzig h/e
- Lower Austria – Niederösterreich
- Lower Saxony – Niedersachsen
- Lucerne – Luzern
- Lucerne, Lake of – der Vierwaldstättersee ('the four forest settlements' lake')
- Lunenburg – Lüneburg h/e
- Lusatia – die Lausitz
M
- Mayence – Mainz h/e
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Mentz – Kurmainz, but also city of Mainz h/e
- Moguntine – kurmainzisch
- Moselle, the – die Mosel
- Munich – München
N
- Nuremberg – Nürnberg
- North Rhine-Westphalia – Nordrhein-Westfalen
P
- Palatinate, the – die Pfalz
- Pomerania – Pommern
- Prussia – Preußen
- Pruce – Preußen
- Pruss – Preußen
R
- Ratisbon – Regensburg h/e
- Rhenish – rheinisch
- Rhine, the – der Rhein
- Rhineland, the – das Rheinland
- Rhineland-Palatinate – Rheinland-Pfalz
- Rugia – Rügen
- Ruhr, the – (area:) das Ruhrgebiet ; (river:) die Ruhr
S
- Saxe-Lauenburg – Sachsen-Lauenburg
- Saxony – Sachsen
- Saxony-Anhalt – Sachsen-Anhalt
- Silesia – Schlesien
- Sleswick – Schleswig h/e
- Spires – Speyer h/e
- Strasburgh – Strasbourg
- Styria – die Steiermark
- Swabia – Schwaben
- Switzerland – die Schweiz
- Saltzburgh – Salzburg
- Spaw, Spawe – Spa
T
- Thurgovia – Thurgau
- Thuringia – Thüringen
- Farther Pomerania – Hinterpommern
- Triers, Treves – Trier h/e
- Tyrol – Tirol
U
- Upper Austria – Oberösterreich
- Upper Palatinate – Oberpfalz
- Upperwallis – Oberwallis
- Underwallis – Unterwallis
V
- Vienna – Wien
W
- Western Pomerania or Hither Pomerania – Vorpommern
- Westphalia – Westfalen
- Wirtemberg, Wurtemberg – Württemberg h/e