German State Codes: Complete ISO 3166-2:DE Bundesländer Reference (2026)

Germany’s federal structure divides the country into 16 states called Bundesländer (singular: Bundesland). Each state has its own government, constitution, and legislature, making Germany one of the most decentralized countries in Europe. Every Bundesland carries an ISO 3166-2:DE code used in tax systems, shipping logistics, address validation, and regulatory compliance across the EU.

This reference covers all 16 German state codes with their capitals, types, and practical code examples using @koshmoney/countries.

Complete ISO 3166-2:DE Table

Code	Name (German)	Name (English)	Capital	Type
DE-BB	Brandenburg	Brandenburg	Potsdam	Area state
DE-BE	Berlin	Berlin	Berlin	City-state
DE-BW	Baden-Württemberg	Baden-Württemberg	Stuttgart	Area state
DE-BY	Bayern	Bavaria	Munich	Area state
DE-HB	Bremen	Bremen	Bremen	City-state
DE-HE	Hessen	Hesse	Wiesbaden	Area state
DE-HH	Hamburg	Hamburg	Hamburg	City-state
DE-MV	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Schwerin	Area state
DE-NI	Niedersachsen	Lower Saxony	Hannover	Area state
DE-NW	Nordrhein-Westfalen	North Rhine-Westphalia	Düsseldorf	Area state
DE-RP	Rheinland-Pfalz	Rhineland-Palatinate	Mainz	Area state
DE-SH	Schleswig-Holstein	Schleswig-Holstein	Kiel	Area state
DE-SL	Saarland	Saarland	Saarbrücken	Area state
DE-SN	Sachsen	Saxony	Dresden	Area state
DE-ST	Sachsen-Anhalt	Saxony-Anhalt	Magdeburg	Area state
DE-TH	Thüringen	Thuringia	Erfurt	Area state

City-States vs Area States

Germany’s 16 Bundesländer fall into two structural categories:

City-States (Stadtstaaten)

Three Bundesländer are city-states where a single city forms the entire state:

Code	Name	Population	Notes
DE-BE	Berlin	~3.7 million	Capital of Germany; reunified in 1990
DE-HH	Hamburg	~1.9 million	Germany’s largest port city
DE-HB	Bremen	~700,000	Comprises Bremen and Bremerhaven

City-states have unique administrative structures: the state parliament (Bürgerschaft in Hamburg and Bremen, Abgeordnetenhaus in Berlin) serves as both the city council and the state legislature. The head of government is called Bürgermeister (Mayor) rather than Ministerpräsident (Minister-President).

Area States (Flächenländer)

The remaining 13 Bundesländer are area states with conventional state governments headed by a Ministerpräsident:

Bayern (Bavaria) — DE-BY — Germany’s largest state by area
Nordrhein-Westfalen — DE-NW — Most populous state (~18 million residents)
Baden-Württemberg — DE-BW — Major industrial hub (Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Bosch)
Niedersachsen — DE-NI — Second largest by area
Hessen — DE-HE — Home to Frankfurt, the EU’s financial capital
Sachsen — DE-SN — Most populous of the eastern states
Rheinland-Pfalz — DE-RP — Wine country along the Rhine and Moselle
Sachsen-Anhalt — DE-ST — Eastern state, former DDR territory
Thüringen — DE-TH — “Green Heart of Germany”
Schleswig-Holstein — DE-SH — Northernmost state, borders Denmark
Brandenburg — DE-BB — Surrounds Berlin
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern — DE-MV — Baltic coast state
Saarland — DE-SL — Germany’s smallest area state, borders France and Luxembourg

Germany’s EU and European Membership

Germany is a founding member of the European Union and participates in all major European frameworks:


import { membership } from '@koshmoney/countries/membership';
 
membership.isEU('DE');        // true  — founding EU member (1957)
membership.isSEPA('DE');      // true  — SEPA payment area
membership.isEurozone('DE');  // true  — uses the Euro since 2002
membership.isSchengen('DE');  // true  — Schengen Area member

This membership context matters significantly for compliance work: GDPR applies in all 16 Bundesländer, VAT rules follow EU directives, and cross-border SEPA payments work seamlessly between Germany and all other SEPA countries.

Code Examples

Get All 16 German States


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
const states = subdivision.forCountry('DE');
console.log(states.length);  // 16
 
// [
//   { code: 'DE-BB', name: 'Brandenburg', type: 'Laender', countryCode: 'DE', regionCode: 'BB' },
//   { code: 'DE-BE', name: 'Berlin', type: 'Laender', countryCode: 'DE', regionCode: 'BE' },
//   { code: 'DE-BW', name: 'Baden-Wuerttemberg', type: 'Laender', countryCode: 'DE', regionCode: 'BW' },
//   ...
// ]

Look Up a Specific State


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
// Look up by full ISO code
subdivision.whereCode('DE-BY');
// { code: 'DE-BY', name: 'Bayern', type: 'Laender', countryCode: 'DE', regionCode: 'BY' }
 
// Look up by country + region code
subdivision.where('DE', 'NW');
// { code: 'DE-NW', name: 'Nordrhein-Westfalen', type: 'Laender', countryCode: 'DE', regionCode: 'NW' }
 
subdivision.where('DE', 'HH');
// { code: 'DE-HH', name: 'Hamburg', type: 'Laender', countryCode: 'DE', regionCode: 'HH' }

Validate German State Codes


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
subdivision.isValidCode('DE-BY');       // true  — Bavaria
subdivision.isValidCode('DE-NW');       // true  — North Rhine-Westphalia
subdivision.isValidCode('DE-XX');       // false — not a valid state
subdivision.isValidCode('DE-BV');       // false — common mistake (BY, not BV)
 
subdivision.isValidRegion('DE', 'NW');  // true
subdivision.isValidRegion('DE', 'BE');  // true  — Berlin
subdivision.isValidRegion('DE', 'DE');  // false


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
// German-locale sort for correct alphabetical order
const stateOptions = subdivision.forCountry('DE')
  .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, 'de'))
  .map(s => ({
    value: s.code.split('-')[1],  // 'BY', 'NW', 'BE', etc.
    label: s.name,                // 'Bayern', 'Nordrhein-Westfalen', etc.
    code: s.code,                 // 'DE-BY', 'DE-NW', 'DE-BE', etc.
  }));
 
// stateOptions[0] => { value: 'BB', label: 'Baden-Württemberg', code: 'DE-BW' }
// Note: German locale sorts Ü correctly, unlike default sort

Check Country Data


import { country } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
country.whereAlpha2('DE');
// { name: 'Germany', alpha2: 'DE', alpha3: 'DEU', numeric: '276' }
 
country.whereAlpha3('DEU');
// { name: 'Germany', alpha2: 'DE', alpha3: 'DEU', numeric: '276' }

Use Cases

The GDPR applies uniformly across all 16 German states as EU law. However, each Bundesland has its own Datenschutzbehörde (data protection authority) — the supervisory authority you must notify in case of a data breach:


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
import { membership } from '@koshmoney/countries/membership';
 
function getDataProtectionAuthority(stateCode: string): string {
  const state = subdivision.whereCode(`DE-${stateCode}`);
  if (!state) throw new Error(`Invalid German state code: ${stateCode}`);
 
  // Each German state has its own DPA
  const dpaMap: Record<string, string> = {
    'BY': 'Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht (BayLDA)',
    'BE': 'Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit',
    'NW': 'Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit NRW',
    'HH': 'Der Hamburgische Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit',
    'HB': 'Die Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Bremen',
    // ... etc.
  };
 
  return dpaMap[stateCode] ?? 'Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragter (BfDI)';
}

VAT and Tax Applications

Germany applies a uniform federal VAT rate (19% standard, 7% reduced), but state-level information matters for certain tax filings and business registrations:


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
interface GermanAddress {
  street: string;
  postalCode: string;
  city: string;
  state: string;  // e.g. 'BY', 'NW'
}
 
function validateGermanAddress(address: GermanAddress): boolean {
  const isValidState = subdivision.isValidRegion('DE', address.state);
  if (!isValidState) {
    throw new Error(`Invalid German state code: ${address.state}`);
  }
 
  // The Finanzamt (tax office) jurisdiction is determined by the state
  // DE-BY: Bayerisches Landesamt für Steuern
  // DE-NW: Finanzministerium NRW
  return true;
}

Shipping and Logistics

German postal codes (PLZ) are 5 digits, and certain PLZ ranges map to specific Bundesländer:


import { postalCode } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
// Validate a German PLZ
postalCode.isValid('DE', '10115');  // true  — Berlin Mitte
postalCode.isValid('DE', '80331');  // true  — Munich city center
postalCode.isValid('DE', '20095');  // true  — Hamburg city center
postalCode.isValid('DE', '60311');  // true  — Frankfurt am Main
postalCode.isValid('DE', '1234');   // false — too short
postalCode.isValid('DE', '123456'); // false — too long
 
postalCode.getName('DE');    // 'PLZ'
postalCode.getFormat('DE');  // 'NNNNN'

For shipping zone calculations, combine state codes with carrier APIs:


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
function getShippingZone(stateCode: string): 'domestic' | 'island' | 'remote' {
  const state = subdivision.whereCode(`DE-${stateCode}`);
  if (!state) throw new Error(`Invalid state: ${stateCode}`);
 
  // Standard Germany: all states are domestic
  // Some carriers charge premiums for certain remote areas
  const remoteRegions = ['SH']; // Some island areas in Schleswig-Holstein
  if (remoteRegions.includes(stateCode)) return 'remote';
 
  return 'domestic';
}


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
 
function buildGermanAddressForm() {
  const states = subdivision.forCountry('DE')
    .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, 'de'));
 
  return {
    fields: {
      street: { type: 'text', label: 'Straße und Hausnummer' },
      postalCode: { type: 'text', label: 'Postleitzahl', pattern: '[0-9]{5}' },
      city: { type: 'text', label: 'Ort' },
      state: {
        type: 'select',
        label: 'Bundesland',
        options: states.map(s => ({
          value: s.code.split('-')[1],
          label: s.name,
        })),
      },
    },
    country: 'DE',
  };
}

Historical Context

Germany’s current federal structure dates to the post-WWII era. The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of 1949 established the Federal Republic with 11 western states. After German reunification in 1990, five eastern states — Brandenburg (DE-BB), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (DE-MV), Sachsen (DE-SN), Sachsen-Anhalt (DE-ST), and Thüringen (DE-TH) — were re-established and joined the federation, bringing the total to 16.

Berlin (DE-BE), formerly divided between East and West, became a single unified state and the capital of reunified Germany.

Install @koshmoney/countries


npm install @koshmoney/countries


import { subdivision } from '@koshmoney/countries';
import { membership } from '@koshmoney/countries/membership';
 
// All 16 German Bundesländer
const states = subdivision.forCountry('DE');
 
// Germany's EU membership status
const isEU = membership.isEU('DE');       // true
const isEurozone = membership.isEurozone('DE'); // true
const isSEPA = membership.isSEPA('DE');   // true

Subdivision API Reference — Full subdivision module API
Germany Country Page — Full Germany reference with currency and dial code
European Countries with ISO Codes — All European country codes
EU Country Codes List — All 27 EU member states
SEPA Countries List — All 36 SEPA countries