Tourism in Germany

Germany is the seventh most visited country in the world,^[1][2] with a total of 407.26 million overnights during 2012.^[3] This number includes 68.83 million nights by foreign visitors, the majority of foreign tourists in 2009 coming from the Netherlands, the United States and Switzerland (see table). Additionally, more than 30% of Germans spend their holiday in their own country. According to Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Reports, Germany is rated as one of the safest travel destinations worldwide.

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).

In 2012, over 30.4 million international tourists arrived in Germany, bringing over US$38 billion in international tourism receipts to the country.^[4] Domestic and international travel and tourism combined directly to contribute over EUR43.2 billion to the German GDP. Including indirect and induced impacts, the industry contributes 4.5% of German GDP and supports 2 million jobs (4.8% of total employment).^[5] The ITB Berlin is the world's leading tourism trade fair.^[6]

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, Norderney and Sylt islands) particularly developed during the 19th and early 20th century, when major train routes were built to connect the seaside spas to urban centers. An extense 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

The table below shows the distribution of national and international visitor nights spent in each of the sixteen states of Germany in 2008. With 76.91 million nights spent in hotels, hostels or clinics, Bavaria has the most visitors. With 14.300 nights per 1,000 population, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the highest density of tourists.

state # of nights in 2008 in million of whom foreign visitors in million nights/pop. Baden-Württemberg 43.62 8.90 4.1 Bavaria 76.91 17.30 6.1 Berlin 17.77 6.18 5.2 Brandenburg 9.41 0.86 3.7 Bremen 1.65 0.34 4.2 Hamburg 7.66 1.42 4.3 Hesse 27.30 6.69 4.5 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 23.83 1.07 14.3 Lower Saxony 36.92 3.73 4.2 North Rhine-Westphalia 41.52 8.39 2.3 Rhineland-Palatinate 18.45 4.17 4.6 Saarland 2.26 0.32 2.2 Saxony 15.70 1.63 3.7 Saxony-Anhalt 6.70 0.52 2.8 Schleswig-Holstein 21.07 2.40 7.4 Thuringia 8.68 0.60 3.8

Most visitors arriving to Germany on short term basis in 2014 were from the following countries of nationality:^[7]

Rank	Country	Number
1	Netherlands	4,237,865
2	Switzerland	2,778,455
3	United Kingdom	2,415,477
4	United States	2,371,086
5	Austria	1,725,259
6	Italy	1,642,443
7	France	1,617,901
8	Denmark	1,466,561
9	Belgium	1,310,693
10	China	1,033,470
	Total international arrivals	32,999,298

Countryside

Health

About 242 million nights, or two-thirds of all nights spent in hotels in Germany, are spent in spa towns.^[8] 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

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:^[9]

rank	district	# 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, Thüringer Wald, Erzgebirge and the Elbe Valley
• in the South: Taunus, Spessart, Rhön, Odenwald and Allgäu.

Theme routes

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.

List of theme routes (incomplete)

Route	Established	Theme	Length
German Wine Road (Deutsche Weinstraße)	1935	Palatinate wine route	85 km
German Avenue Road (Deutsche Alleenstraße)	1993	Tree-sided avenues and lush countrysides	2900 km
Romantic Road (Romantische Straße)	1950	Romanticism	366 km
Black Forest High Road (Schwarzwaldhochstraße)	1952	Black Forest	60 km
Castle Road (Burgenstraße)	1954	Castles in Germany	1,000 km
Road of Weser Renaissance (Straße der Weserrenaissance)		Weser Renaissance	350 km
Romanesque Road (Straße der Romanik)	1993	Romanesque architecture	1,195 km
German Ferries Route	2004	Fords, ferries, bridges and tunnels	250 km
German Timber-Frame Road	1990	Timber framing (Fachwerk)	3,000 km
German Clock Road (Deutsche Uhrenstrasse)		Cuckoo clock Manufacturers, clock-face paintings workshops, museums, Black Forest and Baar villages, landscapes	320 km
Industrial Heritage Trail (Route der Industriekultur)		Industrial heritage of the Ruhr area	400 km
German Fairy Tale Route (Deutsche Märchenstraße)		Fairy tales and legends of the Brothers Grimm	600 km

Winter sport

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.^[10] 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

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.^[11] The city recorded 20.8 million overnight hotel stays and 9.1 million hotel guests in 2010.^[12] In the first half of 2012, there was an increase of over 10% compared to the same period the year before.^[11]

Hamburg

In 2007, more than 3,985,105 visitors with 7,402,423 overnight stays visited the city.^[13] 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%).^[14]

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.^[15]

• 
  Berlin is Germany's largest and most visited city
• 
  The Brandenburg Gate at night
• 
  The Oktoberfest in Munich is the world's largest fair
• 
  Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany
• 
  Frankfurt is the financial center of Germany and Continental Europe
• 
  Heidelberg with its famous Castle ruins
• 
  View over Cologne with its famous Cathedral
• 
  Düsseldorf with the Rheinturm
• 
  The Semperoper in Dresden is the most famous opera house in Germany
• 
  Dresden Frauenkirche at sunset
• 
  Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart
• 
  View over Nuremberg Castle
• 
  New Town Hall in Hannover
• 
  View over Leipzig
• 
  Bremen in northern Germany
• 
  The Federal City of Bonn
• 
  Cuxhaven at the North Sea coast
• 
  The small town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a destination for tourists from around the world
• 
  Nördlingen is another small town popular with tourists
• 
  Wittenberg was the home of Martin Luther and is now a UNESCO world heritage
• 
  The Stone Bridge and Cathedral St. Peter of Regensburg (UNESCO world heritage)
• 
  Freiburg im Breisgau in the Black Forest
• 
  Beach of Rostock (Warnemünde)
• 
  Palace and city of Schwerin

Events

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

type		event	location	season	# of visitors	notes
Volksfest		Oktoberfest	Munich	September/October	6.0 million
Volksfest		Cannstatter Volksfest	Stuttgart	September/October	4.2 million	locally called "Cannstatter Wasen"
Volksfest		Libori	Paderborn	End of July	1.7 million	9 days, one of the biggest and oldest central city events
Fair		Largest Fair on the Rhine	Düsseldorf	July/August	4.0 million
Sport event	Sailing regatta	Kiel Week	Kiel	July/August	3.5 million
	Maritime festival	Hanse Sail	Rostock	2nd weekend of August	1.1 million	one of Europe's biggest events for sailors
	World Marathon Major	Berlin Marathon	Berlin	September
Carnival parade		Cologne Carnival	Cologne	February	1.5 million	number of visitors for Rosenmontagszug
Gay pride		Cologne Pride	Cologne	June/July	1.2 million
contemporary art exhibition		Quadriennale Düsseldorf	Düsseldorf	September/January		only held every 4 years
		documenta Kassel	Kassel		0.9 million	only held every 5 years
Music festival	Techno music	Love Parade	varies	June/July	1.6 million	* Further Events have been canceled following the Love Parade tragedy in 2010
	Rock music	Bochum Total	Bochum	June/July/August	1.0 million
	Rock music	Rock am Ring and Rock im Park	Nürburgring and Nuremberg	May/June	0.8 million
	Classical music	Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival	throughout Schleswig-Holstein	July/August	0.2 million
Anniversary		Port of Hamburg birthday	Hamburg	May 7	1.0 million
Fireworks show		Cologne Lights	Cologne	July	1.0 million
		Rhein in Flammen	Bonn	May	0.5 million
Wine festival		Wurstmarkt	Bad Dürkheim	2nd and 3rd Weekend in September	0.6 million
Film festival		Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival)	Berlin	February	0.5 million	Film festival

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

Trade fairs

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.

trade fair ground	city	trade fair	industry	# of visitors[16][17]	notes
Messe Frankfurt	Frankfurt am Main	Internationale Automobilausstellung (IAA)	motor show	850,000 in 2009	held in Hanover every other year as a truck show
		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
		Hannover Messe	industrial technology	250,000 in 2011	world's biggest industrial fair
Messe München International	Munich	BAUMA	construction machinery	530,000 in 2013	triennial
		BAU	architecture, materials, systems engineering	212,000 in 2009	biennial
Messe Berlin	Berlin	International Green Week (IGW)	sustainable agriculture	425,000	9,000 foreign visitors
		Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA)	consumer electronics	240,000 in 2012
Messe Düsseldorf	Düsseldorf	Drupa	print media	390,000	230,000 foreign visitors, quadrennial
		Boot Düsseldorf	boats	267.000	43,000 foreign visitors
		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.

rank	protected area	location	type	# of visitors in 2002[18]	# of visitors in 2008
	Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	National park	2.50 million	3.00 million[19]
	Saxon Switzerland National Park	Saxony	National park	2.15 million	2.90 million[20]
	Bavarian Forest National Park	Bavaria	National park	2.00 million
	Jasmund National Park	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	National park	2.00 million
	Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park 1	Lower Saxony	National park	2.00 million
	Berchtesgaden National Park	Bavaria	National park	1.50 million
	Harz National Park	Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt	National park	1.50 million
	Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park 1	Schleswig-Holstein	National park	1.50 million
	Mainau Island	Baden-Württemberg		1.30 million

Note: This list only includes protected areas with 1 million or more visitors per year. This list may be incomplete.

¹ World Heritage Site in Germany

Landmarks

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.

rank	landmark	location	subject	# of visitors in 2002[18]	# of visitors in 2007
1	Cologne Cathedral 1	Cologne	Gothic Cathedral	6.0 million	6.0 million[21] in 2004
2	Reichstag building	Berlin	Bundestag	2.70 million	2.70 million[22] in 2006
3	Hofbräuhaus	Munich	Brewery		1.80 million[23]
4	Heidelberg Castle	Heidelberg	Renaissance architecture	1.30 million
5	Neuschwanstein Castle	Schwangau	Castle of King Ludwig II of Bavaria	1.25 million	1.36 million[24]
6	Zwinger and Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister	Dresden	Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden	1.20 million
7	Fernsehturm	Berlin	Television and observation tower	1.10 million
8	Aachen Cathedral 1	Aachen	Imperial Cathedral	1.0 million	1.5 million[25]

Note: This list only includes physical landmarks with 1.0 million visitors per year or more. This list may be incomplete.

¹ World Heritage Site in Germany

Theme parks

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

Name	Location	Type	No. of visitors in 2002[18]	Nr. of visitors in 2008
Europa-Park	Rust	Amusement park	3.5 million	4.0 million[26]
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
Berlin Zoological Garden	Berlin	Zoo	3.0 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.

See also

• Transport in Germany
• Public holidays in Germany
• List of museums in Germany
• List of world's largest cuckoo clocks
• Economy of Germany
• Cuisine of Germany
• Tourism in East Germany
• German tourism industry
• List of World Heritage Sites in Germany

References

1. Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland (Federal Statistical Office)
2. DZT / World Travel Monitor
3. World Tourism Organization

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Germany.

• Official Germany tourism website (German) (Arabic) (Czech) (Danish) (English) (Spanish) (Finnish) (French) (Hebrew) (Hungarian) (Italian) (Japanese) (Korean) (Dutch) (Norwegian) (Polish) (Portuguese) (Russian) (Slovene) (Swedish) (Chinese)
• Media related to Tourism in Germany at Wikimedia Commons
• Germany travel and tourism at DMOZ