German toponymy
Placenames in the German language area can be classified by the language from which they originate, and by era.
German names from prehistoric and medieval times
Suffixes
-ach. Examples: Echternach, Salzach.-au. Examples: village and town names' suffixes on former Polabian Slavs territories: Lübbenau, Plau. See also: German naming convention of Polish town names during World War II as an analogy.-au, -aue, see German words Au or Aue. This meaning of -au describes settlements by streams and rivers. Examples: Passau, the town Aue, rivers named Aue.-bach or Low German -bek. Examples: Amorbach, Ansbach, Reinbek, Wandsbek.-baum. Examples: Oranienbaum, Pyrbaum.-berg, -bergen, Königsberg, Landesbergen. Also reduced -burg, e.g. in Bromberg ← Brahenburg.-born. Examples: Kalenborn, Paderborn, Quickborn, Weißenborn.- -bronn, -brunn or -brünn. Examples: Cleebronn, Heilbronn, Schönbrunn, Waldbrunn.-brücken, -brück, -bruck, -brig. Examples: Saarbrücken, Osnabrück, Innsbruck, Brig.-bühl, or -bühel. Examples: Dinkelsbühl, Kitzbühel.-burg. Examples: Hamburg, Augsburg, Luxembourg, Regensburg, Salzburg, Straßburg.-dorf or -torf, Low German dorp/torp cf. English thorpe, thorp, throp, trop, thrup, drup, drop. Examples: Düsseldorf, Reinickendorf, Kleinblittersdorf.-ey. Examples: Norderney, Hacheney. -eck or -egg, Examples: Heideck, Scheidegg, Felsenegg, Oberlangenegg, Waldeck. -feld, -felde, -filde. Examples: Bielefeld, Mansfeld, Saalfeld.-fels. Examples: Rothenfels, Lichtenfels.-furt, -ford, -fürth, or Low German -vörde. Examples: Bremervörde, Erfurt, Frankfurt, Fürth, Herford, Klagenfurt.-gard, -gart, or -garten. Examples: Stuttgart, Stargard, Leingarten-hagen. Examples: Hagen, Damshagen, Hanshagen, Langenhagen. Its reduced form:
- * -hain. Examples: Blankenhain, Großenhain.-halde or -halden. Examples: Haldensee, Osshalden near Crailsheim.-haus or -hausen. Examples: Heiligenhaus, Mülhausen, Mühlhausen, Recklinghausen, Schaffhausen.-haven, or -hafen. Examples: Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven, Friedrichshafen.-heim, -ham or -am, -hem or -em, -um . Examples: Alkersum, Bochum, Borkum, Pforzheim, Kirchham, Schiltigheim, Mannheim, Mülheim, Hildesheim, Bad Windsheim.-hof, -hoff or -hofen. Examples: Hof, Bechhofen, Diedenhofen.
- -holm. Examples: Bordesholm, Holm, Ockholm, Risum-Lindholm.-holz or -holzen. Examples: Buchholz, Diekholzen, Obernholz, Osterholz-Scharmbeck.-hude or -hufe. Example: Buxtehude, Grünhufe, Ritterhude.-hut. Examples: Landshut, Waldshut.-ing or -ingen, -ungen, -ung, -ens. Examples: Beverungen, Göttingen, Esslingen, Straubing, Esens.-kirchen, -kirche, -kirch. Examples: Feldkirch, Gelsenkirchen, Neunkirchen.
- -land. Examples: Deutschland, Friedland, Geestland, Rheinland, Wangerland.-mund or -münde. Examples: Angermünde, Dortmund, Ueckermünde-münden. Example: Hannoversch Münden
- Low German -oog or -öhe, -oie, -ee . Examples: Dutch Schiermonnikoog, Hiddensee.-ow. Examples: village and town names' suffixes on former Polabian Slavs territories: Bützow, Neubukow, Stäbelow, Malchow, Teterow, Güstrow.-roth, -rath, -rode, -rode, -reuth, -reith, -rith, -ried, or -rade. Examples: Roth, Bayreuth, Overath, Wernigerode. It can also be used as the prefix Rade-: Radebeul, Radevormwald.-scheid. Examples: Burscheid, Remscheid-see. Examples: Beetzsee, Falkensee, Weißensee.-stadt, -stedt, -stätt, or -stetten. Examples: Darmstadt, Eichstätt, Ingolstadt, Neustadt.
- -stein. Examples: Allenstein, Bartenstein, Königstein. -tal, -thal or -dahl. Examples: Wuppertal, Rosendahl, Roßtal, St. Joachimsthal.-thurm or -turm. Example: Muggensturm, Rothenthurm, Weißenthurm-wald or -walde. Examples: Greifswald, Creutzwald, Regenwalde.-wang, -wangen, or -wängle. Examples: Feuchtwangen, Ellwangen, Nesselwängle.-weil, -weiler, or -willer. Examples: Annweiler, Eschweiler-wend, or -winden. Examples: Bernhardwinden near Ansbach, Geiselwind, Wenden near Ebhausen, Wolfertschwenden.-werder, -werth, -wörth, or -ort. Examples: Donauwörth, Finkenwerder, Kaiserswerth, Ruhrort.-wiese, -wiesen. Example: Buttenwiesen, Grafenwiesen, Seewiesen, Wilgartswiesen.-weig, -wick, -wig, -wieck, or Low German -wyk. Examples: Braunschweig, Coswig, Oer-Erkenschwick, Osterwieck, Schleswig, Wyk auf Föhr.
Prefixes
Prefixes can be used to distinguish nearby settlements with an otherwise same name. They can be attached or stand alone. Both settlements that are to be distinguished can have opposing prefixes, but it is also common to attach the prefix only to one of them.- Alt-, Alten- or Low German Olden-. Examples: Alt Eberstein, Altenberg, Oldenburg.
- Groß- or Großen-. Examples: Groß Kiesow, Großenhain.
- Hoh-, Hohen-, Höch- or Hoch-. Examples: Hohenschönhausen, Hohkönigsburg, Höchstadt.
- Klein- or Low German Lütten-. Examples: Klein Kiesow.
- Neu-, Neuen- or Low German Nien-. Examples: Neuburg am Inn, Neuenkirchen, Nienburg.
- Nieder-. Examples: Niederschönhausen.
- Ober-, or Oberst-. Examples: Oberhausen, Oberwesel, Oberstdorf.
- Unter-. Examples: Unterliederbach.
- Wal-. Examples: Wallis, Welschneudorf.
- Wendisch-, Windisch- . Examples: Wendisch Baggendorf, Windischgarsten. This sometimes refers to the original language of the inhabitants. Other examples: Böhmisch Krummau, Unter-Deutschau.
Prefixes can also be used to indicate an possession of the site. Examples are Kirch-, Bischofs-, Grafen-, Königs-, Kron-.
The prefix Bad indicates the place is an officially acknowledged spa. See Bad Kissingen, Bad Pyrmont, etc. Some places, like Aachen, do not use it although they could.
Often the name of the village founder or of the first settler is the first part of the place name. Mostly in the former Ostsiedlung area, the locator's name was sometimes included as the first part of the name.
Attachments
Some settlements have the name of a river or the province attached to their name to distinguish it from an one carrying the same name. The distinguishing word can be added in parentheses, or connected to the name with prepositions an der/''am, ob der, auf or in/im, or separated by a slash. Examples are:- Frankfurt am Main
- Frankfurt (Oder)
- Freiburg im Breisgau
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber
- Bergen auf Rügen
- Lauenburg in Pommern
- Kochel am See
- Kirchheim unter Teck
- Lahr/Schwarzwald, etc.
Sometimes, a descriptive word is attached to a new settlement, that was once budding of another one and except for the attached word has the same name.
Others
The old Germanic Gaue districts were established by Charlemagne; earlier derivations were Gowe" and "Gouwe. One can still find the old Gouwe for example in Haspengouw or Gäu as in Allgäu.German names from modern times
They usually follow the established patterns.German place names derived from other languages
Celtic names, used in prehistoric times in the southern and western parts of the German language area. Examples: Mainz, Remagen, Wien or Celtic Wedunia, Zürich Latin names:- * from classical times, when the southern and western parts of the German language area belonged to the Roman Empire. Examples: Koblenz, Köln, Aachen, Augsburg and Augst.
- * from medieval times, when Latin was the language of church and administration. Examples: München, Münster, Neumünster, Fraumünster, Grossmünster. See also minster.Slavic names: Prior to the medieval Ostsiedlung, Slavic languages like Polabian, Sorbian, Pomeranian, and Slovenian were spoken in the eastern parts of the Holy Roman Empire. The German settlers and administration in many cases adopted existing Wendish placenames, for example Rostock, Dresden, and Berlin. For the same reason, many German placenames ending in -anz, -gard, -gast, -itz, -ow, and -vitz or -witz have Slavic roots. Due to spelling and pronunciation changes over the centuries, the original Wendish term in most cases is not preserved. Also, some placenames combine a German with a Wendish term. The German suffix -au can be related to the Slavic -ow and -ov when derived from the Old German spelling.Scandinavian names: The region of Southern Schleswig was part of Duchy of Schleswig on the Jutland peninsula, which belonged to the Crown of Denmark until Prussia and Austria declared war on Denmark in 1864, leading to dozens of placenames of Danish origin, except in North Frisia and the southernmost area. Typical Scandinavian endings include -by, -bøl, -trup, -lund, -ved, -toft. In some cases the South Jutlandic form has been eradicated from the Standard Danish variety of the name, but is still visible in the Germanised version:
| Standard Danish | South Jutlandic | German |
| Meden | Mejn | Meyn |
| Bilskov | Bilskau | Billschau |
| Agtrup | Achtrup | Achtrup |
| Jydbæk | Jybæk | Jübek |
| Sønderup | Synnerup | Sünderup |
In many other cases the Germanised versions are out of etymological context. Examples include the Danish ending -næs being replaced by -nitz, an unrelated Slavic ending which is common in eastern Germany. Such arbitrary translations were often made by the central Prussian government after the whole of Slesvig was ceded to Prussia after the war of 1864.
The South Jutlandic name of the town of Schleswig, from which the region derives its name, was Sljasvig with the stress on the second syllable.