StuttgartStuttgart (ˈʃtʊtɡaʁt; Swabian: Schduagert ˈʒ̊d̥ua̯ɡ̊ɛʕd̥; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the Stuttgarter Kessel (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest. Stuttgart has a population of 635,911, making it the sixth largest city in Germany, while over 2.8 million people live in the city's administrative region and nearly 5.
MannheimMannheim (ˈmanhaɪm; Palatine German: Mannem or Monnem), officially the University City of Mannheim (Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 21st-largest city, with a 2021 population of 311,831 inhabitants. The city is the cultural and economic centre of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, Germany's seventh-largest metropolitan region with nearly 2.4 million inhabitants and over 900,000 employees.
HesseHesse (Hessen ˈhɛsn̩), officially the State of Hesse (Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Darmstadt and Kassel. With an area of 21,114.73 square kilometers and a population of over six million, it ranks seventh and fifth, respectively, among the sixteen German states. Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Germany's second-largest metropolitan area (after Rhine-Ruhr), is mainly located in Hesse.
DortmundDortmund (ˈdɔʁtmʊnt; Westphalian Düörpm ˈdyːœɐ̯pm̩; Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 609,000 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 and is considered the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of the eastern Ruhr.
AugsburgAugsburg (UKˈaʊɡzbəːrɡ , USˈɔːɡz- , ˈaʊksbʊʁk; Ougschburg) is a city in Swabia, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the Regierungsbezirk Swabia with an impressive Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich and Nuremberg), with a population of 304,000 and 885,000 in its metropolitan area.
LeipzigLeipzig (ˈlaɪpsɪɡ,_-sɪx , ˈlaɪptsɪç; Upper Saxon: Leibz'sch) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 624,689 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2022 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as well as the second most populous city in the area of the former East Germany after (East) Berlin. Together with Halle (Saale), the city forms the polycentric Leipzig-Halle Conurbation. Between the two cities (in Schkeuditz) lies Leipzig/Halle Airport.