German Alphabet: Letters, Order and Features

What is the German Alphabet?

The German alphabet is the writing system used for the German language. It is based on the Latin alphabet and has 26 standard letters from A to Z, plus extra characters: the umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the letter ß.

This alphabet is used in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Although it is similar to the Latin alphabet, the German alphabet has its own features connected with pronunciation, spelling and the use of certain letters.

Knowing the German alphabet is important for reading, spelling words correctly, and for understanding how the language works and its spelling rules.

Writing system:

Latin

Number of letters:

26 (main alphabet), 30 including ä, ö, ü and ß

Writing direction:

left to right

Main groups of letters:

vowels, consonants, extra letters (umlauts and ß)

German Alphabet Table

The German alphabet has 26 Latin letters, or 30 if you include the extra ones. Below you can see a table with the capital and small letters of the German alphabet and their names.

Letters of the German Alphabet

How Many Letters Are in the German Alphabet?

The German alphabet uses 26 letters of the Latin alphabet from A to Z. But unlike English, German has extra characters that are important in writing. If you count these characters, there are 30 letters in the German alphabet. These are: ä, ö, ü — vowels with umlauts, and ß — a special letter called “Eszett”.

Extra Letters: Umlauts and ß

Besides the standard Latin letters, German uses some extra characters: ä, ö, ü and ß. They are an important part of writing in German and can change the meaning and pronunciation of words.

Umlauts (ä, ö, ü)

Umlauts are vowels with a diacritic mark (two dots above the letter). They come from the basic vowels a, o, u but have a different sound.

• ä — a version of the letter a;
• ö — a version of the letter o;
• ü — a version of the letter u.

Umlauts are sometimes counted as separate letters in the alphabet. In some cases, they can be replaced by ae, oe, ue, for example in email addresses or website links. (See also Umlauts in the Russian Alphabet)

The Letter ß (Eszett)

The letter ß (German Eszett or scharfes S) is only used in German and stands for a sound similar to ss. It is used after long vowels and diphthongs.

The modern German letter ß has a capital form ẞ, but often people use SS instead, especially in documents or technical systems.

In some countries, like Switzerland, ß is not used at all — it is always replaced by ss.

Classification of Letters in the German Alphabet

The letters of the German alphabet can be divided into several groups depending on their type and function in the language: vowels, consonants and special letters.

Vowels (Vokale)

Vowels are letters that form the base of a syllable and are spoken without blocking the flow of air:

• A
• E
• I
• O
• U
• Y
• Ä
• Ö
• Ü

Main vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u, their umlaut versions: ä, ö, ü, and also the letter y.

Consonants (Konsonanten)

Consonants are spoken with some blockage in your mouth. In German these are:

• B
• C
• D
• F
• G
• H
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• V
• W
• X
• Z
• ẞ

Special Letters

The special group includes the letter ß, which does not exist in other languages and is only used in German writing.

This classification helps you understand how German works and is useful when learning reading and pronunciation rules.

Letter Combinations in German

In German, many sounds are written using combinations of letters. Below is a list of important letter combinations that have special pronunciations. They are not pronounced as just a sum of their parts.

Consonant Combinations

• ch — soft “ch” or hard “kh” sound)
• sch — “sh” sound
• sp (at the start of a word) — “shp” sound
• st (at the start of a word) — “sht” sound
• ph — “f” sound
• th — “t” sound
• ck — “k” sound
• tz — “ts” sound
• chs — “ks” sound
• qu — “kv” sound
• ng — nasal “ng” sound (as in “sing”)
• nk — “nk” sound (as in “bank”)

Vowel Combinations (diphthongs and long sounds)

• ei — sounds like “eye” (as in “my”)
• ie — long “ee” sound (as in “see”)
• eu — sounds like “oy” (as in “boy”)
• äu — also sounds like “oy” (as in “boy”)
• au — sounds like “ow” (as in “cow”)
• ai, ay — both sound like “eye” (as in “my”)
• ee — long “e” sound (as in “see”)
• oo — long “o” sound (as in “moon”)

If you know these combinations, it will be much easier to read and pronounce new words in German.

Order of Letters (Alphabetical Order)

The German alphabet follows the standard Latin order from A to Z. This order is used in dictionaries, lists, catalogues and other sorting systems.

The German Alphabet in Order without Umlauts or ß
(the most common version, 26 letters)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The extra letters with umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the letter ß have special rules for where they go in alphabetical order:

• ä: usually treated as a, or as ae
• ö: as o, or as oe
• ü: as u, or as ue
• ß: treated as ss

This means that words starting with umlauts are often placed next to their basic letters or after their extended forms (ae, oe, ue), depending on sorting rules.

Dictionaries and modern computer systems usually follow standard rules where umlauts are treated as separate symbols, but when searching for words they may be treated as their basic forms.

Last updated:
30 Apr 2026