How to say King in German properly, plus 106 more royal words

Are you a big fan of fairy tales by the brothers Grimm, binge watching a television show about Empress Sisi of Austria or secretly planning to move to Castle Neuschwanstein one day?

Those are all valid reasons to learn German. In each case, you’ll encounter some royal vocab words and your life will be much easier if you already know their meaning. So we’ll teach you all about royalty in German.

This will especially help you in the following situations:

• When you’re learning about the history of the German Empire and its royal emperors
• When you’re visiting one of the beautiful castles in a German-speaking country
• When watching shows like “Sisi” in its original language
• When looking for a royal pet name for a German loved one
• When reading the original fairy tales of “Schneewittchen” (Snowwhite) and “Aschenputtel” (Cinderella)

How do you say royals in German

There’s no direct translation for “royalty” in German. “Royals” in German are simply called “members of the royal house”: Mitglieder des Königshauses.

There are no royal families in present-day Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

None of these countries were ever monarchies but before they were the countries they are today, they did have royal families whose members traditionally carried titles like “Kaiser und Kaiserin” (Emperor and Empress) or “König und Königin” (King and Queen).

How to say queen in German

“Queen” in German is “Königin”. While in English, the term is often used to refer to any badass female from Beyoncé to that girl on instagram whose outfit you admire, the term is not quite as popular in German.

If you call someone a “Königin” in German, you’re most likely referring to a historical figure or a character in a fairytale.

Example sentences using the word queen in different contexts

German	English
Eine Königin herrscht über ihr Reich.	A queen rules over her empire.
Die böse Königin hat versucht, Schneewittchen zu vergiften.	The evil queen tried to poison Snow White.
Die Bienenkönigin ist für das Legen der Eier verantwortlich.	The queen bee is responsible for laying the eggs.

How to say king in German

“King” in German is “König”. You might want to pronounce the “g” at the end of the word like a regular German “g”, which is pronounced like the “g” in “game”, but it’s in fact pronounced like a German “ch”. Therefore “König” rhymes with “mich” or “dich”.

This is a mistake even native German-speakers often make because in other variations of the word like “Königin” (queen) or “königlich” (royal), the “g” is pronounced like a regular “g”.

Example sentences using the word king in different contexts

German	English
Ich war in Hamburg im Musical “König der Löwen”.	I went to the “Lion King” musical in Hamburg.
Lang lebe der König!	Long live the king!
Ich bin der König der Welt.	I’m the king of the world.

Other terms that use the words queen and king in German

The lack of a royal family and royals in Germany in comparison to England is reflected in a number of everyday terms that use royal expressions in English but not in German.

Therefore, in German a king prawn is a “giant prawn”, a drama queen is a “drama child” and a queen-sized bed is just a boring double bed.

English	German	IPA
Queen-size	Das Doppelbett	[ˈdɔpl̩ˌbɛt]
King-size	Breites Doppelbett	[ˈbʁaɪ̯təs ˈdɔpl̩ˌbɛt]
You are my queen	Du bist meine Königin	[duː bɪst ˈmaɪ̯nə ˈkøːnɪɡɪn]
You are my king	Du bist mein König	[duː bɪst ˈmaɪ̯n ˈkøːnɪç]
I love you, my quen	Ich liebe dich, meine Königin	[ɪç ˈliːbə ˌdɪç maɪ̯nə ˈkøːnɪɡɪn]
I love you, my king	Ich liebe dich, mein König	[ɪç ˈliːbə ˌdɪç maɪ̯n ˈkøːnɪç]
Drama queen	Die Dramakind	[ˈdʁaːmaˌkɪnt]
Drag queen	Dragqueen; Transe	[ˈdʁɛkˌkviːn; ˈtʁanzə]
Queen's counsel	Justizrat	[jʊsˈtiːt͡sʁaːt]
Queen bee	Bienenkönigin	[ˈbiːnənˌkøːnɪɡɪn]
Queen of pop	Popkönigin	[pɔpˈkøːnɪɡɪn]
King Kong	King Kong	[kɪŋkɔŋ]
King fish	Die Pferdemakrele	[ˈpfɛdəmaˈkʁeːlə]
King prawn	Die Riesengarnele	[ˈʁiːzn̩ɡaʁˈneːlə]
King crab	Die Königskrabbe	[ˈkøːnɪçsˈkʁabə]
King of kings	Der Großkönig	[ɡʁoːsˈkøːnɪç]
Kingship	Das Königtum	[ˈkøːnɪçtuːm]
Kingdom	Das Königreich	[ˈkøːnɪkˌʁaɪ̯ç]

How to say princess in German

“Princess” in German is “Prinzessin”. You can use this term jokingly, for example when you’re calling someone a “Prinzessin auf der Erbse” (princess and the pea) when they’re being particularly fussy.

Other terms that use the word princess in German

You can lovingly call someone a princess in German, especially a little girl. Just keep in mind that in some contexts, the term can have a slightly negative connotation if used to refer to a grown woman.

English	German	IPA
I love you, my princess	Ich liebe dich, meine Prinzessin	[ɪç ˈliːbə ˌdɪç ˈmaɪ̯nə pʁɪnˈt͡sɛsɪn]
My princess	Meine Prinzessin	[ˈmaɪ̯nə pʁɪnˈt͡sɛsɪn]
Good morning, princess	Guten Morgen, Prinzessin	[ˈɡuːtn̩ ˈmɔʁɡŋ̍ pʁɪnˈt͡sɛsɪn]
Princess and the frog	Die Prinzessin und der Frosch	[diː pʁɪnˈt͡sɛsɪn ʊnt deːɐ̯ fʁɔʃ]
Princess and the Pea	Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse	[diː pʁɪnˈt͡sɛsɪn aʊ̯f deːɐ̯ ˈɛʁpsə]
The princess bride	Die Braut des Prinzen	[diː bʁaʊ̯t dɛs ˈpʁɪnt͡sn̩]
Crown princess	Kronprinzessin	[ˈkʁoːnpʁɪnˌt͡sɛsɪn]
Little princess	Prinzesschen	[pʁɪnˈt͡sɛsçən]

Example sentences using the word princess in different contexts

German	English
Unsere Tochter Milli ist unsere kleine Prinzessin.	Our daughter Milli is our little princess.
Ich liebe dein Kleid, du siehst aus wie eine Prinzessin!	I love your dress, you look like a princess!
Am Ende hat die Prinzessin den Drachen besiegt.	In the end, the princess defeated the dragon.

How to say prince in German

Have you considered naming your German shepherd dog “Prinz”? That’s how you say “prince” in German. Royalty names in other languages generally make great names for animals and pets.

Chances are you’ll also encounter the word “Prinz” in combination with cookies, as the so-called “Prinzenrolle” (prince’s roll) are famous German cookies.

Other terms that use the word prince in German

Your German bae will be flattered if you call him your “Traumprinz” (dream prince) and other royal nicknames.

English	German	IPA
I love you, my prince	Ich liebe dich, mein Prinz	[ɪç ˈliːbə ˌdɪç maɪ̯n pʁɪnt͡s]
My prince	Mein Prinz	[maɪ̯n pʁɪnt͡s]
The Little Prince	Der kleine Prinz	[deːɐ̯ ˈklaɪ̯nə pʁɪnt͡s]
Prince charming	Der Traumprinz	[ˈtʁaʊ̯mˌpʁɪnt͡s]
Crown prince	Der Kronprinz	[ˈkʁoːnˌpʁɪnt͡s]
Prince of darkness	Der Fürst der Finsternis	[deːɐ̯ fʏʁst deːɐ̯ ˈfɪnstɐnɪs]

Example sentences using the word prince in different contexts

German	English
Er behandelt seinen Sohn wie einen kleinen Prinzen.	He treats his son like a little prince.
Ich habe endlich meinen Traumprinzen gefunden.	I finally found my prince charming.
Ich habe eine ganze Packung Prinzenrolle gegessen.	I ate a whole bag of Prinzenrolle cookies.

Other important monarchy related vocab in German

Most monarchy-related German words are very similar to the English ones. “Monarchy” in German “Monarchie”, “crown” is “Krone” and “majesty” is “Majestät”. This should make it fairly easy to study them!

English	German	IPA
To reign	regieren	[ʁeˈɡiːʁən]
To rule	herrschen	[ˈhɛʁʃn̩]
The crown	Die Krone	[ˈkʁoːnə]
King and queen	Der König und die Königin	[deːɐ̯ ˈkøːnɪç ʊnt diː ˈkøːnɪɡɪn]
Sovereign	Der Herrscher, die Herrscherin	[deːɐ̯ ˈhɛʁʃɐ, diː ˈhɛʁʃəʁɪn]
Monarch	Der Monarch, die Monarchin	[moˈnaʁç, moˈnaʁçɪn]
Duchess	Die Herzogin	[ˈhɛʁt͡soːɡɪn]
Nobility	Der Adel	[ˈaːdl]
Archduke	Der Erzherzog	[ˈeːɐ̯t͡sˌhɛʁt͡soːk]
Her majesty	Ihre Majestät	[ˈiːʁə majɛsˈtɛːt]
His majesty	Seine Majestät	[ˈzɛːn majɛsˈtɛːt]
Aristocracy	Die Aristokratie	[aʁɪstokʁaˈtiː]
The royal family	Die Königsfamilie	[ˈkøːnɪçsfaˌmiːli̯ə]
Knighthood	Der Ritterstand	[ˈʁɪtɐˌʃtant]
The throne	Der ​​Thron	[tʁoːn]
Duke	Der Herzog	[ˈhɛʁt͡soːk]
Emperor	Der Kaiser	[ˈkaɪ̯zɐ]
Queen mother	Königinmutter	[ˈkøːnɪɡɪnˌmʊtɐ]

The most beautiful castles in German-speaking countries

Massive medieval fortresses surrounded by dark fairytale forests and dreamy castles on mountain tops are the backdrop of German fairy tales like Snowhite and Cinderella.

When the brothers Grimm wrote these stories in the 1800s, they were heavily inspired by the German landscape and it’s obvious why.

Today, we still have some of the most beautiful royal castles and fortresses across Germany, Austria and Switzerland:

Schloss Neuschwanstein

Castle Neuschwanstein actually inspired Walt Disney for Sleeping Beauty's Castle as well as Cinderella's Castle, which are the centerpieces of Disneyland and Disneyworld today.

Schloss Sanssouci

This beautiful city castle is a perfect destination if you’re visiting Berlin as it’s closeby in the city of Potsdam and you can reach it via public transport.

Burg Hohenzollern

The House of Hohenzollern was once home to one of the most important German dynasties.

Burg Eltz

As you walk up the long rocky bridge to this romantic medieval fort, you’ll feel like you’re on a film set of a movie.

Hohenwerfen Castle

Located on top of a hill and surrounded by vast green forests, this castle is one of the most beautiful sights of Austria.

Aarburg Castle

Located by the beautiful Aare river in the canton of Aargau, this little gem is classified as a Swiss heritage site and can be seen as one of Switzerland’s most precious castles.

And they all lived happily ever after

We think that everyone who puts in the hard work of learning German deserves to reward themselves with a trip to a German-speaking country at least once in their life. It’s the perfect “happy ending” after successfully completing a German class.

In German, the classic ending of fairy tales is a little nonsensical compared to the cheerful English phrase. Once all the evil forces are defeated and the prince and princess finally got together, the last sentence usually goes:

“Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute.”

This translates to: “And if they didn’t die, they’re still alive today.”

Obviously the prince and princess would have died at some point, but since fairytales have their own laws that sometimes defy logic, let’s just pretend they didn’t and they’re all still living happily ever after.

And just like a dream come true, we have an almost endless amount of magical articles for you on our German language blog - So you’ll be happily ever after learning German.