The ability to rate anything and everything on Google means that people are guided by the number of stars a rated object receives. These can be restaurants, places or, as in our analysis, commercial locations in Germany. What are commercial places? In contrast to a city park, visitors pay admission to a commercial park, such as the Hansa Park in Schleswig-Holstein. A commercial place is also a store or, in the specific case of Hesse, Frankfurt Airport. This does not mean that Willy Brandt Airport in Berlin is not a commercial place. According to our evaluation, it simply received fewer ratings than the Berlin Zoological Garden, not to be confused with the zoo in Friedrichsfelde.
Pleasure comes first
If we look in detail at which commercial location received the most ratings in which federal state, theme parks clearly dominate. It is understandable that visitors are more likely to share their assessment of a leisure facility than their assessment of a shopping center. Even if Saarland contradicts this statement.
Of 16 state-specific top performers, eleven are classic leisure activities: Amusement parks, zoos, car racing. The trend in Bavaria is clear. The Hofbräuhaus brewery received more ratings than the Frauenkirche church in Munich or Lake Starnberg. The result from Saarland is a little confusing: not the Völklinger Hütte World Cultural Heritage Site, which does require an entrance fee, and not one of the six zoos or wildlife parks that the small federal state has to offer is in first place. The Europa Galerie shopping center has the highest number of ratings. As of March 2025, this shopping mall had been rated 13,737 times. The Völklinger Hütte only had 7,906 ratings with 4.7 stars.
However, three outliers without direct leisure fun
Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia are an exception here. Frankfurt Airport is in fourth place in terms of the number of ratings. However, its charm and ambience put it far behind in last place. Why do people rate an airport at all? Perhaps it’s boredom while waiting for their flight. On the other hand, the anticipation of the upcoming trip makes this major airport appear in a brighter light to vacationers, resulting in a five-star rating. Or they are so tense about the atmosphere there that they simply want to vent their displeasure with a poor rating.
The most rated commercial location in Thuringia is an outdoor outfitter. An online store that sells military-style clothing and paraphernalia. As shipping goes far beyond the borders of Thuringia, the number of reviews is correspondingly high. On the other hand, very few people who have left a review have actually stood in front of the door.
The same applies to FloraPrima GmbH, which is based in Saxony-Anhalt. After all, it is the company that received the most reviews in Saxony-Anhalt – a flower delivery service. The semi-commercial Hexentanzplatz in Thale had 18,090 reviews by March 2025, half of what FloraPrima had.
