German sausage: the types of Wurst

German sausage, Wurst in German, is not one thing but a whole family. Germany's official guidelines for meat products sort it by how it is made: raw sausages such as salami, scalded sausages such as the Wiener and the Munich Weisswurst, and cooked sausages such as liverwurst and blood sausage. This guide explains the three families, introduces the sausages of Bavaria, lists the German sausages protected in the EU and tells you which ones need cooking and which do not.

German food basics: what makes a Wurst?

The Leitsätze für Fleisch und Fleischerzeugnisse, the meat guidelines of the German Food Code published by the federal agriculture ministry, describe in detail what buyers in Germany may expect from a product with a given name. They treat Wurstwaren as their own group: products that come smoked or unsmoked, in casings, in containers or without any casing. Within that group, the guidelines draw three main lines.

Rohwurst: raw sausages

Raw sausages are as a rule cured and can be stored without refrigeration above 10 °C (50 °F). They are usually eaten without cooking, either because they stay spreadable or because they become firm enough to slice while they ripen and dry. Sugar may make up no more than 2 percent. Salami, Cervelatwurst and Landjäger belong here, and so do the soft spreading sausages Teewurst and Mettwurst.

Brühwurst: scalded sausages

For scalded sausages, raw meat is chopped with salt, usually with water or ice, and then heated by scalding, baking or frying. The muscle protein sets during heating, so the sausage keeps its shape and can be sliced even when it is warmed up again. Many familiar names belong here: Wiener and Bockwurst, Weisswurst, Regensburger, Lyoner, Bierwurst and Leberkäse. Some of them are also sold raw for cooking at home, such as raw bratwurst, raw Weisswurst or raw Leberkäse; the guidelines call these semi-finished products.

Kochwurst: cooked sausages

Cooked sausages are made mostly from ingredients that were cooked before they went into the sausage, and they can usually be sliced only when cold. Among them are liver sausages such as liverwurst, blood sausages, and jellied sausages that hold together through set aspic or jelly, such as Presssack.

Bratwurst does not fit neatly into one box. According to the guidelines, what people understand by the word varies by region, so a product called bratwurst may be a raw meat preparation, a raw sausage, a scalded sausage or a cooked sausage. Everything about cooking it is on our page about bratwurst.

Bavarian German sausages: Wurst in Munich

Munich's own sausage is the Weisswurst. The guidelines describe the Münchner Weißwurst as a finely chopped mass with pieces of connective tissue up to the size of a grain of rice, not cured, usually filled into narrow pork casings and with a short shelf life. How it is heated and eaten is explained on our page about Weisswurst, and the sweet mustard that goes with it on the page about sweet mustard.

Other Bavarian sausages, each with a German page of its own:

• Schweinswürstl, small pork sausages for frying. The Hofbräuhaus menu of October 2026 lists four for 14.90 euros, served with sauerkraut and mustard.
• Regensburger, a scalded sausage that the guidelines group with the Pfälzer and the Augsburger. More on the Regensburger Wurst.
• Bayerische Bierwurst, listed among the coarse scalded sausages.
• Milzwurst, a scalded sausage with inlays of spleen and meat, fried in slices or breaded. See Milzwurst.
• Leberkäse, baked or scalded in a mold; in Bavaria it normally contains no liver, as the guidelines note. See Leberkäse.
• Presssack and Blutwurst, both cooked sausages. See Presssack and Blutwurst.
• Nürnberger Rostbratwurst from Franconia, the small bratwurst with EU protection. See Nürnberger Rostbratwurst.

Wiener or Frankfurter?

The two are easily confused, but the guidelines keep them apart. Sausages sold as Frankfurter style, Würstchen nach Frankfurter Art, contain no beef: they are made from pork alone, finely chopped, cured and thin. A Wiener, like a Bockwurst, is made from beef with fatty pork and bacon, also finely chopped and cured. In Munich, the Wiener also turns up on mixed plates: the Hofbräuhaus Würstlteller of October 2026 puts one next to two Schweinswürstl and a Pfälzer, with sauerkraut and mustard, for 17.90 euros.

German sausages protected in the EU

Some German sausages carry a protected geographical indication, which ties the name to its region of origin. The annex of the German guidelines lists, among others, these sausages:

• Nürnberger Bratwürste or Nürnberger Rostbratwürste
• Thüringer Rostbratwurst, Thüringer Leberwurst and Thüringer Rotwurst
• Halberstädter Würstchen
• Hofer Rindfleischwurst
• Greußener Salami and Nordhessische Ahle Wurscht
• Flönz, Göttinger Stracke and Eichsfelder Feldgieker
• Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst and Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst

The Münchner Weißwurst is not on that list. Its rules come from the guidelines and, for sausages sold as Original Münchner, from a municipal requirement of 1972 described on our Weisswurst page.

Do you have to cook German sausage?

The family tells you. Raw sausages such as salami are eaten as they are, sliced or spread. Cooked sausages such as liverwurst are also ready to eat; only a few, like fresh Leberwürstchen, are meant to be eaten warm. Scalded sausages are heat treated when they are made, so they are sold ready to eat and only need warming. The exceptions are semi-finished products sold raw, such as raw bratwurst or raw Weisswurst, which have to be cooked first: fresh bratwurst is uncooked ground meat in a casing, and for ground meat the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sets a safe minimum internal temperature of 160 °F (71 °C).

Where to try German sausage in Munich

Beyond the butcher's counter, the menus of Munich's inns show the range. The Hofbräuhaus listed in October 2026, besides the Schweinswürstl and the sausage plate, two Weisswürste with sweet mustard for 8.20 euros, four Wiener with mustard and potato salad for 13.50 euros and a Munich sausage salad for 13.50 euros. In 2026 the Löwenbräu tent at the Oktoberfest put Krakauer, Leberwurst and smoked pork belly on its Brotzeit platter for two, priced at 41.80 euros. More dishes from the tents are in our guide to Oktoberfest food, and the wider kitchen is covered in Bavarian food. If beer comes with the sausage, enjoy it in moderation.