Find the location first, then the number.
On the Germany map, Schleswig-Holstein is at the top, a relatively narrow area between two coasts. Denmark continues north of it but is not a German federal state. This orientation is more reliable than memorising a number in isolation.
Hamburg and Niedersachsen border it to the south, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to the south-east. The city states are easy to overlook on the small catalogue map. Pay attention to the arrowhead inside the required state, not just the numbered circle outside it.
The other three answers
The remaining arrows lead to other northern or eastern states.
2
Arrow 2 points to the larger area of Niedersachsen farther south-west. Schleswig-Holstein lies above it.
3
Arrow 3 points to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the north-eastern coast. That is Schleswig-Holstein’s neighbour, not the required area.
4
Arrow 4 points to Brandenburg farther east below Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It does not lie between the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
The number belongs to the illustration, not the state itself.
Schleswig-Holstein has no universal map number 1. A differently arranged exercise could label the same area with another number. Location, coasts and neighbours remain useful in that case.
The unchanged catalogue graphic in the quiz is the basis for this image question. The additional generated wooden and paper shapes are explicitly abstract study props, not reconstructed state borders.
Facts and figures · Schleswig-Holstein state portal ↗Far north, between two seas → number 1 here.
Check the arrowhead and the state’s area together.
Three words for this question
- die Pfeilspitzearrowhead
- The end of the arrow pointing to the relevant area.
- die Küstecoast
- The boundary between land and sea.
- das Nachbarlandneighbouring state
- A state sharing a border with another; depending on context, a federal state or a country.