Page "Transport in Germany" Paragraph 13

Other main public roads are maintained by the Bundesländer ( states ), called Landesstraße ( country road ) or Staatsstraße ( state road ).

The numbers of these roads are prefixed with " L ", " S " or " St ", but are usually not seen on direction signs or written in maps.

They appear on the kilometre posts on the roadside.

Numbers are unique only within one state.