Is winter swimming allowed in Berlin?

Yes, in the waters that are legal in summer. The bathing rules have no season attached; the 15 May to 15 September season only covers water testing. The Spree, the canals and the Havel between Eiswerder and Schildhorn stay banned all year.

Where can I swim in a Berlin lake in winter?

Plan around lakes listed as a whole or with free shores: Schlachtensee, Krumme Lanke, Wannsee and the Unterhavel beaches, the Müggelsee, Groß Glienicker See, Tegeler See and the Dahme lakes. At the Orankesee, Weißer See and Plötzensee only the lido is bathing water, and the lidos are closed.

How cold do Berlin lakes get in winter?

Last winter most gauges fell under 10 °C between late October and mid November and under 4 °C by late December. The coldest readings came in January and early February, close to 0 °C, and the water was back above 8 °C only in mid to late March.

Can I join the Berliner Seehunde?

The club swims at the Orankesee lido every Sunday at 10:00 from mid September to the end of April, but its list for trial swims is closed at the moment and the Sunday swims are for members. The public Eisfasching in January is the easiest way to see it.

Is there a public ice swim in Berlin?

Yes. The Großes Eisbaden at Seebad Friedrichshagen on the Müggelsee takes place on 17 January 2027, €15 in presale or €17 at the gate. The Seehunde also hold their Eisfasching at Strandbad Orankesee on the second Saturday of January.

When is it safe to walk on a frozen Berlin lake?

DLRG Berlin says only at 15 cm of ice on a lake and 20 cm on a river, never alone and never on the first cold days. If someone falls through, call 112 and reach them from the shore.

Winter Swimming in Berlin: Where It Is Legal and How Cold the Lakes Get

Q: How long should I stay in cold water as a beginner?

A few seconds up to one minute. Even experienced swimmers stay no longer than one minute per degree of water temperature. Walk in slowly, never jump, and never swim alone.

Yusuf Ucuz

7 minutes ago

7 min read

The lidos shut in September, the lifeguard towers stand empty, and yet on a grey Sunday in January there are still people walking into the Orankesee in swimming caps and woolly hats. Winter swimming in Berlin has quietly become one of the city's small rituals. Every autumn more people want to try it, usually after a friend posts a steaming selfie from the Müggelsee.

The appeal is simple: ten cold minutes that reset a dark Berlin week. The difficulty is that the city's lake rules, its water temperatures and its closed lidos do not line up the way most people assume. Finding that out at a frozen shore with no towel within reach is the wrong way to learn it. So here is what the water actually does between October and March, where you are allowed in, and how to start without doing something stupid.

The DLRG lifeguard tower at Friedrichshagen on a frozen Müggelsee on a starry winter night, with ice floes and a yellow swimming ladder in the foreground

The DLRG station at Friedrichshagen on the Müggelsee, the shore where Berlin's biggest public ice swim takes place in January.

Is winter swimming in Berlin allowed?

Yes, in the right places. Berlin's bathing rules come from the Badegewässerverordnung, and they say where swimming is allowed and where it is banned without any date attached. The season from 15 May to 15 September only decides when the water is tested and when the results are published. A lake that is legal in July is still legal in January.

The bans are just as permanent. According to the LAGeSo bathing water rules, swimming is always off limits in:

the Spree and every canal, including the popular-looking spots in the middle of the city
the Havel between Insel Eiswerder and Schildhorn, the stretch past Spandau
harbours, locks, and within 100 m of bridges and weirs
within 50 m of landings and ferry piers
the shipping channel of any federal waterway, and every lake that is not on the official list

That list matters more in winter than in summer, because nobody is there to tell you. LAGeSo took its last water samples of the year on 15 September, the lifeguards have gone home, and the published water quality ratings are months old by Christmas.

Where you can actually get in between October and March

This is the part that surprises most people. Several of Berlin's best-known swimming lakes are official bathing water only inside the lido. At the Orankesee, the Weißer See, the Plötzensee and the Jungfernheide, the legal zone is the Strandbad itself, and those lidos are closed until spring. Outside the fence, the rest of the lake is not bathing water.

The waters where the whole lake or a free shore is listed are the ones to plan around:

Schlachtensee and Krumme Lanke in Zehlendorf, both listed as whole lakes, with paths all the way round
Wannsee and the Unterhavel beaches such as Kleine Badewiese and Große Steinlanke, away from the shipping lane
the Müggelsee, which is listed in full, with Friedrichshagen and Rahnsdorf on its shores
Groß Glienicker See, Heiligensee and Tegeler See in the west and north
the Dahme lakes around Grünau and Schmöckwitz in the southeast

The shore of the Schlachtensee in winter, with bare trees leaning over a sandy bank and a sheet of thin ice on the water

Schlachtensee in winter: a whole lake on the bathing list, a few minutes on foot from S-Bahn Schlachtensee.

My advice: pick a shore with a gentle sandy entry and a path you can reach by S-Bahn, like the Schlachtensee from the station of the same name. A steep jetty and a long walk back to warm clothes are the two things that make a first winter dip go wrong.

How cold the lakes really get, month by month

Berlin's water authority runs gauges in the lakes and rivers and publishes a reading every day on the Wasserportal. I downloaded the daily means for the last two winters for nine gauges on waters you are allowed to swim in, and the pattern is clearer than any rule of thumb.

At the end of September the lakes still sit around 16 to 18 °C. Last winter, most gauges dropped under 10 °C between 27 October and 17 November. The Orankesee and the Müggelsee went first, the Havel and the bigger lakes in the west a week or two later. By late November the small lakes were under 6 °C, and between late November and the end of December most of them fell under 4 °C and stayed there for about two months.

The coldest readings came in January and early February, when the Müggelsee outflow touched 0.2 °C and the Flughafensee sat at freezing point for more than a week. The water came back above 8 °C only between 10 and 24 March.

The winter before was noticeably milder. The Orankesee spent 47 days under 4 °C in 2024/25 against 75 last winter, and the Groß Glienicker See gauge never went below 4 °C in either year. So check the board below for your own lake before you trust any single number.

Two things the numbers mean in practice. First, October and early November are the easy months to start, when the water is 10 to 14 °C and your body can learn slowly. Second, a still lake on a frosty morning is colder at the surface than any gauge, which sits at one fixed point and depth. Treat the reading as the floor of what you will feel, not the ceiling.

Start with a group, not on your own

The German Swimming Federation's ice swimming guide puts the first rule in one line I would stick on every fridge: never go into the water alone. Cold water triggers a gasp reflex in the first moments, can stiffen your arms within minutes, and can make you dizzy a few minutes after you get out, when blood pressure drops. None of that is dramatic when someone is standing next to you. All of it is dangerous when nobody is.

The oldest group in the city is the Berliner Seehunde, who have swum in the Orankesee lido every Sunday at 10:00 since 1980, from mid September to the end of April. Their season started on 27 September. The honest catch: their Sunday swims are for members, and their list for trial swims is closed at the moment because of demand. Keep an eye on the list; turning up at the gate will not get you in.

The Strandbad Orankesee in October, with a small blue lifeguard hut and a jetty on the far shore behind reeds and autumn trees

Strandbad Orankesee in Alt-Hohenschönhausen in October, home of the Berliner Seehunde winter swimmers.

If you want a first time with other people around, two public dates are worth putting in the calendar now:

Eisfasching at Strandbad Orankesee, the Seehunde's costume swim on the second Saturday of January. It is free to watch, and the 2026 edition celebrated its 40th year.
Großes Eisbaden at Seebad Friedrichshagen on the Müggelsee, on Sunday 17 January 2027, with a workshop, sauna and hot tub for participants. Tickets are €15 in presale or €17 at the gate, and the Seebad Friedrichshagen page carries the details.

How long to stay in, and what to do afterwards

The rule the swimming federation gives is simple: beginners stay in for a few seconds up to one minute, and even experienced swimmers stay no longer than one minute per degree of water temperature. At 4 °C that is four minutes at the very most.

The routine the clubs teach newcomers:

Walk in slowly and keep your head above water. No jumping and no diving, ever.
Breathe out long and calm through the first seconds, until the gasping stops.
Get out before you want to. The cold keeps working for several minutes after you leave the water.
Dry off and dress immediately, hat and socks first, then a warm drink. No hot shower straight away.
Stay with your group for ten minutes after, because that is when people feel faint.

If you have a heart or blood pressure condition, talk to your doctor before your first cold swim. This is the one part of the article I would not skip.

Ice is a different story

A frozen lake looks like an invitation, and the Müggelsee in February can look like a white football pitch. The DLRG Berlin ice rules are strict for good reason: only step onto a lake when the ice is at least 15 cm thick, onto flowing water at 20 cm, never alone, and never on the first cold days.

Thin broken ice along the edge of the Müggelsee in winter, with bare branches overhanging the dark water

Broken shore ice on the Müggelsee: the edge freezes first and thaws first, which makes it the weakest place to step.

Swimmers sometimes cut or break a hole at the shore. I would leave that to the clubs, who know the spot and have people with ropes on the bank. If someone goes through the ice, call 112, stay on the shore and reach them with a branch, a scarf or anything long. Walking out after them usually means two people in the water.

The Havel at Hakenfelde with snow on the banks and a wide sheet of ice around the island of Valentinswerder

The Havel near Hakenfelde in February, with ice around Valentinswerder. Moving water and a shipping lane are two reasons to stay off it.

A realistic first winter

If you want to try this, my suggestion is to make it a season rather than a stunt. Start on a sunny Saturday in October at the Schlachtensee, when the board above shows the water at 12 °C or so, and go back every week or two as it cools. Your body adapts to the curve if you follow it. Jumping straight into 3 °C water in January because of a video is how people get hurt.

Pair it with something warm. The thermal baths near Berlin and the city's sauna guide are the natural next stop after a cold swim, and if the lakes are frozen solid, the indoor pools are a calmer way to keep swimming. When spring comes back, the Berlin lakes guide and the note on the bathing season pick up where this one ends.

One small move for this week: open the board, pick the lake nearest to you, and note the day it crossed 10 °C last year. That is roughly your start date.

Image credits

Source and licence details for the 4 photographs used in this article.

The DLRG station at Friedrichshagen on a winter night: abbilder, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Schlachtensee in winter: Fridolin freudenfett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Strandbad Orankesee in October: MHM55, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Shore ice on the Müggelsee: abbilder, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.