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DISCOVER GERMANY

8 ways to enjoy summer like a German

From a prolonged vacation to lake days and eating seasonal produce, here's how to make the most of summer in Germany like a local.

Published: 2 August 2024 10:54 CEST
Updated: 9 August 2024 08:55 CEST
A restaurant in Berlin with a holiday notice on the window.
A restaurant in Berlin with a holiday notice on the window. Photo: Rachel Loxton

Shut up shop for weeks (or enjoy the quiet)

You know it’s summer in Germany when your local restaurant, cafe or shop closes.

And it’s never just one or two days off – you can expect businesses to close for weeks on end. Usually, people shut up shop for two to six weeks in the summer over July and August. You’ll find notices on doors and windows telling customers: ‘Wir sind im Urlaub!’ (we are on holiday).

Take a cue from the Germans and book your own prolonged vacation from work, whether you’re travelling or not.

Or you can simply enjoy the peace and quiet in your neighbourhood or city. It won’t last long – as soon as September rolls around, things will get busy once more.

Take a Hitzefrei

If the temperatures climb up into the late 20s or 30s, you can expect some businesses to close simply because they find it too hot. 

Often you’ll find a cafe with a note on the door explaining that they’ve taken a ‘Hitzefrei’ (heat free) day. Sometimes they’ll say outright that they have gone to cool off in the water. You can’t say that Germans aren’t direct. 

If your boss doesn’t allow you to go home due to the weather, take a tip from the Germans and book a vacation from work when it’s forecast to be super hot. You’ll be happy to sip on an ice cold drink rather than be stuck in an office. 

Hitzefrei written on a board at a school in Dresden. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Sebastian Kahnert

Go to a lake

Is there any more beloved summer activity than having a day trip at a lake? Germans love getting out into the fresh air and nature at any time of year, but during summer is when the lake culture really hits a high. 

According to the Federal Environment Agency, there are more than 12,000 lakes in Germany, with most situated in northern Germany and the foothills of the Alps. 

To do lakes like a German involves being meticulously prepared. You need plenty of sunscreen, access to shade and water. Bring homemade snacks, picnic blankets, towels and fresh swimwear to change into after you’ve had a swim (Germans rarely sit in their damp bathing suit). Bonus points if you embrace the FKK (Freikörperkultur) tradition and head to a nudist beach. 

With the changeable weather this summer, an umbrella might also be handy for the walk back to the train station or your car.

READ ALSO: ‘Go early and state late’: Your tips for making the most of Germany’s lakes

Enjoy seasonal produce

Although many supermarkets stock fruit and veg all year round, Germans still like to eat seasonally. 

And now that Spargelzeit (asparagus season) has been and gone for the year, we are into Erdbeersaison (strawberry season). 

Delicious strawberries are often sold at the side of the road in little stalls, and there are also the famous stands run by Karls Erdbeerhof that pop up all over cities. Other summer fruit favourites are watermelon, blueberries and cherries.

Germans also tuck into chanterelle mushrooms (Pfifferlinge) in the warmer months. They can be expensive at the supermarket, but you can often get a better deal from local punters selling them at the side of the road in the countryside or the outskirts of cities. 

READ ALSO: How to make the most of Germany’s long summer days

Eat (spaghetti) ice cream

Germans like to tuck into ice cream even when it’s chilly outside. But the art of a beautiful Eis comes into its own in summer. Ice cream parlous extend their hours in the summer months so you can get an Eis even when it’s 9, 10 or 11pm. 

One thing we absolutely recommend is a German phenomenon known as Spaghetti-Eis – pasta shaped ice cream.

The sweet treat was invented by Dario Fontanella, the owner of Eis Fontanella Eismanufaktur Mannheim in the German city of Mannheim.

German Spaghetti-Eis.

German Spaghetti-Eis. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Uwe Anspach

The ice cream expert reportedly came up with the concept in 1969. It’s made by putting vanilla ice cream through a chilled Spätzle press to create ice cream noodles. The fake pasta is then arranged on whipped cream and topped with strawberry ‘tomato’ sauce and finely chopped ‘parmesan’ white chocolate.

Nowadays, you’ll find it in lots of ice cream parlours across Germany, including variations such as a chocolate and hazelnut ‘carbonara’ (and also vegan versions). 

Fontanella, whose family emigrated to Germany from a town outside Venice in 1932, has previously said he just wanted to recreate the Italian national dish.

READ ALSO: Spaghetti ice cream to wobbly Peter – why we love Germany’s sweet summer snacks

Take a staycation

Whether it’s a day-trip or a week away, Germans love to explore their own country. 

And it’s no wonder. From stunning lakes and mountains to rivers and beaches or bustling cities, there is a ton of diverse destinations to consider for your staycation.

READ ALSO: The five best Bavarian lakes for a day trip

A survey conducted in 2023 found that Germans’ favourite at-home holiday destination is the seaside, with 57.8 percent of respondents saying they love to visit the North Sea or the Baltic Sea (Ostsee).

Other coveted destinations for a getaway were the Allgäu, a Bavarian region at the foot of the Alps, Bodensee, the Black Forest, Mecklenburg Lake District and hiking favourite, Saxon Switzerland.

The Sauerland mountains in the west and the Spreewald region near Berlin, which is famous for its waterways and pickles, also made the list. 

If you’re travelling by train, there is a downside to consider: summer is also the time that construction projects get underway so you may have to grapple with more delays and diversions than usual.

A pickle statue outside a tourist shop in Lübbenau, Spreewald.

A pickle statue outside a tourist shop in Lübbenau, Spreewald. Photo: Rachel Loxton

Attend a festival, Biergarten or picnic

Whether it’s joining a neighbourhood get-together, heading to an electronic music festival or attending a picnic in the park, this is one of the best ways to make the most of the summer in Germany.

Festivals take place all year round, but the best time to enjoy them is in the warmer months when there are longer days and fewer super-cold temperatures.

If going to an event like this isn’t your thing, there are still plenty of green spaces to enjoy in cities. Bring a picnic or set up a barbecue – but make sure to grill in the correct area so you don’t land on the wrong side of the Ordungsamt.

If you don’t fancy that, you can always rely on a Biergarten. Sitting at a long table enjoying a beer or juice al fresco is one of the joys of the German summer. 

READ ALSO:

Head to Spain

Although Germans enjoy taking a holiday at home, they are also known for hopping on a plane and heading to a Spanish island like Mallorca or Tenerife.

In these spots you will find plenty of German being spoken – and even some German-run facilities, such as restaurants and cafes. 

Famously, tens of thousands of Germans sheepishly flew to Mallorca on holiday during the pandemic in spring 2021, even though the German government was urging people not to travel at the time due to Covid. 

Not much can come between Germans and their love of a seaside break in the sun. 

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DISCOVER GERMANY

‘It’s a lifestyle’: How you can learn to sail in Germany

Sailing or boating is a great way to experience Germany's lakes, rivers and seas to the north. The Local spoke with a German sailing instructor to find out his favourite things about sailing and how to earn a boating licence.

Published: 6 September 2024 17:01 CEST
'It's a lifestyle': How you can learn to sail in Germany

Since he began sailing, the hobby has pushed Wahid Ajouaou Saidi to seek broader horizons. 

Eventually his goal was to cross the Atlantic Ocean – something he achieved last year when he captained a boat on a journey from France to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. But the Tübingen native has always enjoyed sailing at home in Germany’s lakes and waterways.

Ajouaou Saidi teaches sailing and boating as well as occasionally leading expeditions or delivering boats overseas through his business, Medlantic Watersports.

Through a partnership with another Berlin-based sailing school, he carves out a living by sharing his passion with eager students – some of whom want to eventually cross the Atlantic themselves, while plenty of others are content to just take a boat out on the Spree or a lake nearby.

The Local spoke with Ajouaou Saidi about the best places to sail in Germany, and how to get a German boating licence (with or without German speaking skills).

Where and when to sail in Germany

Wahid Ajouaou Saidi grew up in southern Germany and still treasures the region’s lakes.

“My most beloved place in Germany in general is Lake Constance, or Bodensee as we call it in German. It’s so huge and you have a view of the Alps from there – it’s really beautiful in the summertime,” he said.

But in recent years, Ajouaou Saidi has settled in Berlin, so he’s taken to navigating different waters.

“Wannsee and Müggelsee are really great for sailing,” Ajouaou Saidi told The Local. “And of course the Baltic Sea is also not that far away.”

There are also plenty of rivers in Germany – many of which are open for sailing.

When he’s teaching courses in Berlin, Ajouaou Saidi initially takes his students out on the River Spree.

“There are huge differences between sailing on rivers or lakes,” he said, adding that he generally prefers lakes for their wide open space and lack of current.

The sailing season in Germany is generally from April to October, give or take a few weeks depending on the weather.

Flux Ahoi

A view of the FluxAhoi sailing school on the Spree in Berlin. Photo by @Haenselbert

Do you need a licence?

Generally, boats with engines up to 15 horsepower can be freely operated by anyone–which is why anyone can rent small boats on the Spree, for example.

But for all boats with engines above 15 horsepower, including both sailboats and motorboats, you need a boating licence to legally operate the vessel in Germany.

If you’ve earned a boating licence in another country, your foreign licence also works in Deutschland–at least initially.

But similar to a driver’s license, eventually you’ll need to get the German equivalent to keep boating.

“If you live in Germany for more than one year, you need to have the German licence,” Ajouaou Saidi explained.

How to get a boating licence in Germany

Again, similar to driver’s licences, the path to earning a boating licence generally involves taking a course which includes both theory and practice hours, and then passing a test.

The tricky thing about earning a German boating licence for non-native speakers, however, can be the language barrier. 

Ajouaou Saidi said that he realised there was a market for English-speaking sailing courses because, living in Berlin, he met quite a few people who were interested in learning to sail but weren’t confident enough in their German-speaking skills to sign up for a standard course auf Deutsch. 

Eventually, he partnered with Stefan Grosenick, who runs the FluxAhoi sailing school in Berlin, and together they adapted the basic German sailing course for English speakers.

“For now we are offering the inland waters pleasure craft licence (Sportbootführerschein) in English,” Ajouaou Saidi said. This is the basic licence that anyone who wants to get into boating for the first time should start with. From there you can move on to other licences for bigger vessels or specific skills.

But you’ll still need to learn the basic terms in German to pass the theory test.

“The course is in English, but you’ll see the terms in German also,” he says, adding that the boating licence exam is multiple choice, so by learning the basic terms in German most students can pass, even without excellent German speaking skills.

“Of course, you need to have some basic to intermediate German skills,” Ajouaou Saidi said, “But you don’t need to be a native speaker. It’s completely fine if you have A2 level German or higher.”

While Ajouaou Saidi’s courses are primarily offered in Berlin, he also offers an online theory course. 

So if you’re seeking an English sailing course and living elsewhere in Germany, you could start with that.

The best thing about sailing

Asked to explain one of his favourite sailing experiences, Ajouaou Saidi spoke excitedly at length about his journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

“At night, if it’s a full moon the whole horizon was lit-up, or when it was dark you just see the stars like you never saw them before…You see whales or dolphins almost every day because they love to swim in the bow wave…and if you’re into seafood, you can have great seafood everyday that you just catch yourself, said Ajouaou Saidi.

“This is what I really love about sailing. It’s not only about navigating a boat – it’s a lifestyle.” 

For more information on courses and sailing excursion offers see the FluxAhoi website, or contact Ajouaou Saidi here.

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