When the weather gets hot, Germans like nothing more than to take to the water. Yet swimming in lakes and rivers can also be highly dangerous, as a series of six tragic accidents in just 24 hours attests.
A new report released by the European Union on Tuesday has found that 98 percent of the 2,287 German lakes, seas and rivers examined meet the bathing water standard. But the study also revealed which sites do not make the grade.
A European ranking released in 2015 showed that Germany had one of the highest numbers of 'excellent' lakes and rivers for swimming, so The Local picked out some of the best places to take a dip in Germany this summer.
Already in 2016 more people have drowned in German waters than in the whole of 2015, with the German Lifeguard Service (DLRG) saying refugees are significantly over-represented in the figures.
After an asylum seeker drowned in a Bavarian lake and three refugees died in swimming accidents in Hamburg at the beginning of June, authorities are looking for ways to help new arrivals stay safe.
Six people were infected with a bacteria from the Caribbean which has made itself at home in the popular German vacation destination. One of them is now in a coma.
Volunteers have pulled 25 tonnes of dead carp out of a lake in eastern Germany - there are so many, locals are running out of boats. Regional officials have admitted they are baffled - only carp seem to be dying in the lake.
As the warm weather prompts people to head for lakes and rivers, a warning has been issued that more accidents should be expected as increasing numbers of people in Germany cannot swim.
