Many Germans were able to visit a beer garden, dine outdoors or go swimming for the first time in months on Friday as parts of the country began easing Covid-19 curbs.
With pools and gyms closed under Covid-19 restrictions, a handful of Munich residents are challenging themselves with a new way to stay active - by swimming in the icy waters of the Eisbach.
A recent report that lifeguards had been told it was up to them to make a judgement call on saving drowning people during the pandemic caused concern among readers. We talked to the lifeguard service to set the record straight.
Some German states have already opened swimming pools, whereas others will be following in the coming weeks. Here's what you need to know, whether you're just taking a dip or swimming laps.
Open-air swimming pools offer relief to the sweltering heat. But they are increasingly becoming “aggressive” places, pool bosses say, with the latest row involving hundreds of people in Düsseldorf.
Many people head to the water to cool down during Germany’s hot spells. However, swimming in lakes and pools can be dangerous, as a series of deaths across the country show.
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.
Anyone who jumps into the Spree river these days runs the risk of catching e-Coli or some other nasty illness flushed out through Berlin’s sewers. But that might not be the case for too much longer.
We've skipped spring and gone straight to summer; as such you're probably ready to cool off with a swim in a Bad or a See. After over 400 people drowned last year, the German lifesaving society has come up with some swimming tips and has debunked some swimming myths.
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.
Around 30 hardy swimmers jumped into the waters of the Sonnenbad in Karlsruhe on Friday to mark the opening of the outdoor swimming season - in chilly February weather.
While southern Germany is all about idyllic lakes, the north means white sands stretching as far as the eye can see. These ten beaches are perfect summer getaways.
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.
When a man swimming naked in a Bavarian lake felt a strange pain in his nether regions, he looked up to see a fisherman on the shore. "Don’t pull!" he shouted.
Yusra Mardini has been nominated for the team of Refugee Olympic Athletes at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Still, this tournament may seem like one of her lighter challenges.
