This is how long the sun shines in Germany! Up to 16:50 hours of daylight a day. (2024)

Average length of day in Berlin

The following graph shows the times of sunrise and sunset over the course of the year. The duration of twilight can be seen at the top and bottom edges. The vertical offset between April and October shows the effect of daylight saving time, when the time is set one hour ahead.

Sunrise and sunset in the most important cities of Germany

The cities are ordered by their geographic position from east to west, so in an approximate direction of the sun's course. Since the orbit around the sun is elliptical, sunrise or sunset never happen on a whole longitude at the same time. All data given for July 7th., localtime in Germany

Direction of the sun's course

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In Asia, for example, it is already day while you are still sleeping in Germany. On the other hand, the Americans are much later and only get up when it is noon in Germany.

Sunrise and sunset by month for Berlin

Where does the sun rise in Germany?

The sun always rises in the east, everywhere and regardless of the country or continent. The easternmost city in Germany is Görlitz in the state of Saxony. There, the sun rises at 4:53 am and sets at 9:17 pm these days. The latest sunset is currently experienced in the west in the city of Selfkant (North Rhine-Westphalia) at 21:52.

Duration of the sunset

The distance from the equator and the path of the sun determines not only the time of sunrise and sunset. The farther a country is from the equator, the more oblique the sun's path is to the horizon, causing sunset to last for a different duration. Berlin lies on the 53rd degree of northern latitude and is therefore very far away from the equator. While a sunset near the equator lasts only about 20 minutes, in Germany, this period averages 53 minutes. In June, it's about 65 minutes in Berlin, while in December it's 42 minutes.

The sun always shines from the south

The capital Berlin is located at 53 degrees north latitude and therefore also north of the Tropic. While the sun swings back and forth between the northern and southern tropics throughout the year, it shines on Berlin from the south, but is never perpendicular to it. In December, the sun is so far away that even at midday it can only be seen 14 degrees above the horizon. (0 degrees is at the height of the horizon, 90 degrees would be a position directly above Berlin.) It reaches its highest point at its zenith, i.e. at midday on June 21st. Then the sun shines down at an angle of 60.9 degrees.

Actual hours of sunshine

The period from sunrise to sunset is the astronomical length of the day. It is therefore independent of whether you can actually see the sun. In addition, significant deviations can be perceived depending on cloud cover or other visual obstructions. For the Berlin region, we have shown the approximate sunshine duration in the graph here.

International cities for comparison