Current time in Berlin, Germany
The current local time in Berlin is shown below. Berlin observes CET in winter and CEST during daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time
Sunrise & sunset today
Timezone facts
Berlin in context
Berlin sits in the flat north European plain in the east of Germany, on the small Spree River. The city covers around 892 square kilometres and holds approximately 3.7 million residents, making it both the German capital and the country's most populous city. The geography is shaped by the legacy of the city's twentieth-century division, with the former Wall path still visible in the street pattern and the brutalist redevelopment of central districts contrasting with the Wilhelmine and Bauhaus architecture of outer Berlin.
Timezone history of Berlin
Central European Time was officially designated for Germany in 1893 when the country unified its railway and telegraph clocks around the meridian at 15 degrees east, passing through the small town of Görlitz on the Polish border. The choice has since spread to most of mainland Europe west of the former Iron Curtain, with Berlin sitting roughly midway between the western edge of the zone in Spain and the eastern edge in Poland. Germany has observed daylight saving continuously since 1980, transitioning on the EU-wide last-Sunday rule.
Working hours in Berlin
Berlin is more startup-and-creative-economy oriented than Germany's other major cities, with the result that the local office hours skew later than the national norm: 10:00 or 10:30 starts are common in tech and media, with corresponding finishes well into the evening. Sunday opening restrictions apply nationally, closing almost all retail; only a small number of Verkaufsoffene Sonntage are permitted each year. Public holidays vary by federal state, and Berlin recognises International Women's Day on 8 March while Bavaria and most other states do not.