Record-breaking heat weekend sees 26 drown in Germany
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By Olivia Logan
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The German Life Saving Association (DLRG) estimates that at least 26 people have drowned or gone missing in the water over the more recent heatwave weekend.
DLRG says 26 drowned or missing
According to the German Life Saving Association (DLRG), 26 people, all boys or men, drowned over the course of the latest heatwave weekend in Germany.
The figure includes people who drowned between June 26 and 28. It also includes bathers who went missing over this period and are still missing, but their identities are known.
The DLRG added that on June 25, when temperatures had already reached at least 35 degrees in many parts of the country, at least seven people drowned across Germany. A further eight people were rushed to hospital while receiving CPR.
Boys and men overestimate swimming ability, says DLRG
The association stressed the fact that all of the drowning cases over the heat weekend involved boys or men.
“Over and over again we see that men overestimate their abilities and take risks which are avoidable,” DLRG president Ute Vogt said, according to a report by Tagesschau.
The association estimates that in 2025, over 80 percent of fatal drowning cases in Germany concerned boys or men.
You can find out more about swimming and bathing safely in Germany on the DLRG website.
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Editor for Germany at IamExpat Media. Olivia first came to Germany in 2013 to work as an Au Pair. Since studying English Literature and German in Scotland, Freiburg and Berlin she has worked as a features journalist and news editor.Read more