In Germany the clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October. In 2027 summer time begins on 28 March, when 2:00 a.m. becomes 3:00 a.m., and ends on 31 October, when 3:00 a.m. becomes 2:00 a.m. again. Germany changes at the same instant as every other country in the European Union.

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Next clock change in Germany

Local time in each place. Computed from the IANA time zone database.

All clock changes 2026–2028: Berlin

The Rule: Last Sunday in March and October

German law calls the two states Mitteleuropäische Zeit, Central European Time, and Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit, Central European Summer Time. The change is made at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time on both dates, which is 2:00 a.m. on the winter clock and 3:00 a.m. on the summer one. In spring the hour from 2:00 to 3:00 is skipped. In autumn the hour from 2:00 to 3:00 happens twice, and the official way to tell the two apart is to call them 2A and 2B. The legal time is kept by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig and broadcast from the long-wave transmitter DCF77 near Frankfurt, which is why radio-controlled clocks in Germany reset themselves in the night without anyone touching them.

The First Country to Change Its Clocks

Germany introduced summer time before anyone else. On 30 April 1916, in the middle of the First World War, the German Empire and Austria-Hungary put their clocks forward to save coal and lamp oil. It was dropped after 1918 and returned in 1940. The post-war years were the most complicated: the occupying powers set the dates zone by zone, and in 1947 there was even a double summer time, the Hochsommerzeit, two hours ahead of normal time from 11 May to 29 June. Then, from 1950 to 1979, Germany had no summer time at all. It came back in 1980 in both German states at once, West Germany having passed its Time Act in 1978 and waited until the East was ready, so that the country would not be divided by an extra hour.

Will the Change Be Abolished?

It was supposed to be. In 2018 the European Commission held a public consultation in which 4.6 million people took part, three million of them from Germany, and 84 per cent wanted the changes to end. The European Parliament voted in 2019 to stop them from 2021. But each member state would have had to choose permanent summer or permanent winter time, the governments could not agree, and the proposal stalled in the Council. In 2026 the Commission began a new assessment of the question. Until the directive is changed, Germany is bound to the last Sunday in March and October, and a single country cannot opt out. So the honest answer for 2027 and 2028 is that the clocks will change as usual.

Born in Germany? Summer Time and the Birth Chart

For a birth chart the important fact is that German summer time has gaps. Someone born in July 1955 was born on normal Central European Time; someone born in July 1985 was born an hour ahead of it. Births in 1916 to 1918 and 1940 to 1949 fall under wartime and occupation rules that differed from year to year and, in 1945, from zone to zone; Berlin and the Soviet zone were briefly on Moscow time. Births in the 2B hour of an autumn night are an hour later than those in 2A although the clock showed the same time. One hour out, and the Ascendant sits roughly a whole sign away. Our natal chart calculator knows these gaps and the rules of the occupation years, so the time on the birth certificate can be entered unchanged.

Frequently asked

When is the clock change in 2027 in Germany?

On Sunday 28 March 2027 clocks go forward from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., and on Sunday 31 October 2027 they go back from 3:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

Do the clocks go forward or back in March?

Forward. In March an hour is lost and evenings get lighter; in October the clocks go back and the hour is regained.

Is the clock change being abolished in Germany?

Not yet. The European Parliament voted to end it in 2019, but the member states have not agreed, so the EU rule still applies and Germany changes its clocks in 2027 and 2028.

Clock changes by country