GERMANY /

BEST LOCATIONS:

NATURPARK WESTHAVELLAND / LOCATION - West of Berlin

Why it's great: Located about 70 kilometers west of Berlin, it was Germany's first official "Star Park." It features incredibly low light pollution, making it comparable to the darkness of the Namibian desert.

EIFEL NATIONAL PARK / LOCATION: North Rhine-Westphalia

Situated near the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg, this reserve is an "island of darkness" protected from the artificial light of Cologne and Bonn. Visitors often utilize the Stars without Borders astronomy workshops

UNESCO BIOSPHERE RESERVE RHON / LOCATION: Bavaria, Hesse & Thuringia

Spread across the hilly, sparsely populated region of central Germany. The local municipalities have actively updated their outdoor lighting to protect the night sky as a cultural heritage

Top highlight: a 750-meter-high observation deck on the Hohe Geba mountain in Thuringia, which includes ground platforms for sensitive telescopes and "sky loungers" for comfortable viewing

NORTH SEA AND BALTIC SEA ISLANDS/

Islands like Spiekeroog and Pellworm offer incredibly clear, dark skies due to being surrounded by the sea and their distance from major mainland light sources. Spiekeroog, in particular, boasts some of the darkest skies ever recorded in Germany

OTHER NOTABLE LOCATIONS /

Bavarian Forest National Park (Bavaria)

Pfälzerwald (Palatinate Forest)

Harz National Park (Lower Saxony)

Black Forest National Park (Baden-Württemberg)

Chiemgau Alps (Bavaria)/Winklmoos-Alm (Bavarian Alps)

TOP HIGHLIGHTS:

Naturpark Westhavelland - Designated as Germany’s first International Dark Sky Reserve

HIGHEST PEAK: Zugspitze - 2,962 m

BEST BORTLE SCALE: Naturpark Westhavelland - Bortle 2

OFFICIAL DARK SKY AREAS: YES