The lake and parks

The lake and its parks

Weißer See is a near-circular lake formed as a "dead ice" hollow left by the Weichselian glaciation, within the Barnim ground moraine landscape. It covers 8.3 hectares, is up to roughly 300–350 m across, and reaches a maximum depth that has been measured at 10.64 m (2002) but has since declined to 8.56 m (May 2017) — it is Berlin's seventh-largest lake. A fountain installed in 1969, maintained by the youth diving association Junge Tauchpioniere Berlin e.V., can throw water up to 23 m high, though it has been offline since autumn 2025 pending pump maintenance.

Strandbad Weißensee, the public bathing beach on the southeast shore, was established in 1912 as a successor facility after the site's earlier schloss-like pleasure building burned down in 1919. It is one of Berlin's oldest still-operating public beaches and is under monument protection; the Berliner Bäderbetriebe leases its running (café, biergarten, bar and sanitary building) to an operating company.

Park am Weißen See, on the former castle grounds, covers about 21 hectares and includes a boat rental station, a playground with water sculptures, and the open-air stage described below.

Milchhäuschen is the lakeside café on the west shore. The current building dates from 1967, replacing an earlier half-timbered structure that was demolished in 1965. As of summer 2025 it operates under new management as "Ormos by Milchhäuschen," a Greek restaurant, rather than the traditional milk-bar café of its name.

Freilichtbühne Weißensee, the open-air theatre within the park, hosts open-air cinema screenings and other cultural events in the park.

Checked: 2026-09-25