Forest Fires in Germany 2025: More Than Double the Number of Fires Compared to the Previous Year

Gohrischheide as the Main Cause

The burned forest area of around 2,626 hectares corresponds roughly to the size of the North Sea island of Norderney – or 3,676 football pitches. The main contributor to the high damage area was, according to the statistics, a single major fire: "der Großbrand in der sächsischen Gohrischheide Anfang Juli 2025, bei dem alleine rund 1.867 Hektar Wald verbrannten".

As a result, Saxony recorded the largest burned forest area of all federal states, with 1,894 hectares. The Gohrischheide is a nature reserve on the border with Brandenburg. In the week of the report's publication, fires had already broken out in the area again. In terms of total fire numbers, however, Brandenburg led the way: 317 forest fires were registered there in 2025, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia with 135 and Lower Saxony with 128 fires.

Causes: Arson, Negligence and Unknown

The summer months were particularly affected. In July and August 2025 alone, 200 and 147 forest fires respectively were recorded in Germany. "Als Grund wird in der Statistik das besonders trockene Frühjahr 2025 genannt", the experts explained.

The causes of the fires paint a more nuanced picture: "Bei knapp jedem fünften Brand gehen die Ermittler von einer vorsätzlichen Brandstiftung aus" – this corresponds to about 19 percent. "Über ein Viertel der Brände entstand durch fahrlässiges Verhalten", it continues; in most cases, campers, forest visitors or children were the cause. This means around 27 percent of fires are attributable to negligence. "In fast der Hälfte der Fälle ist die Brandursache noch unklar" – a total of around 46 percent.

Drought Spring and Year-on-Year Comparison

The Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) had originally collected the data and forwarded it to the Federal Information Centre for Agriculture. The Federal Agency was unable to provide any information on developments in the current year. The figures were disseminated on 30.06.2026 on the Deutschlandfunk programme and via the news agency AFP.

The contrast with the previous year is clear: 2024 had seen particularly heavy rainfall in Germany, leading to comparatively few fires. Experts see the particularly dry spring of 2025 as the main reason for the sharp increase. Forests already weakened by previous drought are considered particularly susceptible to fires.

Experts point out that a single major fire such as the one in Gohrischheide can dominate the annual statistics. If such large-area fires become more frequent in the future, the average burned forest area could continue to rise – even if the number of individual fires remains at the long-term average.