The district of Rostock, which stretches along the entire length of the Baltic coast enjoys a maritime climate that is moderate and marked by few extremes in temperature. Average annual rainfall is between sixty-one and sixty-four centimeters, close to the national average. Most of the country, which lies in an area of the northern plains known as the central lowlands has a climate that exhibits greater extremes of temperature as the maritime climate of the coast gives way to a continental climate where the rivers freeze in winter. In general, however, the weather is moderate. Rainfall approximates the national average. The Börderland, a fertile belt of rolling countryside, which forms a transition zone from the central lowlands to the uplands in the south, has a continental but moderate climate, and the growing season is relatively long. The uplands cover about 20 percent of the southern section. The landscape consists of hills and high ridges. Included in this region are portions of the districts of Magdeburg, Halle, Leipzig, Dresden Erfurt, Suhl, Gera, and Karl-Marx-Stadt. The Harz forms the northwest section of the uplands; the highest peak, Brocken, reaches a height of 1,141 meters. In the southwest, extending some 104 kilometers, is the Thüringer Wald, a narrow ridge of thick woodland. To the southeast, forming the border with Czechoslovakia, are the Erzgebirge. Elevations in this range reach 1,213 meters. Many major industrial centers are situated along the base of the Erzgebirge. Traditional passages into the region lie between the Harz and the Thüringer Wald and between the Thüringer Wald and the Erzgebirge. Good agricultural land is found at the base of the Thüringer Wald surrounding Erfurt, but soils in the southernmost districts are poor and not favorable for cultivation. Temperatures depend on elevation and exposure, and they sometimes dip quite low in the higher mountain areas. Rainfall varies. In the Harz, for example, rainfall averages as high as 147 centimeters a year whereas at the base of the Thüringer Wald, where the uplands merge with the Börderland, rainfall averages about fifty-one centimeters.

NOTE: The information regarding East Germany on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of East Germany Climate information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about East Germany Climate should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.