German forest fires more than doubled in 2025 with Saxony mega-blaze burning 1,867 hectares
German authorities recorded 1,175 forest fires in 2025, more than double the previous year, with a total burned area of 2,626 hectares. A single blaze in Saxony's Gohrischheide accounted for most of the damage.
New statistics released
The Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE) published its annual forest fire report on Tuesday, showing 1,175 fires across Germany in 2025. That figure was more than double the number registered in 2024, a year of high rainfall. The total burned area reached 2,626 hectares, or roughly 26.3 square kilometers, equivalent to the area of the North Sea island of Norderney or 3,676 football pitches.
The Gohrischheide mega-blaze
The sharp rise in burned area is largely attributable to a single event: a massive fire in the Gohrischheide region of Saxony in early July 2025. That fire alone consumed 1,867 hectares of forest, more than two-thirds of the national total. The area is a former military training ground containing unexploded ordnance, which makes firefighting extremely hazardous. Firefighters cannot enter parts of the nature reserve due to explosion risks, complicating containment efforts.
Causes and patterns
The BLE report highlights a dry spring as a key driver, with 233 fires recorded in April alone, followed by over 200 in both May and June. In almost half of all cases (46 percent), the cause of the fire remains unknown. Negligence by campers, forest visitors, and children accounted for about 27 percent, while investigators suspect arson in roughly 19 percent of incidents.
Regional breakdown
Saxony bore the brunt of the damage, with 1,894 hectares burned, overwhelmingly from the Gohrischheide fire. Brandenburg followed with 252 hectares and Bavaria with 224 hectares. However, Brandenburg recorded the highest number of individual fires at 317, ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia (135) and Lower Saxony (128).
- Saxony
- 1894 ha
- Brandenburg
- 252 ha
- Bavaria
- 224 ha
- Brandenburg
- 317
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- 135
- Lower Saxony
- 128
Outlook and climate warning
The Gohrischheide area caught fire again this week during the current heatwave. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research warned earlier this year that forest fire damage will continue to increase even if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The BLE noted that the 2025 burned area was several times higher than the 1991–2024 average of 844 hectares, ranking only behind 1992, 2019, and 2022 in the 35-year record.
