Photo Gallery German Winter Landscapes
Temperatures in Germany have rarely risen above freezing this winter, causing numerous problems for travelers. Here, tourists walk across the ice to the mainland from the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee. They became trapped when the sea froze over, making the sea unpassable to ferries. Authorities have warned tourists against making the trek out of concern that the ice may not be thick enough.
The Hiddensee ferry remains stuck in the iced-over harbor at Rügen.
Still, the snow and ice have made for some dramatic winter landscapes. Here, two men go for a walk on a snowed-over highway on Germany's Baltic Sea coast.
While there have been some sunny and cold days, winter storms have had the upper hand. Here, a woman fights her way across the town square in Stralsund, on the Baltic Sea coast.
The town of Stralsund has been snowed under for weeks.
Winter travel in Germany's north has become virtually impossible. This man could go no further over the weekend when a major highway along the Baltic Sea became snowed over.
Germany's rail operator Deutsche Bahn has had to clear tracks in northern Germany with special plow trains.
But many trains, like this one on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen on Sunday, have become stuck.
Parts of both the Baltic Sea and the North Sea on Germany's norther coast have frozen over.
Fishing boats on the North Sea have remained in harbor due to the thick ice and pack ice floating in the sea.
The ships will have to wait for the next thaw before they can resume sailing.
In Hamburg, the Alster lake, in the heart of the city, has frozen over. While authorities have warned that the ice has not yet reached the 15-centimeter thickness considered safe, thousands of Hamburgers -- like these yoga practitioners -- have gone out on the ice.
Here, a woman cross-country skis across the Alster lake in central Hamburg.
Thousands ventured out onto the Alster lake in Hamburg over the weekend. While police did not allow food and mulled wine booths to be set up -- as they did in the winter of 1996 -- many Hamburgers enjoyed the ice anyway.
