Umweltbundesamt
Click to enlargeFree brochures are available at the visitor centers at our Dessau-Roßlau and one of our Berlin sites. You can also visit a branch of our environmental library at either of these two sites, or at our Bad Elster site. The model eco-building at our Dessau-Roßlau site is also worth a visit.
In our capacity as an environmental protection agency, it’s important to us that our UBA buildings set new (and high) standards for green construction and renovation. Our Dessau-Roßlau building, which was constructed in 2005 when we relocated our head office from Berlin to Dessau, was awarded the German gold medal for sustainable construction. So why not come visit us and see this magnificently ecological construction for yourself? And if you’d like to get an idea of what the building is like, then you should consider going on our interactive virtual tour.
Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sundays and holiday 8:30 to 4 p.m.
The Forum is available to visitors without restriction during our opening hours and is also wheelchair accessible. This area will give you an impression of the building’s interior, plus you can spend time at our visitor center and our environmental library. The Forum and the adjoining exhibition space often feature temporary exhibitions on environmental themes. Admission is free.
We regret that we are unable to offer tours for individuals. However recorded tours are available in English and free of charge from the information desk (at the entrance), for visitors who’d like to take a self-designed tour of the UBA building on their own (there is a nominal deposit for the audio guide). Please notice that you can only visit the public parts of our building: the forum, the visitor center, the library, the exhibition space and the cafeteria.
If you’re interested in a guided tour, please contact our external agent.
The UBA visitors’ service offers professionals and delegations from Germany and abroad lectures on topics of the visitors’ choosing. Guided tours in German and English are also available. Advance registration is required.
Please note the following: The UBA offers the aforesaid services on weekdays only. For information concerning visits on a weekend or legal holiday, contact our external agent.
The visitors' room which is located in a room adjoining the Forum to the right, offers free printed material on environmental topics, the UBA and our staff.
The visitors' room in Dessau-Roßlau is open Tuesday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and on request.
Are you planning a visit outside our opening hours? Please get in touch with us at the e-mail address buergerservice [at] uba [dot] de! In consultation with you, we can also arrange visits outside these times. If you would like to visit us spontaneously during your stay in Dessau, our colleagues at the information desk or in the library will be happy to help you.
We look forward to your visit!
Our large environmental library (likewise adjoining the Forum) is open to the general public. There you are welcome to take out books, look through scholarly journals, and do research in one of our many databases.
Groups of children in school or kindergarten are welcome to visit our environmental library. Our media and information service trainees organise events for kids and conduct workshops for grades 1 through 4 on water, air and waste sorting. The events and workshops are designed to raise environmental awareness in a child-friendly and age-appropriate way.
The UBA cafeteria, which is open to all visitors, offers coffee, tea and snacks, as well as excellent breakfast and lunch dishes. The cafeteria serves a daily menu comprising a soup of the day, a choice of two main dishes, and a vegetarian dish. Organic ingredients can also be used, by special request. The daily menu is posted in the cafeteria.
Cafeteria hours:
Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Lunch 11:30 to 2:30 p.m.
The public area of the German Environment Agency in Dessau comprising the Forum, the auditorium, the exhibition room and the library is not only available to UBA staff. Land authorities, regional and local authorities and institutions as well as environmental or nature conservation clubs and associations are welcome to rent the premises for a fee. We offer you pleasant, well-equipped rooms in our office building, which meets high ecological and energy requirements and is EMAS-certified. We offer you the opportunity to host your event in a sustainable way. See our information sheet for the sustainable organisation of events for further information. In addition, you have the possibility to calculate the resulting greenhouse gas emissions with the CO2 calculator for events (in German).
Both individual rooms or the entire public area are available for hire. The auditorium has a seating capacity of up to 360. The Forum and exhibition room can be set up according to event needs. Your enquiries are welcome.
Please direct your enquiries and registration to the central event management office of the German Environment Agency, email: Veranstaltungen [at] uba [dot] de.
Our Berlin-Grunwald site also welcomes visitors, who at our visitor center can obtain free printed material on environmental subjects as well as other informational materials.
Opening hours:
Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In addition, the Berlin branch of our Fachbibliothek Umwelt (environmental library) is also open to the public.
The exhibition room contains a changing series of temporary art exhibitions on environmental themes.
The UBA office building Berlin-Grunewald (Bismarckplatz) will remain closed until about 2025/26 due to renovation and modernization work. The address of the temporary accommodation, which will also temporarily house the Berlin branches of the Environmental Library and Citizens' Service (visitor centre), is:
City Campus
Umweltbundesamt
Haus 3, Eingang 3A
Buchholzweg 8
13627 Berlin, Germany
Phone: ++49 30 8903-0, Fax: ++49 30 8903-5613
Opening hours visitor center: Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”), sums up our mission pretty well, we feel. In this video we give an insight into our work.
The UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”), sums up our mission pretty well, we feel. In this video we give an insight into our work.
