German Dates
This page explains everything you need to know about reading, saying, and writing dates in German.
How to say the date in German
German dates usually follow day → month → year, like this:
2. Januar 1992
spoken: der zweite Januar neunzehnhundertzweiundneunzig
Key Ideas
• The day of the month is written with a dot in German: 2. Januar
• In speech the day is often an ordinal number (zweiter, dritter, vierter).
• The preposition “am” (on) is commonly used in sentences:
am 2. Januar 1992
• When the weekday is included, commas are often used:
am Montag, dem 5. April, um 19 Uhr
Asking and responding: “What is the date?” in German
Common patterns:
Welches Datum ist heute?
What is the date today?
Wir haben den 2. Januar.
It is January 2nd.
Heute ist der 2. Januar.
Today is January 2nd.
Welcher Tag ist heute?
What day of the week is it today?
Years in German
Years are normally spoken as cardinal numbers. See our guide to German Numbers to learn how these numbers are formed.
Examples:
1992 → neunzehnhundertzweiundneunzig
2011 → zweitausendelf
2026 → zweitausendsechsundzwanzig
In writing, German typically uses the full four-digit year.
Date intervals: “from date to date” in German
Common expressions:
vom 1. bis zum 15. Juli
from July 1st to July 15th
von 2026-03-01 bis 2026-03-15
These expressions are used when describing a range of dates.
How to write the date in German
Typical formats include:
2. Januar 1992
02.01.1992
Important notes:
- German uses DD.MM.YYYY format when writing numeric dates.
- Month names and weekdays are capitalized because they are nouns.
Shorthand notation
Numeric formats are very common:
02.01.1992
In international or technical contexts you may see:
1992-01-02
This is the ISO 8601 date format.
On a letter (German style)
Typical ways to write a date on a letter:
Berlin, 2. Januar 1992
Berlin, den 2. Januar 1992
Both are commonly used in formal writing.
German vocabulary related to dates
date — das Datum
today — heute
yesterday — gestern
the day before yesterday — vorgestern
tomorrow — morgen
the day after tomorrow — übermorgen
day — der Tag
week — die Woche
month — der Monat
year — das Jahr
leap year — das Schaltjahr
century — das Jahrhundert
millennium — das Jahrtausend
Days of the week
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Montag | Monday |
| Dienstag | Tuesday |
| Mittwoch | Wednesday |
| Donnerstag | Thursday |
| Freitag | Friday |
| Samstag | Saturday |
| Sonntag | Sunday |
Months of the year
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Januar | January |
| Februar | February |
| März | March |
| April | April |
| Mai | May |
| Juni | June |
| Juli | July |
| August | August |
| September | September |
| Oktober | October |
| November | November |
| Dezember | December |
Seasons
spring — der Frühling
summer — der Sommer
autumn — der Herbst
winter — der Winter
Unspecific dates (approximate timing)
Useful expressions:
letzte Woche — last week
nächste Woche — next week
letzten Monat — last month
nächsten Monat — next month
letztes Jahr — last year
nächstes Jahr — next year
Anfang des Monats — beginning of the month
Mitte des Monats — middle of the month
Ende des Monats — end of the month
Example sentences
Am Mittwoch, dem 21. Dezember, war Wintersonnenwende.
Last Wednesday, Dec 21st, was the winter solstice.
Nächstes Jahr ist ein Schaltjahr.
Next year is a leap year.
Ich komme am 5. April.
I will come on April 5th.
Wir sind im Mai 2026.
It is May 2026.
Continue learning
Related pages: German, German Numbers Quiz, Count In German.
Further reference: Duden dictionary.