Aerial shot of the UBA building in Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Firma Busse
Free broschures are available at the visitor center at our Dessau-Roßlau site. You can also visit a branch of our environmental library at our sites in Dessau-Roßlau, Bad Elster as well as at one of our Berlin sites. 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 buildings are closed outside of these times and on public holidays.
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 topic and the UBA. Our staff there will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
The visitor’s room is currently closed due to remodelling work.
You can order our free publications via the publication database
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.
Aerial shot of the UBA building in Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Firma Busse
UBA Dessau-Roßlau main entrance
Source: Umweltbundesamt
Rear façade of UBA Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Umweltbundesamt
The lobby (forum) of UBA Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Umweltbundesamt
UBA in Dessau-Roßlau: View of atrium
Source: Umweltbundeamt
Interior views of UBA Dessau-Roßlau: inner façade in atrium
Source: Silvia Sinah
Interior views of UBA Dessau-Roßlau: Stairs and bridges in atrium
Source: Silvia Sinah
In the environmental library of UBA Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Silvia Sinah
Citizens’ service visitors lounge at UBA Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Umweltbundesamt
Canteen and pond at UBA Dessau-Roßlau
Source: Umweltbundesamt
Seat of the German Centre for Micropollutants (SZB): the listed building "Wörlitzer Bahnhof"
Source: Janek Kubelt / UBA
Our Berlin-Grunwald site also welcomes visitors.
The Berlin branch of our Fachbibliothek Umwelt (environmental library) is open to the public.
In addition, 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, is:
City Campus, Umweltbundesamt (Haus 3, Eingang 3A)
Buchholzweg 8, 13627 Berlin, Germany
Phone: ++49 30 8903-0, Fax: ++49 30 8903-5613
Aerial view of UBA building in Berlin-Grunewald (Bismarckplatz)
Source: Umweltbundesamt
Main entrance of UBA Berlin-Grunewald (Bismarckplatz)
Source: Umweltbundesamt
Gate of UBA site in Berlin-Grunewald (Bismarckplatz) with image of the eco-label
Source: Umweltbundesamt
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.
Due to the large number of enquiries, there may be delays in responding. We ask for your understanding.
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.
Due to the large number of enquiries, there may be delays in responding. We ask for your understanding.