Wegweiser Homeless people · Rights & support Deutsch

❄️ Emergency overnight shelter and cold-weather aid

Cold-weather aid and emergency sleeping places are mostly voluntary, charitable services – they supplement, but do not replace, your municipality's year-round duty to provide public-order accommodation.

Cold-weather aid (Kältehilfe) Emergency sleeping place Emergency shelter Voluntary service Winter aid Day centre

In brief

Emergency sleeping places and "Kältehilfe" (cold-weather aid) programmes are mostly organised by welfare associations (Diakonie, Caritas, DRK, Stadtmission) or municipalities and are as a rule voluntary, often seasonal additional services – unlike public-order accommodation, to which there is in principle a year-round entitlement. Cold-weather aid supplements this duty above all in the winter months with additional places, cold-weather buses and day centres.

Step by step

  1. Use the local directoryCold-weather aid directories or local advice centres provide information on emergency sleeping places, cold-weather buses and their opening hours – usually with extended capacity in winter.
  2. Call the emergency number if in dangerIf you show signs of hypothermia or frostbite, do not wait for the next cold-weather bus, but call the emergency medical service (112).
  3. Contact the Ordnungsamt in parallelThe entitlement to public-order accommodation applies all year round, not only in cold weather – raise it in addition to cold-weather aid.
  4. Use a day centreDay centres offer warmth, showers and often a postal address during the day.

Deadlines

Watch out – common mistakes
  • Cold-weather aid is mostly a voluntary, seasonal additional service – not an enforceable entitlement, unlike public-order accommodation.
  • Do not wait for a cold-weather bus in case of acute health danger – call the emergency medical service.
  • The availability of emergency sleeping places and cold-weather buses (opening hours, capacity, advance registration) varies greatly from municipality to municipality – ask locally.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

Cold-weather aid vs. public-order duty

There is no nationwide statutory duty specifically on "protection from the cold". What is known as "Kältehilfe" in many cities is organisationally mostly a voluntary cooperation between the municipality and welfare associations that creates additional, often low-threshold places. The public-order duty to provide accommodation (see "Public-order accommodation") exists independently of this all year round and is derived from the general clauses of the respective state law.

Around-the-clock nature of the entitlement

According to a view held in specialist practice, the public-order entitlement to accommodation is not limited to a place to sleep overnight, but – unlike a pure emergency sleeping place – extends in principle to accommodation around the clock. In practice, however, this is not implemented uniformly everywhere; many traditional emergency sleeping places are organisationally open only at night, so day centres are needed in addition.

Who is responsible
  • Welfare associations (Diakonie, Caritas, DRK and others) and municipalities (cold-weather aid, voluntary)
  • Ordnungsamt (year-round duty to provide accommodation)
Further reading
Public-order accommodationAdvice and points of contact

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Emergency overnight shelter and cold-weather aid“?
Cold-weather aid and emergency sleeping places are mostly voluntary, charitable services – they supplement, but do not replace, your municipality's year-round duty to provide public-order accommodation.
What should I do first?
  • Use the local directory: Cold-weather aid directories or local advice centres provide information on emergency sleeping places, cold-weather buses and their opening hours – usually with extended capacity in winter.
  • Call the emergency number if in danger: If you show signs of hypothermia or frostbite, do not wait for the next cold-weather bus, but call the emergency medical service (112).
  • Contact the Ordnungsamt in parallel: The entitlement to public-order accommodation applies all year round, not only in cold weather – raise it in addition to cold-weather aid.
What do I need to watch out for?
  • Cold-weather aid is mostly a voluntary, seasonal additional service – not an enforceable entitlement, unlike public-order accommodation.
  • Do not wait for a cold-weather bus in case of acute health danger – call the emergency medical service.
  • The availability of emergency sleeping places and cold-weather buses (opening hours, capacity, advance registration) varies greatly from municipality to municipality – ask locally.
Evidence
  • BAG Wohnungslosenhilfe, specialist texts on around-the-clock accommodation (bagw.de)
  • Municipal cold-weather aid directories (example: local welfare associations)
As of

As of September 2026. · Sources and method

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.