Ice age in the region: When harbours, lakes and coasts become a winter backdrop

When hard frost covers bays, canals and lakes with a thin, milky, sometimes shiny skin, Germany's water surfaces suddenly look like new territories. Sometimes fog hangs over the ice like a curtain, sometimes the winter sun bathes the cold in a deep blue or red-orange colour. Motifs of a seemingly enraptured world emerge.

For sailors and motor boaters, this ice age is more than just a break in the season. Harbours become a stage of piles, jetties and moored boats waiting frozen in their berths. In sheltered basins, the water freezes over first, while dark lanes remain open outside. And even where the surface appears closed, it tells a story in structures: wind vanes in the snow, frozen splash edges, crystalline patterns around dolphins, fracture lines as if drawn with a knife.

On the coast, for example on the Baltic Sea, winter shows its own face: snow lies on the beach like foam, icy groynes look like teeth in the water, and in Bodden, fjord or fjord areas, floes push against each other. Inland, rivers and lakes are transformed into bright plains in which shorelines, islands and jetties stand out as if with a ruler; in large areas, such as the Müritz, a fascinating mosaic of grey, white and dark veins emerges from above.

As tempting as this scenery is, ice remains treacherous. Currents, tributaries, bridges and reed edges ensure that carrying capacity is never the same everywhere. If you are taking photographs or going for a walk, it is better to stay on the bank, keep your distance from dark spots and not rely on footprints. The most beautiful winter picture is not worth the risk.

Our photo series takes you into this frosty, in-between world, from mirror-smooth surfaces to broken floes, from foggy moods to the cold of the sun.