Germany in March

It is very hard to make generalizations about weather, but from personal experience I will say:
Green Bay is a bit colder than Chicago.
Chicago is a lot colder than Germany.

As far as any given place being "dead", Bamberg and Erfurt are real places where people live and work and enjoy themselves. They are not "seasonal" tourist destinations. Sure there will be more festivals, etc in the summer when people get out and enjoy the nice weather. But they don't hibernate in the winter.

As far as the weather you can check this information through Accuweather.com. When on the web site you enter the location in the search box and this will bring up the current weather. Just above this will be a box where you can choose the month and year. This will give you the temperatures for each day that month and also the historical averages. It indicates the historical daytime averages for both towns are low 40's to low 50's for March.

We travelled to Germany last April and it was quite chilly with snow flurries in Berlin, Dresden and Wittenberg however, we were told the week before we arrived it was warm enough for shirt sleeves. So check the weather before you go and pack layers including gloves and a fleece hat!!!

A town that's "dead" is perfect for your purposes, isn't it? It's so much nicer to visit museums and sights when there isn't a throng of tourists. I find the staff are often happy to answer more questions or give you a little more attention. I suspect they get bored ushering big groups through and like taking time with people who have genuine interest.

Spring in Central Europe will most likely be humid, chilly, and damp, but also sunny. It can be quite cold at night, while reaching into the 70s on the sunniest spring days. I was in Berlin in early April last year and found it was even colder than I'd planned for--in the 50s (F). I think Berlin gets its weather off the Baltic Sea. Munich is considerably further South and will likely be a lot warmer.

You really can't plan for weather until just before you leave, but you'll want to plan in general for breathable layers and shoes that can withstand a rainy day if needed. It's a good bet that you will encounter a lot of rain, off an on, but you can't let that stop you.

Thanks guys for the advice.

Nothing is going to be "dead" in Munich, Salzburg, and the small towns near ski resorts in Bavaria and the Tyrol. With the days getting longer in March, they will be filled with people and winter activities.

My very first trip to Europe was in the month of March when I was 12 and we went to Munich, Salzburg and spent time skiing in the Austrian Alps close to Salzburg and explored the small towns in the Alps near Bad Gastein. So much fun!!

Thanks all. I made plane reservations only to find out there is a big conference in Berlin at the same time and hotel rates have doubled. So what I saved in airfare I've made up in hotel rates. :(

I lived in Bavaria for four years. March is somewhat dreary, not yet Spring, but not as cold as January.

You can expect high temps in the 40-50 F range
https://www.worldweatheronline.com/v2/weather-averages.aspx?locid=566829&root_id=563363&wc=local_weather&map=~/bamberg-weather-averages/bayern/de.aspx

We were in Bamberg/Nuremberg/Munich/Salzburg in late March/Early April. For us it was perfect as I don't like the hot weather.

Many German towns are without intensive tourist traffic in March, but university towns as Erfurt are full of people. I recommend the Old Town of Erfurt with the Market Square, that you can see the impressive cathedral from. There are many small streets with historic climate around the Square: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt. You can also visit more towns of that type as Marburg, Göttingen or Greifswald
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marburg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ttingen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greifswald
The last one is not far away from my city - Szczecin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczecin

Greetings from Poland
Michal

Expect cold (and dark) but hope for pleasant surprises. The small tourist towns will be mostly dead, sights will have short hours, many restaurants will be closed, hotels will be cheap. You will be able to find any services you need though.

Towns where people live are still going, if not outdoors, in the winter. Some have activities associated with returning spring. Fasching is in February but you might find similar activities.

We were in Vienna and Budapest early March 2017 -- I wore leggings underneath jeans -- and Berlin, Erfurt and Munich the security half of March with jeans, no leggings, and raincoat! Waterproof shoes are a good idea, as are merino wool sweaters and socks. Erfurt, Potsdam and Bamberg were alive enough ... but not overwhelmed by visitors.

I don't think anyplace in Germany will be humid in March! It may be rainy, cold, perhaps even snow or mild weather, but humid it isn't.

Towns on the Rhine are dead in the winter, but other towns are business as usual.

Hi,

I only have the second half of April in Berlin to compare. That was in 2014. After landing at FRA from SFO, a couple of hours later I took the ICE train to Berlin where I spent the next week. The Pension was nice and warm, a bit too warm. I found it colder than SF, a different kind of coldness in the evening. I prefer to be in Germany starting after 16 May.

OP mentions that hotel rates in Berlin are high due to a convention. So leave Berlin. Why pay high rates to see Berlin? Stay 2 nights, for 1 day touring. Then go to one of 10 or so towns nearby - Leipzig (Bach), Dresden (Wittelsbach dynasty), Cottbus (small regional town), Prague (Czechia), Erfurt, Nuremburg. Don't get roped into an expectation and spend a lot of money.

"You can visit more towns of that type ...Marburg, Göttingen , and Greifswald" yes, very true.

I've been to Marburg a few times, stayed there two nights the last time. Göttingen I visited once in 1987 for three nights, a few years ago I almost made it to Greifswald as a day trip from Berlin, mainly to visit the Zentrum and the Pommern Museum. It does, however, have the 2nd oldest university in North Germany as its claim to fame I got off the train at Angermünde instead and went back. Still have get to Greifswald