Day care and multilingual day care centers
In Berlin, parents can find a wide range of childcare options as well as numerous multilingual and bilingual day care centers.
Day care centers and child day care are free for all children in Berlin. There is only a catering charge for lunch. In Berlin, children under the age of three also have access to day care outside the home if their parents can demonstrate a need for it.
Expanding childcare provision is an important priority of the Berlin state government. In March 2026 around 4,900 childcare centers with almost 429,000 approved places for the care of children were available in the capital region. The number of places changed only slightly compared with the previous year. Berlin also offers good conditions in terms of opening hours at childcare facilities, with significantly more full‑day care places than in other regions of Western Germany.
- Around 165,900 children attended publicly funded childcare in Berlin.
- 55% of Berlin's children were in full-day care
- 99.2% of the children participated in the lunch program
(Source: Office of Statistics Berlin Brandenburg, as of March 1, 2026)
Over 90 percent of all day care offerings include the lunch hour. Parents who work outside the opening hours of day care and after-school facilities can apply for supplemental child care. In addition, Berlin has made the transition to all-day schools across the board. During school vacations, parents can apply for child care during core hours if necessary.
Preschool care
Company day care centers
Child care in all-day schools
Multilingual day care centers
With its wide range of multilingual and bilingual day care centers, Berlin is doing justice to its multicultural population. Early language development is important for understanding and communication in society.
In a bilingual day care center, communication takes place in the mother tongue and another language. This gives children who speak a different language at home the opportunity to learn German at an early age. Conversely, children are given the opportunity to learn a language in addition to their mother tongue.
