Why tourists pay an additional tax

Welcome to the resort of Schwielowsee. We are glad to welcome you at Schwielowsee and we wish you a pleasant stay!

Officially accredited resort town

The municipality of Schwielowsee with its localities of Caputh and Ferch has been officially accredited as resort town since 2010. The locality of Geltow was included in 2012. Much was accomplished in order to get this title and we will work hard to keep it. There is no obligation for a municipality to host tourists and promote tourism - in our case, it’s a choice we made in line with our means and abilities. The municipality of Schwielowsee has levied a tourist tax since 2013 in order to cover the costs of building and staffing, as well as extending, improving and maintaining the facilities and installations that serve tourism as well as for events realized for this purpose.

The tourist tax is a tax levied under public law that shall only be used for the specific purpose of tourism and without realizing a profit.
Ordinance on the imposition of a tourist tax

Information on the Schwielowsee visitor's card

What is the tourist tax used for?

Part of the tourist tax will be used to run the tourist information office in the locality of Caputh and the information signposts in all three locations as well as for the provision of tourist information material (travel magazine, the 'Kulturkalender', hiking tour guide and much more) for visitors of the municipality of Schwielowsee.

Some of the money is allocated to the maintenance and care of the lakefront promenades, park areas and playgrounds, bike and hiking trails and tourist-related signposts. The list goes on: purchase of new benches and trash bins, bike racks, new toys for the playgrounds, planting of flower tubs and flower beds, maintenance of bus stops, Christmas lighting etc.

Did you know, that

  • the upkeep of the lakefront promenades and playgrounds cost approx. €8,000 per year?
  • Schwielowsee spent €53,500 in the construction, replacement and enlargement of playgrounds during the last couple of years?
  • a park bench cost approx. €600 and that there are approx. 40 benches in Caputh, 30 in Ferch and 30 in Geltow and Wildpark-West?
  • 7 plant depot workers are occupied year-round with the care of the park spaces?
  • the round-trip bus line No. 607, which operates on weekends during the holiday season between Potsdam-Caputh-Ferch-Petzow-Werder costs the municipality of Schwielowsee and the town of Werder (Havel) each approx. €8,000?
  • the municipality of Schwielowsee provides funds of €150,000 each year to support associations and institutions, which organise social events and sport activities as well as offer a wide variety of cultural events in general?

We would like to thank you for contributing to make the municipality of Schwielowsee even more beautiful by means of your tourist tax and we would be pleased to welcome you back to Schwielowsee next year.

Admissibility of data collection during the course of the tourist tax collection procedure

 

A registration form, a copy of the registration form and your personal visitor's card are issued for the collection of the tourist tax according to sect. 11 of the local tax law for the State of Brandenburg.

The copy of the registration form will be handed over by your host to the competent office in the Culture and Tourism Office of the municipality of Schwielowsee for settlement. This copy will be used to record the receipt number, the day of arrival and departure, the number of persons included and the amount of the tourist tax charged in a tourist tax database. No further personal data is stored during the registration of the tourist tax. The copies will be kept for a period of one year after the day of your arrival and then will then be destroyed within 3 months. The original registration form will also be kept by your host for 1 year and must then be destroyed within 3 months. The personal data collected during the course of the registration form/tourist tax collection procedure may only be used for the purposes of the collection. No transfer to third parties, neither for commercial nor for non-commercial purposes, will take place!

Note
If your host wishes to keep you informed by means of a newsletter, they must obtain separate written consent for the storage of your personal data for this purpose.
Background
The obligation to provide personal data in the registration form/tourist tax form of the municipality of Schwielowsee is based on sect. 24 (1) of the Registration Act of the State of Brandenburg. (The obligation to register exists nationwide (see sect. 30 (2) of the German Registration Act)).