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Weather for everyone – anytime, anywhere: that was the idea that marked the beginning of the WetterOnline success story in 1996. Thirty years later, that vision has long since become reality. Not only in Germany, but around the world, millions of people rely on our forecasts every single day. The key to this success lies in the perfect combination of scientific expertise, innovation, and a passion for weather.
Knowing today what will matter to our users tomorrow is not only what drives our weather forecasts—it also shapes the way we develop our products. Our ambition is to continuously improve the quality of our services and to stay one step ahead—not just of the weather. Today and in the years to come.
“We want to make weather available to everyone, everywhere. That is what motivates us every day!”
Yet another reason to pop the champagne: in 2026, WetterOnline celebrates its 30th anniversary.
But first things first, because plenty happened the year before. 2025 clearly demonstrates how deeply our spirit of “borderless collaboration” has become part of everyday life at WetterOnline. By now, the WetterOnline app is used in 36 countries, and our international team comes together twice during the year for a week each at our headquarters in Bornheim to connect, collaborate, and exchange ideas.
While the app continues its global expansion, our meteorology and development teams work tirelessly throughout this anniversary year to further enhance the user experience. A seamless transition from current conditions to the forecast takes the WeatherRadar to the next level. In addition, an innovative new app feature is making waves: the Video feature lets users easily share spectacular or atmospheric weather moments with friends, family, or the WetterOnline community.
Last but not least, the fourth generation of our wetteronline home weather display is launched, featuring a larger display, smoother animations, and enhanced radar capabilities.
WeatherOnline continues its success story. By now, 160 employees contribute their expertise and passion to the company. And with great success: an incredible 875 million visits made WeatherOnline the No. 1 individual website in the IVW rankings once again in 2023.
Users continue to embrace both trusted and new features. One example is the Lightning Radar, which has complemented the radar product lineup since 2022 and has displayed live lightning strikes since 2023.
WeatherOnline is now with users even on the road: since 2023, the WeatherOnline app has been compatible with Android Auto.
And what about internationalization? In 2023, a fully featured desktop version of the international website was launched. Previously, the focus had been on the mobile website.
Development also continued on the WeatherOnline Home weather display. The third generation of this stylish and practical everyday companion now features—among several other improvements—an integrated sensor for monitoring indoor climate conditions.
In 2021, WetterOnline celebrates its 25th anniversary and looks not only proudly into the past, but also optimistically into the future. The company’s offices in Bonn, Bornheim, Coventry (England) and Miami (USA) employ 150 people, who drive the internationalisation of the company and work on the further development of innovative products.
At the turn of the year 2018/2019, WetterOnline starts marketing advertising space itself. The 120 employees also need more space. In October 2019, another company location opens in Bornheim, just a few kilometres away from the Bonn headquarters. In the course of internationalisation, two subsidiaries are founded in March and June 2019: Data Sales Services in Miami (USA), followed three month later by Weather & Radar Ltd., based in Coventry (England). With 500 million visits, WetterOnline sets a new coverage record in June 2019, overtaking even Spiegel Online, Bild.de and Focus Online. Exactly one year later, the company tops this record by 20.7 percent with 630 million visits. Following the success of the first version, the second version of the weather station wetteronline home is launched in August 2020.
In 2017, WetterOnline launches WetterApp 4.0, an updated application for mobile devices, and is also active in the field of voice assistants: just a few months after Amazon launched Alexa on the German market, the WetterOnline Skill provides users of Alexa-enabled devices with weather information. Thus, in May 2017, WetterOnline content can be queried in natural language for the first time using a voice assistant. In October, WetterOnline is one of eight launch partners for the German launch of the expansion of Google Assistant to include third-party actions. Internationalisation is being driven forward and has formed an independent department in the Marketing & Sales division since 2018. The company increasingly uses machine learning to improve weather forecasts. In December 2018, sales of the wetteronline home digital weather station developed by WetterOnline begin.
In 2014, the 70-strong workforce moves into the newly constructed company building on the banks of the river Rhine in Bonn. In July 2014, WetterOnline experiences the most successful month in the company’s history to date, with over 300 million page views. The company is the only provider to be awarded the top mark of “good” for its quality as test winner by the trade magazine “Reise und Preise”. Against this backdrop, WetterOnline is now also investigating user interest outside Germany: With the test translation of the app for countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, the first steps are being taken towards becoming international. In August 2016, personal weather bots launched on messenger platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Co.
Since 2009, the WetterOnline membership has offered interested users even more content in a completely new, advertising-free design. In addition, the company establishes an innovative and intuitive presentation of the weather on the market with the WetterRadar. In 2010, WetterOnline also offers weather information via Facebook for the first time. In 2013 it is the WetterTicker that sets standards as a new form of weather reporting. 2013 is also a year of changes and successes: WetterOnline launches a completely redesigned website and wins the metrixLab website of the year award in the category “Weather and Traffic”. In the area of mobile devices, WetterOnline opens up new business fields and can boast three successful weather apps on the market in 2013. In the meantime, around 50 employees put their know-how at the service of the company. In addition, WetterOnline trains its own specialists and has offered the possibility of dual studies since 2011.
The company is on course for growth. In 2005, WetterOnline already had 25 employees and laid the foundation for the company’s further development by introducing a new organisational structure and investing heavily in personnel and technology. Innovative technology and long-term value creation are also well received by the users: For the first time, more than 200 million monthly page impressions are recorded in May 2007. Exciting information about the weather has also been available on Twitter since October 2008.
When managing director Joachim Klaßen founded WetterOnline in 1996, the Internet was still in its infancy. With foresight, the meteorologist recognises the potential of the World Wide Web for the interactive presentation of the weather. His vision is to present complex meteorological contexts quickly, reliably and in a generally understandable way. With the launch of the website wetteronline.de in 1997, the idea of combining information with smooth surfing pleasure took concrete shape. The young company does pioneering work, especially with the RegenRadar which shows the current weather in real time for the first time. Success is not long in coming: In 2000, the service for mobile devices was named the best service in Europe by the market research institute “Forrester Research”. One year later, wetteronline.de is Europe’s widest-reaching online weather service.