Around Munich where I live, it was extremely dry this summer and the lawn turned completely brown in parts, even though I watered it regularly. Now in August we're finally getting a few rainy days, and I'm wondering if I can still save the lawn or if I'll have to reseed it completely in the fall.
Your lawn is tougher than you might think - you probably won't need to completely restore it. Now with the rainy days and cooler temperatures in autumn, your lawn will naturally bounce back on its own, especially if those brown patches are just dried out and not actually dead. Don't go for reseeding now; instead, give your lawn two to three weeks to recover.
In the meantime, you can help it along with simple methods: mow the lawn short (but not too short, around 3-4 cm) so the new shoots can come through better. After that, dethatch or rake thoroughly - that brings light and air to the grass roots and removes dead material. If larger bare patches still show up over the next few weeks, you can reseed those spots locally, best done in September. Completely reseeding is expensive and unnecessary if only parts of your lawn have suffered.
A lawn fertilizer application now in late summer helps too - use an autumn fertilizer, it's specifically made for this time of year and strengthens your lawn for winter. With a bit of patience and finally having enough rainfall again, your lawn should look decent by October.
The lawn often recovers surprisingly quickly once it gets regular water again - give it a couple more weeks before you decide on complete reseeding. September is actually a good time for overseeding though, you could just patch up the bare spots instead of redoing everything from scratch. Before that I'd dethatch or rake the area so the new seeds have better contact with the soil. And then just remember: water regularly but not too much, otherwise the lawn gets too wet for fall and spring.
The key thing right now is not giving up too early - but also not just waiting around doing nothing. With the rainy days, your lawn will get water again, which obviously helps. Still, I'd actively help it along this fall. Scarify the brown patches to scratch out the dead fibers, then reseed those spots deliberately. It's less work than completely reseeding and works great at this time of year because the soil is moist enough and the temperatures are right.
For the green areas where it's not so bad, you probably don't need to do anything at all - they'll recover on their own. But where the lawn is really bare, reseeding makes sense. Get yourself a good fall grass seed mix (you can find it anywhere at the garden center) - it's made specifically for this season. After seeding, keep it regularly moist but not waterlogged, and then things should really take off over the next couple of weeks.
After the drought, you need to actively help things along now - don't just wait and see. The others are right that grass often recovers on its own, but with brown patches, rain alone won't cut it. The key is right now in September/October: scarify to remove the dead grass, then reseed and keep those areas regularly moist until the new grass is established. This works much better than completely digging it up, and it'll save you work and money.
The areas that are still green will bounce back quickly with the regular rain we're getting now - you can just leave those. But with the brown spots, you'd be doing yourself a favor by not waiting too long. Late September is still a good window for reseeding; if you wait until November, you're cutting it close for the grass to establish before winter. For the seed mix, I'd go with something more robust that handles drier summers better - the garden center in Munich can advise you on which varieties make sense for your area.
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