During expedition EMB201 in the Baltic Sea we investigated the local producers of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGT) and their thriving depth by a combined 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing/ CARD-FISH and lipidomic approach. Water samples were taken in December 2018 by a pump-CTD, a giant water sampler and with Niskin bottles at the surface, suboxic and sulfidic zones of the Landsort Deep, Fårö Basin and East Gotland Basin. This data set contains the 16S rRNA gene sequencing data, while the CARD-FISH and lipidomics data are available on Pangaea.