diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/theodolite.flink.gradle b/theodolite-benchmarks/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/theodolite.flink.gradle
index f5e93dd88d2234f8a9b0d6fea880f47d652dccfa..258d1a82d002184fe96a9df19b7d99806da50d28 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/theodolite.flink.gradle
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/theodolite.flink.gradle
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ shadowJar {
 tasks.distZip.enabled = false
 
 ext {
-  flinkVersion = '1.12.2'
+  flinkVersion = '1.13.5'
   scalaBinaryVersion = '2.12'
 }
 
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/flink-commons/build.gradle b/theodolite-benchmarks/flink-commons/build.gradle
index a3a4a35752006bb10e15ff508ce0b37f70adc57d..bd07f1ca51ae6b781a92ae06ba8b2555fa83b873 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/flink-commons/build.gradle
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/flink-commons/build.gradle
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 ext {
-    flinkVersion = '1.12.0'
+    flinkVersion = '1.13.5'
     scalaBinaryVersion = '2.12'
 }
 
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-flink/Dockerfile b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-flink/Dockerfile
index 795b9e343a03cf0209e1625f5cbc3d45dcb77cda..fdaecd661e86275d670423351664e54221ce33cc 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-flink/Dockerfile
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc1-flink/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-FROM flink:1.12-scala_2.12-java11
+FROM flink:1.13-java11
 
 ADD build/libs/uc1-flink-all.jar /opt/flink/usrlib/artifacts/uc1-flink-all.jar
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/Dockerfile b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/Dockerfile
index 537ab28e2d4e5fb8edfc2760142acc33cc49b91d..01a85c57b00ea8bb4af8faa697708fd2b650de50 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/Dockerfile
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-FROM flink:1.12-scala_2.12-java11
+FROM flink:1.13-java11
 
 ADD build/libs/uc2-flink-all.jar /opt/flink/usrlib/artifacts/uc2-flink-all.jar
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc2/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc2/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java
index d156d895d86bb01a31f96e08764df8b8df743c4d..7a97099c71a18449b7cc3f0413632b52fd5b69f5 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc2/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc2-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc2/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import org.apache.commons.configuration2.Configuration;
 import org.apache.flink.api.common.typeinfo.Types;
 import org.apache.flink.api.java.tuple.Tuple2;
 import org.apache.flink.runtime.state.StateBackend;
-import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.TimeCharacteristic;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.environment.StreamExecutionEnvironment;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.windowing.assigners.TumblingEventTimeWindows;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.windowing.time.Time;
@@ -48,8 +47,6 @@ public final class HistoryServiceFlinkJob {
   }
 
   private void configureEnv() {
-    this.env.setStreamTimeCharacteristic(TimeCharacteristic.EventTime);
-
     final boolean checkpointing = this.config.getBoolean(ConfigurationKeys.CHECKPOINTING, true);
     final int commitIntervalMs = this.config.getInt(ConfigurationKeys.COMMIT_INTERVAL_MS);
     if (checkpointing) {
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/Dockerfile b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/Dockerfile
index 34c6da692cb30b738adf47b9d4ca893e72f330e4..cef05c0296f55f0cf7391dd35dd1806ec0efa287 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/Dockerfile
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-FROM flink:1.12-scala_2.12-java11
+FROM flink:1.13-java11
 
 ADD build/libs/uc3-flink-all.jar /opt/flink/usrlib/artifacts/uc3-flink-all.jar
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc3/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc3/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java
index 091b25674a2a31671ca68bd2076c694da9533d77..621146864fc84d032a7dc3c65fa253df9b940b2d 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc3/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc3-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc3/application/HistoryServiceFlinkJob.java
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import org.apache.flink.api.common.typeinfo.Types;
 import org.apache.flink.api.java.functions.KeySelector;
 import org.apache.flink.api.java.tuple.Tuple2;
 import org.apache.flink.runtime.state.StateBackend;
-import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.TimeCharacteristic;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.environment.StreamExecutionEnvironment;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.windowing.assigners.SlidingEventTimeWindows;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.windowing.time.Time;
@@ -55,8 +54,6 @@ public final class HistoryServiceFlinkJob {
   }
 
   private void configureEnv() {
-    this.env.setStreamTimeCharacteristic(TimeCharacteristic.EventTime);
-
     final boolean checkpointing = this.config.getBoolean(ConfigurationKeys.CHECKPOINTING, true);
     final int commitIntervalMs = this.config.getInt(ConfigurationKeys.COMMIT_INTERVAL_MS);
     if (checkpointing) {
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/Dockerfile b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/Dockerfile
index 4f51f379e5da436104bb8c914e3233d6ecb4ec1f..1fe58e9930db0ef30fa10d12519dd68ccdb2e97e 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/Dockerfile
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-FROM flink:1.12-scala_2.12-java11
+FROM flink:1.13-java11
 
 ADD build/libs/uc4-flink-all.jar /opt/flink/usrlib/artifacts/uc4-flink-all.jar
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc4/application/AggregationServiceFlinkJob.java b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc4/application/AggregationServiceFlinkJob.java
index e4367b892e10d1e5c712e37748f163c73ff41ae9..48eadff101905b746ab239f6030decb728c12475 100644
--- a/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc4/application/AggregationServiceFlinkJob.java
+++ b/theodolite-benchmarks/uc4-flink/src/main/java/theodolite/uc4/application/AggregationServiceFlinkJob.java
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import org.apache.flink.api.common.typeinfo.Types;
 import org.apache.flink.api.java.functions.KeySelector;
 import org.apache.flink.api.java.tuple.Tuple2;
 import org.apache.flink.runtime.state.StateBackend;
-import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.TimeCharacteristic;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.datastream.DataStream;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.environment.StreamExecutionEnvironment;
 import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.windowing.assigners.TumblingEventTimeWindows;
@@ -69,8 +68,6 @@ public final class AggregationServiceFlinkJob {
   }
 
   private void configureEnv() {
-    this.env.setStreamTimeCharacteristic(TimeCharacteristic.EventTime);
-
     final boolean checkpointing = this.config.getBoolean(ConfigurationKeys.CHECKPOINTING, true);
     final int commitIntervalMs = this.config.getInt(ConfigurationKeys.COMMIT_INTERVAL_MS);
     if (checkpointing) {