Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	DWS VARIABLE SERIES II
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	May 01, 2014
Class B | DWS Global Growth VIP
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	DWS Global Growth VIP
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The fund seeks long-term capital growth.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. This information does not reflect fees associated with the separate account that invests in the fund or any variable life insurance policy or variable annuity contract for which the fund is an investment option. These fees will increase expenses.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)
Fee Waiver or Reimbursement over Assets, Date of Termination	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssetsDateOfTermination	April 30, 2105
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, but can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2013: 171%.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	171.00%
Expense Footnotes [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseFootnotesTextBlock	The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2014 to waive its fees and/or reimburse certain operating expenses of the fund to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses at 1.15% and, for the period from October 1, 2014 through April 30, 2105, at a ratio no higher than 1.33% (in each instance, excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage and interest expenses) for Class B shares. These agreements may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board.
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	EXAMPLE
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses in each period) remain the same. This example does not reflect any fees or sales charges imposed by a variable contract for which the fund is an investment option. If they were included, your costs would be higher. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal Investment Strategy
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	Main Investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in common stocks and other equities of companies throughout the world that portfolio management considers to be "blue chip" companies. Blue chip companies are large, well known companies that typically have an established earnings and dividends history, easy access to credit, solid positions in their industries and strong management. The fund can invest in companies from any country, including countries with emerging economies. The fund seeks to achieve its objective by allocating its assets, subject to the fund's 80% investment policy, among a global large cap growth sleeve and a global small cap growth sleeve. The fund's global large cap growth sleeve will typically consist of approximately 60 to 80 companies that are diversified across the growth spectrum; including early stage, core growth, and established growth companies. The fund's global small cap growth sleeve will generally invest in small and mid cap global growth companies. The fund's equity investments may also include preferred stocks and other securities with equity characteristics, such as convertible securities and warrants. The fund may also invest up to 5% of total assets in junk bonds. Management process. Portfolio management allocates the fund's assets among the global large cap growth sleeve and the global small cap growth sleeve. Portfolio management for the global large cap growth sleeve aims to add value through stock selection. In choosing securities, portfolio management employs a risk-balanced bottom-up selection process to identify companies it believes are well-positioned. Portfolio management utilizes a proprietary investment process designed to identify attractive investments utilizing proprietary research, including regional and sector research, conducted by in-house analysts. The investment process also takes into consideration various valuation metrics to assess the attractiveness of stocks and assists portfolio management in devising allocations among investable securities. Portfolio management for the global small cap growth sleeve uses a combination of analytical disciplines: Bottom-up research. Portfolio management looks for individual companies that it believes have a history of above-average growth, strong competitive positioning, attractive prices relative to potential growth, sound financial strength and effective management, among other factors. Growth orientation. Portfolio management generally looks for companies that it believes have above-average potential for sustainable growth of revenue or earnings and whose market value appears reasonable in light of their business prospects. Portfolio management uses analytical tools to actively monitor the risk profile of the portfolio as compared to appropriate benchmarks. Portfolio management will normally sell a stock when its price fully reflects portfolio management's estimate of its fundamental value, its fundamentals have deteriorated, other investments offer better opportunities or in the course of adjusting the fund's exposure to a given country. Derivatives. Portfolio management generally may use options and futures contracts, which are each a type of derivative (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. The fund may also use various types of derivatives (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Securities Lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions. Active Trading. The fund may trade actively. This could raise transaction costs (thus lowering returns).
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Main Risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock's issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. In addition, movements in financial markets may adversely affect a stock's price, regardless of how well the company performs. To the extent that the fund invests in a particular geographic region or market sector, performance will be affected by that region's general performance. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news. Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile than medium-sized or large company stocks. Because stock analysts are less likely to follow small companies, less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on small companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Small company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks. Medium-sized company risk. Medium-sized company stocks tend to be more volatile than large company stocks. Because stock analysts are less likely to follow medium-sized companies, less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on medium-sized companies, since they lack the financial resources of larger companies. Medium-sized company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing the full value of its investments. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities. Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative. Regional focus risk. Focusing investments in a single country or few countries, or regions, involves increased currency, political, regulatory and other risks. Market swings in such a targeted country, countries or regions are likely to have a greater effect on fund performance than they would in a more geographically diversified fund. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities. Because the issuers of high-yield debt securities or junk bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest credit rating category) may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news, or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt securities. High-yield debt securities are considered speculative, and credit risk for high-yield securities is greater than for higher-rated securities. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.)
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Past Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. This information doesn't reflect fees associated with the separate account that invests in the fund or any variable life insurance policy or variable annuity contract for which the fund is an investment option. These fees will reduce returns. Prior to May 1, 2013, the fund had a sub-advisor and a different management team that operated with a different investment strategy. Performance would have been different if the fund's current investment strategy had been in effect.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index).
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	dws-investments.com
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Past performance may not indicate future results.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class B)
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter: 26.48%, Q2 2009  Worst Quarter: -24.71%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 3/31/2014: 1.35%
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2013 expressed as a %)
Class B | DWS Global Growth VIP | Class B
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)	rr_ShareholderFeeOther	none
Management fee	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.92%
Distribution/service (12b-1) fees	rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets	0.25%
Other expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.64%
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.81%
Fee waiver/expense reimbursement	rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets	0.48%
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver/expense reimbursement	rr_NetExpensesOverAssets	1.33%
1 Year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	135
3 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	523
5 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	935
10 Years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	$ 2,087
2004	rr_AnnualReturn2004	14.33%
2005	rr_AnnualReturn2005	22.50%
2006	rr_AnnualReturn2006	29.65%
2007	rr_AnnualReturn2007	5.84%
2008	rr_AnnualReturn2008	(47.87%)
2009	rr_AnnualReturn2009	43.23%
2010	rr_AnnualReturn2010	13.24%
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	(14.67%)
2012	rr_AnnualReturn2012	18.16%
2013	rr_AnnualReturn2013	21.62%
Year to Date Return, Label	rr_YearToDateReturnLabel	Year-to-Date
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date	rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate	Mar. 31, 2014
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return	rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn	1.35%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2009
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	26.48%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Dec. 31, 2008
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(24.71%)
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	21.62%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	14.74%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	7.14%
Class Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	Jul. 01, 2002
Class B | DWS Global Growth VIP | MSCI World Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	26.68%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	15.02%
10 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10	6.97%