A new sensor for field measurements of the water content of natural soils has been developed. The measurement quantity is the complex permittivity at a frequency of 32 MHz; it is derived by an impedance measurement with a capacitive sensor of a fork-like geometry, which was found to the best geometry for field use. The impedance is measured with a twin T-bridge which has been optimized to cover the extremely large range of permittivities of natural soils. An analysis of measured soil permittivities showed a dominant influence of liquid water content on dielectric permittivity, whereas soil-specific parameters such as grain-size distribution, chemical composition and bulk density have only a negligible influence at this comparable high measurement frequency. The loss factor, however, depends strongly on both the type of soil and the water content. In addition, comparative studies with commonly used measurement methods such as the thermogravimetric method and time domain reflectometry showed satisfactory agreement. As an application of practical interest, a field measurement of a vertical water content distribution at a snow-soil interface is presented.