Sunday shopping in Germany

It's good that shops are closed Sundays?

One word PES: Tankestelle!

Two numbers- 7-11

I love it and you can still get some things if you REALLY need them (Tankestelle, 7-11) (btw.. where is the 7-11???)

American for quickie marts that used to only open from 7 till 11 and sold gas. They were allowed to open on Sundays way back when.

The Edeka at the airport is open sundays, and the prices are not that bad, but you got to get there!

7/11s were only 7/11s in name, they were soon 7/24s. They were great for a late night dog or a rack of bud (back in my collage days). That is not my issue here. I visit tankstelles here with glee on Sunday. I'm talking about going to Walmarts, or Sears or what have you and makng Sunday like nay other day. It is an issue I have with capitalism and it homogenizing effects... stealing the States of her soul... hertraditions and communities. Comsumption with pause. Germany is going that route. Remeber back in the mid 90's here when you, on Saturdays, had to make to the shops by 2:00? You had to lan Saturday's evening meal and Sunday's, but you had more time with each other. Okay, I am sentimential. Shoot me.

I think they should open. Sundays are when most people do their shopping (where i'm from anyhow!) Sundays here are boring! You have to break off what you are doing on Saturday to rush to the shops to stock up or you'll be left with nothing. Then on Sundays there's nothing to do (if you haven't got a family). No wonder Germans drink so much

on my trips too munich, i am amazed at the amount of people just shuffling about in the city centre on a sunday. its lost revenue for the shops not being open. if a shop wants to open then let it.

Let's just hope Germans get in line with the real world.

Germans don't know how to get in line. (Even if they did open stores up on Sunday's.)

Oh yeah, as shopping is so much fun...

I think it would be good for tourism as much as anything else to open some shops on Sundays.

Sunday was always our families day together, even when we split into groups to go shopping, see a movie or what have you. It was just more relaxing on a Sunday than any other day as people sleep in and enjoy friends and family on sundays.

I still don't see any point in having the shops shut on a sunday. If you don't want to go shopping and have a family day, then the choice is yours, if you want to go and spend money, then the choice should be yours. Especially since the unemployment rate in this country is so high, it would be a good way to increase the number of jobs

I don't see why shop employees should have to work on Sundays when none of the rest of us do. I think the reason shops are closed on Sundays is probably to give them a day off, not to keep foreigners from shopping.

There are people around who are completely happy working on a sunday (like myself). It's just a day like any other, why the NEED to have it off? It"s not like there is a lack of people wanting jobs here either

Yeah, I know what a 7/11 is we had them in the UK too (also 24*7 lol.. but no petrol).

I was asking where there was one as I thought you were saying there was one here.. guess not

By the way, there is plenty to do on a sunday, unless shopping is the ONLY thing you like to do...

They're as boring as you make them. Are you seriously suggesting that you have to have a family in order to do something that doesn't involve shopping? Don't you have any friends? Not interested in museums? Sports? Hiking, cycling or skiing? Beer gardens? Reading? Sunbathing? Nothing better to do with your free day than wandering aimlessly around a shop? Man, that's a shame.

I am not overly bothered by shops not being open...but it really forces you to plan ahead. If you decide on Sunday that you want to cook a meal that night...but have no ingredients...you are kinda stuck (unless you want to trudge to airport or HBF and pay over the top pricing). But it does force you to get out and do something active or take a day for yourself just to relax.

the people for the arguement for shops not to open on a sunday, would they like it if everything else shut down beer gardens,cinemas, gyms etc. the people who have to staff these palces have to do it. im sure you people use these services on a sunday?

resturants and beer gartens are for families! Long afternoons together. Slow and easy. We have fun and the kids too. Do you know a young child that likes to go shopping? They end up on the floor asking when we go home.

how many people has germany got unemployed, i think you could find a few who would work on a sunday dont you. i think a unemployed father of a family would jump at the chance to work on a sunday. then again maybe thats why so many are unemployed

Look this a Sunday poll on Sunday and what are we all doing. Chatting at home on our computers.

All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.
Blaise Pascal

as much of an inconvenience it can be if i haven't properly planned, i like that stores are shut down on sundays and i have vowed that upon our imminent return to the states, i am going to try not to indulge in sunday shopping. really nice just chilling out.

I do agree to this aspect that it's nice to have a day where you have to chill...but forced chilling? Nah, I do want the option...like today for example...I forgot to get shopping for today's food, now I'm forced to go spend mega and eat out...that eats my ass.

I HATE all the restrictions on sundays here. Other areas of Germany have stores like Lidel open on sundays...(like Hamburg)...

I have one day a week I could possibly shop, and that's sunday, and nothing is open...so wtf.

There's loads of people who would probably love an evening or weekend job and would happily work these hours for a little extra money.

Forcing shops to shut on Sunday because those with jobs can't organise a day to chill without shopping is ridiculous. As long as everyone gets a couple days off a week who does it hurt? It's not like the one person is going to man the shop 24/7.

Give some people jobs, give others convenience (because some of us work odd hours too and only have Sunday's off to do stuff) - and if you want a day off with the family or just to relax then as Potterstreet said above, just stick to it and do it. Shops being open is a lame excuse not to spend a day enjoying yourself.

Win/win situation to have the option available, I think.

32 hours a month on a shop clerk's wage. Yeah, that'll support a family.

Better than nothing.

Well, supermarkets are open Monday through Saturday from 8am to 8pm. If you really can't make it there during those times, then you're probably working too hard.

There's a difference here between supermarkets and, say, department or furniture shops. I don't necessarily have a problem with someone popping in to Tengelmann for a packet of pasta or something on a Sunday (although I still argue that this can be purchased and stored in advance). But in Britain, people's Sundays revolve around the trip to Tescos - that's the highlight of their Sunday. That I find completely depressing and is why I'm opposed to shops opening on Sundays here: too many people consider shopping to be a recreational pastime rather than a necessity.

I think it's great that official Government policy is: "Do something more interesting than shopping on your day off".

He says sitting in front of the computer all day

Or you're not working too hard, just irregular hours.


Some people do treat it as a recreational pastime, not a neccessity (I do it from neccessity personally). Why does what someone does with THEIR time make you depressed? I couldn't care less if you go shopping on a sunday, it means there are less people in the park on the same day when I'm trying to relax.


It's far more depressing that the Government has to regulate how they spend their free time than the fact that they choose to go to the supermarket on a sunday

What if you're just a poor student, and you'd like a little pocket money, just so you can go out once a month?

I can either "work too much" in your opinion, or I can move out on the street, those really are my options, so get off your damn high horse.

I work from 7:50am-8:10pm monday through saturday...all of that time I'm either on trains or hiking up or around a mountain...I NEED sundays to shop, the current system sucks.

btw: at the equivalent of 5 euros an hour w/o tips (which are maybe 5-15 euros a day), I need to work MORE...I'm just not willing to.

I work very irregular hours, I do have a grocery across from the office, but I would like it if I had the chance on Sunday to do other shopping than groceries... I mean, like clothes and household stuffs. That is when I have the chance to browse and price compare, or buy the things I need like clothes and such. Most evenings, when I am out of the office at 7, I have no desire to head into the center to shop! Same as on saturdays- Munich on a saturday is outrageous, I hate the big crowds and the rudeness, and wish I had the chance on a sunday to shop.

Having the shops closed on Sundays is one of the many things which separate a capitalistic society from a socialist one. I would rather have the German government controlling my shopping times than so many of the basic life necessities that the USA controlled for me.

Here I have the right to healthcare and never have to fear going into a deep debt to pay for hospital bills.

I am given vacation and respected as a human being who has a life outside my job.

This country treats me as an adult and lets me make my own decisions as to where I would like to drink my wine or beer.

Maybe these points don’t affect you, but please think about the differences in a positive light instead of dwelling on the little changes that might “be nice�.

There are always prices to pay for giving too much power to Big Business.

My 2 Cents

Isn"t it the other way around? Capitalist societies love shops open on Sunday to control appetite and spending (and the mass mentality)

I think the major point has already been made - everything else is open - restaurants, cinemas, gas stations...just not the shops.

Doesn't make much sense. If you don't want to work on the weekend, then you don't have to - change your profession or negotiate for only weekday working hours. There are plenty of people who DO want to work on the weekend, and plenty of people who would like the chance to go shopping on the weekend.

The no Sunday shopping law is not the stupidest, however. The stupidest Bavarian law is the one that regulates the opening hours of car washes - that is, the MACHINE thingy that you drive through to wash your car. It is a machine. Doesn't have a family. Doesn't care about spending time at home on a Sunday. Usually attached to a gas station, that is open on Sunday ANYWAY. The noise is already there. The use of the premises on the weekend is already going on anyway.

Maybe they want their evenings after work off to spend with the kids before it's their bedtime.

Sounds interesting, actually; what do you do?

I wrote my thesis on the Ladenschlußgesetz. It started in England in 1377 as a law to stop market trading on Sundays for religious reasons. It came to Germany as that but also was an effective way to protect workers: if the store had to be closed, there was no need for workers and they got some time off.

It's evolved and changed quite a bit, first with the "long Thursday" and "long Saturday", then with the Saturday and weekday extension. Further changes have occurred and most cities have allowed at least one or two Sundays a year for shopping. There have also always been exceptions, such as "traveller's needs" (airports, service stations, train stations) and "security" (police, fire, hospitals), and [West] Berlin was always exempted.

The UK only recently abolished its Sunday Trading Laws, and for a number of reasons. They're much more lax about religion, a much more significant percentage of their population isn't even nominally Christian, and it was a boost to the economy. The latter point was a great win for me since I argued this (over a friendly 90-minutes) with the president of the Einzelhandelverband (small merchant's association) before I wrote my thesis. He even lent me his PhD thesis -- strongly in favour of the Ladenschlußgesetz – for use as a reference.

The blue laws in Maryland weren't abolished until the end of the 1970s and there are still blue laws in many states and counties. It'll take time here. Every expansion has brought a lot of screaming. Older people still see the laws as protecting them; younger and more travelled people don't but it takes time for them to become the majority voice. The financial realities of the effects on the economy of forcing store closures has brought about most of the changes so far and will drive future relaxations.

Finally, since the courts have left it up to the German states to decide the laws, closing times are different everywhere you go. Bavaria has always been and will always be conservative (socialist/left-leaning politicians like Ude are favoured in some offices to keep things in check). Munich has never had a Verkaufsöffenen Sonntag and it could be decades before it ever does.

My prediction: Stores will be allowed to open until somewhere between 11pm and 1am nationally Mon-Sat. This is the best thing that could happen to the small businesses though they don't realise it. They can't compete with the chains on price but they can afford to keep their stores open later with only one or two people running the place. Most large stores in unregulated countries close between 9:00 and 10:00p.m. because it's too expensive to stay open. This could save the beloved Tante Emma Laden but Germans don't understand that because it's not how they see the world.

Only a few years after such an extension might states be allowed to choose whether or not to permit Sunday openings and they'll probably over-regulate it and allow openings only for shops of a certain size (in m²) or with a maximum of X employees (much like interim blue laws in the US as they were being relaxed).

The saddest part of this isn't the inconvenience but that these little measures are ensuring the loss of small businesses since the hours extensions benefit all merchants and allow shopping during hours when it's still profitable for large businesses to keep their doors open. Few Kaufhofs or Tengelmanns could afford to stay open at 1:00a.m., but the family-run corner shops sure can. Look no further than NYC or London to see this. If shop hours were completely unregulated fewer small stores would face closure and life would be more convenient for everyone.

I swear I tried to keep it short.

woof.

IMO the stores should be allowed to open on sundays, who knows maybe it'll help the economy and the unemployment situation a bit. No one should be force to work on sundays and the stores can make some arrangements with their employee about the work schedule.

BTW I'm a newbie here as well as in Munich.

Is there still a Tante Emma open these sorry days? Eps. in Munich they seem to vanish overnight. I loved them. Gone with the days of Five & Dimes!

32 effing hours a week, get out your effing euro land. england is being told we can only work a maximum 48 hour week from brussels, so we dont show up the lazy effing C*NTS on the continent of lazy europe. if you want to work to make your families life a bit better and you need more money then people should get off there lazy arses and do the graft. i know english people in munich and berlin that had to sneak into work at the weekends to get work done in the offices they worked in, there german counterparts couldnt understand that it was needed to be done to get projects finished on time and make money. thats why germany is up shit creak in regards to unemployment. if someone is unemployed and would rather claim state money than go and work for the money then that says a lot about the person. open the shops up on sundays and recognise this is 2005 than 1905

Small Town Boy: tour guide

One word-efficiency! Get more done in less time. Don't blame efficient people and call them lazy. Wanting to have Sunday's free has nothing to do with laziness. In fact, it probably makes people more efficient and happy. If I was at work all the time and not with my family, my productivity would decline rapidly. The keeping of stores open on Sunday will not even make a dent in the unemployment rate so don't even try that route. X amount of € spent over 6 days does not automatically make x+1 € for 7 days.
You have to look at the productivity in terms of man hours. Working less and producing more is not a bad thing. The thing that drags down Germany is the beauracracy. They spend way too much time on needless paperwork. They also have too much job security within a too short a period of time. That is what needs to change first. Then opening stores on Sunday's to please a lot of whining expats will be a breeze. I look at it this way, 80 million Germans have survived with stores being open for shortened hours and days just fine for years, a few thousand expats can learn to deal with it.

@eurovol... well put. German's lack of productivity will not be solved by opening a couple of grocery stores for 6 hours on a Sunday. Lower taxes, keep interest rates low, and get rid of the paper pushers who make it next to impossible to open any business here, (never mind a competitive one).

@eurovol

Are you a commie or capitalist?

I'm from Nova Scotia Canada, Sunday shopping here has been a big issue for most Nova Scotians, we are located on the east coast of Canada. Last year we had a plebiscite on Sunday shopping to decide whether or not that we should have Sunday openings. I'm happy to tell you that Nova Scotia said "NO" to Sunday shopping to which many of you refer to as Sunday trading. The roads here are full of traffic six days and week and it is refreshing to see stores closed here on Sundays, as there is less traffic on the roads. Families get time to spend together , go for walks, rest ,play with there kids. The world has become to commericalized, they do not think of there families anymore but the mighty dollar, how much they can make at the expense of others. Are we not human beings any more? They are also taking about keeping us GREEN and to be energy efficient. People opening stores every day of the week is not being green and eviromently friendly! More cars will be on the road, more pollution , lights in stores will be on seven days a week. All these costs are passed down to the consumer. Opening stores on Sunday is a big mistake. Ask your'e government if they would want to work on Sunday? Ask your'e kids if they would like to go to school on Sunday. People forget that retail workers are people too and they need time with there families. Don't follow the North American Model, don't be followers but be leaders put your'e family first Say no to Sunday shopping. I'm proud we said No and I hope you continue to keep stores closed in Germany. We have a yahoo group and we are opposed to Sunday shopping world -wide. We would like to invite those opposed to join us. You can chose to read emails on line instead of having them come to your'e mail box ... it can be done on this web site - save our sundays yahoo group

We all need to make decisions lets all make the right one and think about others that need time to rest.

not to stir things up , but if sunday shopping should not be allowed because "retail worker need to rest" and other energy conservation reasons then it should be applicable to all businesses. Which means restaurants and other form of business should not be allowed to open on sundays since the restaurants & other business workers that open on sunday need to rest too and part of the energy saving too, right? at least make it consistent across the board.

I have nothing against letting retail workers get some rest on sundays if we can get it then they should too. As I far as I know the retail workers(at least in the US) has the right to choose their days off(sundays included) so no one is forced to work on sundays. I think people should have the freedom to choose whether they want to work on sundays or not instead being imposed by the goverment.

Having said all the above I am just a guest here in Germany for the next 16 months so I'll adapt, respect and enjoy to what's already been put in place here and keep my free enterprising view to myself. BTW MVV rocks

No, I support you Hugo!

I would love to shop on sundays, as I said before. If we have the stores closed on sundays, then so should be Public transport, Restaruants and theaters... because then these people can have their quite family day as everyone says is so needed.