Alcohol laws in Germany

The German laws regulating alcohol use and sale are some of the least restrictive ones in the world. The foremost function of restraints, as far as they exist, is youth protection. In contrast to many other countries (e.g. the United States), the legislation is not designed to keep young people away from alcohol completely, but rather to teach them an appropriate way of alcohol consumption.

Drinking Age

Germany has three drinking ages.

• At 14 - minors are allowed to consume and possess undistilled (fermented) alcoholic beverages, such as beer and wine, as long as they are in the company of their parents.
• At 16 - undistilled drinks are allowed without a parent.
• At 18 - having become adults, people are allowed access to distilled liquor.

Because of moral panic involving alcohol abuse among minors (a 16-year-old boy died after having consumed 52 shots of tequila in a bar in early 2007), some Germans began to demand that the drinking age be raised. Most politicians, however, spoke against that notion, pointing out instead that such abuse already was forbidden according to current laws, which simply needed to be enforced. In Germany and the rest of Europe, unlike the United States, alcohol consumption by adolescents is traditional and generally accepted.

Enforcement

Violation of restraints will involve prosecution for vendors who sell alcohol to underage persons and also for bystanders who do not intervene in underage drinking. Although restrictions are nationwide and well-known, some salespersons violate the law at times. Minors themselves can never be prosecuted for illegal alcohol consumption.

In 2008, the federal state of Lower Saxony started a series of trap purchases, which are conducted by specially trained police cadets, aged 16 or 17, who pose as customers. In 77% of all tests alcohol was sold illegally in shops, filling stations and kiosks. In 2009, about 3000 trap purchases were performed in Lower Saxony, in 1327 cases (44%) alcohol was sold without age verification to underage persons. Hundreds of summary proceedings led to administrative fines ranging from 500 to 3,000 Euro. The standard rate for the illegal sale of one brandy bottle is 1,500 Euro. Thus, alcohol trap purchases bring a return of circa 2,000,000 Euro annually. Other German states, especially Schleswig-Holstein consider to implement the Lower Saxony model, but states like Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg object to it.

Other legislation

Closing hours for bars and discotheques are not appointed by the state, but rather by towns and cities, generally or for individual locations. In recent years most towns have begun to abolish closing hours. However, the state of Baden-Württemberg has been the first to forbid the off-premises sale of liquor during night hours (10 pm to 5 am) since year 2010.

Public parties are prohibited nationally on Good Friday, and regionally on further holidays such as All Saints' Day. Buying alcohol in supermarkets or petrol stations remains possible at these times.

Beyond this, Germany has barely any restrictions on alcohol consumption in public. Exceptions are sometimes made in the context of highly controversial football (soccer) matches, where police executives may ban the sale of alcoholic drinks inside stadiums and deny entrance to drunk fans. In 2009, the private railway company Metronom, which operates in parts of Northern Germany, introduced a much-discussed complete ban on alcohol in its trains.

Until some time ago, it was well customary for manual workers, craftspeople, but also other vocations including sometimes civil servants, to drink medium quantities of alcohol during working hours. In recent years however, occupational safety provisions have been tightened and enforced more strictly, which largely led to the disappearance of drinking at work.

See also

• Alcohol in Germany
• Alcoholic beverages - Age restrictions - Europe