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Due to the corona pandemic, a lot has changed this year, the first Christmas and now New Years Eve. The turn of the year should also be a silent night, and those are the rules.
This year, the sale of pyrotechnics was generally banned. On New Years Eve and New Years Eve there is also a national ban on gathering and gathering. Is it still allowed to shoot now? And if so, where? Questions and answers about current regulations.
Why were sales in Germany banned?
The regulation is intended to prevent injuries when fireworks are lit on New Year’s Eve. “The New Year’s Eve fireworks sales ban protects our hospitals from overload,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) said of the clinics and emergency clinics that were heavily used by the corona pandemic. .
What fireworks are not exactly sold?
The sale of category F2 fireworks – that is, classic New Year’s Eve fireworks such as rockets, explosives or batteries – was specifically prohibited across the country. For the industry, which generates 95 percent of its annual revenue in December, a bitter loss: According to the Association of the Pyrotechnic Industry (VPI), there were around 130 million euros in sales in 2019.
Where can I boar on New Years Eve? Where no?
Selling fireworks is prohibited, but not always explicitly lighting rockets. There are different regulations in countries and cities. Here are some examples:
- In Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, there is no blanket ban on firecrackers. However, the country’s Crown Protection Ordinance prohibits lighting in busy streets and squares. In Bonn, on the other hand, fireworks are banned throughout the city.
- Also in the capital, the firing of firecrackers is prohibited in many places: the Berlin Senate published a list of 56 places, including landmarks such as the Brandenburg Gate. Despite the ban on selling fireworks, the Berlin fire brigade is preparing for a state of emergency for New Year’s Eve in the same way as in previous years.
- In the main Saxon cities of Dresden and Chemnitz, for example, the following rules must be observed on New Year’s Eve and New Years: In Dresden, the ban on fireworks applies throughout the city in all public and private areas. In Chemnitz it refers to all public areas, as well as private areas that are accessible to everyone, for example, parking spaces in supermarkets.
Can I use firecrackers from abroad?
Illegally imported pyrotechnic products are known to sometimes find their way over the counter in the border area with Germany. Emergency medics warn against the ignition of firecrackers and illegal fireworks. According to the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), these often contain not only black powder, but are also filled with a much more reactive array of rays. Pyrotechnics that are legal abroad can also be significantly more powerful than the products allowed in Germany. If unauthorized fireworks are lit, serious injuries can result: “The explosive effect of these products is often unknown or incalculable,” warns Jan-Thorsten Gräsner, emergency physician and spokesperson for the German Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine.
And in neighboring countries?
In Poland, neither the sale nor the use of legal fireworks is prohibited; many visitors to Berlin and Brandenburg have recently benefited from this. However, there are now strict quarantine rules for visitors to Poland. In the Czech Republic, the sale of non-essential goods such as fireworks is generally prohibited due to the corona pandemic.
Can I use fireworks from last year?
BAM recommends that those who still have fireworks do not light them anymore. The reason for this is that fireworks that have been stored for a longer period of time lose their function or may react more slowly due to the absorption of moisture. Whoever then turns on more often may experience an unpleasant surprise. Fireworks that are stored excessively dry can also change their function and react faster or slower.
What can I still do on New Years Eve?
According to the federal government, private gatherings from your own home and from another home are allowed on New Year’s Eve. A maximum of five people can meet. Children up to 14 years old do not count. In contrast to the ban on selling fireworks for adults, merchants can offer sparklers, table fireworks, and so-called fireworks for children. In the crown protection regulations of the federal states, there is mainly talk of public fireworks and fireworks in public places and streets. Most of the time, the prohibition does not apply to the lighting of fireworks in private rooms.
Do I still have to wait for a penalty?
Legal experts like attorney Christian Solmecke generally see no risk of criminal or regulatory consequences if consumers set off fireworks in private rooms on New Year’s Eve, for example, in their own garden, on the terrace or on the balcony. In Lower Saxony, the Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court recently annulled the Crown Protection Ordinance with a blanket ban on fireworks. In the state, firecrackers are again allowed in private areas.
Can you shoot again next year?
That remains unclear, but is likely to occur after the pandemic is over. Although 71 per cent of Germans, according to a poll conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, consider the ban on fireworks on New Year’s Eve to be the correct one, Federal Minister of Family Franziska Giffey (SPD) does not want the fireworks ban to be the benchmark for the next few years, as he recently said. .
