Ladenschlussgesetz
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Ladenschlussgesetz or "Shop Closing Law" (abbreviated: LadSchlG) was the federal law regulating at which times stores were required to be closed to the public. The Ladenschlussgesetz in its current form was first enacted on 28 November 1956 following pressure from Germany's trade unions; in its last revision (of 2 June 2003), points of sale ("Verkaufsstellen") must be closed at any of the following times:
- On Sundays and public holidays;
- On working days (Monday through Saturday) before 06:00 and after 20:00;
- On December 24 before 06:00 and after 14:00 if that date falls on a working day
The law provides differing regulations for pharmacies, petrol stations, shops at train stations, etc.
On 30 June 2006, as part of the Föderalismusreform ("Federalism Reform"), the regulatory responsibility for this area was devolved to the German states. Berlin was the first state to deregulate closure times to a 24/6 scheme on November 9, 2006. North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate followed suit on November 16, Hesse on November 23, Thuringia on November 24, Brandenburg on November 27 and Schleswig-Holstein on December 1. In 2007, Hamburg liberalised its laws on January 1, Bremen on February 6, Baden-Württemberg on February 14, Lower Saxony on March 6 and Saxony on March 16. In these states, the maximum allowed opening times are Monday 00:00 to Saturday 24:00 with individual regulations on Sunday opening times during select Sundays.
As of May 2007, Bavaria and the Saarland have expressed no intent to modify the opening times at all. The state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has expressed its intent to pass legislation allowing 24 hour opening Mondays to Fridays, with opening times up to 22:00 on Saturdays. The law is currently under review and expected to become effective in July 2007.
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