New Year’s Eve is approaching – and with it the firecrackers, the rockets, the hours of noise and the injuries. The glow of the rockets in the dark sky at the turn of the year is nice to see – but the joy is usually hampered by the many accidents when handling legal and illegal things Fireworks, the escalating violence on the streets in some major cities, the fine dust and the fear of frightened people and animals. But the bang on New Year’s Eve is a tradition for us and is simply part of the turn of the year.
In the past few days, German retailers have received everything that New Year’s Eve fans need to make firecrackers and bangs and are in the starting blocks for the sale of pyrotechnics, which begins this Thursday. By law, this sale is limited to the last three working days of the year. Since New Year’s Eve falls on a Sunday this year, you can stock up on fireworks from December 28th.
The federal association pyrotechnics on Wednesday called for responsible handling of its products and also warned against illegal goods. The “basic basics of New Year’s Eve fireworks” also include that one should “abstain from drinking alcohol until after the fireworks,” association chairman Ingo Schubert was quoted in the news.
However, if you want to celebrate New Year’s Eve, you still have to follow a few very official rules. Because fireworks and firecrackers are not allowed everywhere. These are strictly forbidden by law – all year round, by the way Churches, hospitals, children’s and old people’s homes as well as thatched and half-timbered houses.
Fireworks are prohibited, among other things, in places with large gatherings of people
In addition, some cities are setting up temporary ban regions on New Year’s Eve, for example in central squares and popular party zones in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Hanover, Bremen, Nuremberg, Trier, Weimar and Göttingen, as the German Press Agency (dpa) said in found out in a survey shortly before the turn of the year. The reason given for these temporary fireworks bans is usually the risk of injury: When hundreds of people celebrate closely together and firecrackers are ignited incorrectly, the risk of injury is high. Fire protection also plays a role, especially in historic places with wooden or half-timbered houses. Other bans are imposed with a view to protecting the environment or animals.
Our photo series highlights a few places where you are not allowed to set off firecrackers or rockets at the turn of the year.
Sources: Material from dpa / RBB
Also read: After the outbreak of violence in parts of Berlin at the turn of the year last year, the city has now designated zones for banning firecrackers and presented the police’s operational strategy. There are also bans on firecrackers in other places. An overview.