Courts overturn 11pm coronavirus curfew for restaurants and pubs in Berlin

Berlin nightlife has fallen silent under the curfew

Credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/ REUTERS

Coronavirus restrictions in Berlin were thrown into turmoil on Friday when the courts overturned an 11pm curfew for restaurants and pubs.

A judge ruled there was no evidence the curfew would do anything to slow infections.

But restaurants and pubs will not be allowed to serve alcohol after 11pm, after the judge upheld a separate ban on alcohol sales.

The curfew, ordered by the Berlin regional government a week ago amid concern over rapidly rising infection rates, is the most comprehensive in the German capital since the Second World War.

All restaurants, pubs and shops were ordered to close between the hours of 11pm and 6am, with only pharmacies and petrol stations exempt.

The courts intervened after the owners of eleven Berlin pubs lodged an urgent challenge against the curfew order.

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They argued if they were forced to close young people would simply meet elsewhere, at venues with none of the strict hygiene rules currently imposed in Berlin pubs.

“The curfew is suspended because the court considers it disproportionate with regard to other measures to combat the pandemic,” said a spokesman.

For the time being the ruling only applies to the eleven pubs which brought the challenge, and other businesses are still obliged to close at night.

But it provides a legal basis for a wider challenge, and is expected to be extended to cover restaurants and pubs throughout the city.

“It is incomprehensible why it should be justified under infection protection law to close catering establishments which are otherwise allowed to be open after 11 p.m,” the judge said in his ruling.

He ruled that the separate ban on alcohol sales meant there was no risk of “uninhibited” behaviour which could spread the virus.

Usually bustling venues are deserted

Credit: Maja Hitij/Getty Images Europe

The Berlin regional government was considering whether to appeal the ruling.

Other restrictions remain in place in the city, including a night-time “rule of five” and a daytime limit of ten on private gatherings.

The decision is the latest by the courts to upend coronavirus restrictions around Germany.

Attempts to restrict travel within the country are facing numerous challenges. Courts in Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony on Thursday overturned a ban on overnight stays in hotels and holiday rentals by people from areas with a high infection rate.

The controversial ban, which affects residents of Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt among other cities, was initially agreed by all of Germany’s regional governments.

But it provoked public anger as parents were forced to cancel half-term holidays, and several states including Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia have said they will not enforce it. Bavaria on Friday became the latest to abandon the ban.

The regional government of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania is facing a separate ongoing challenge to a ban on daytrippers from other states.