In June 1996, the German parliament (Bundestag) finally granted German shoppers a long-awaited wish. In the month before Christmas, starting November 1, stores were allowed to remain open between the hours of 6:00 am and 8:00 pm on weekdays and until 4:00 pm on Saturdays.
Sundays are still a day of rest, but for the first time bakeries were allowed to make and sell fresh bread and rolls on Sunday and open as early as 5:30 am every day. Having the new law go into effect just before Christmas helped ease the shock for most workers because German stores have long been allowed to stay open longer in the weeks before the big holiday.
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| Shoppers in Stuttgart now have a little more time to enjoy their tree-lined downtown shopping mall. |
If this all still sounds a bit restrictive to you, then you obviously haven’t been living in Austria, Germany or Switzerland, where store hours have been among the most limited in Europe since the 1950s. Since then German-speaking consumers had been impatiently waiting for more shopping freedom. Although there had been some recent minor changes, such as shopping till 8:00 pm on Thursdays, Germany’s draconian Ladenschlußgesetz (store-closing law) kept stores closed after 6:00 pm on weekdays and restricted even Saturday shopping to no later than 2:00 pm. Only once a month (and during the Christmas season) were stores allowed to stay open two hours later on “long Saturdays.” Now, working mothers and other people with jobs are at last able to shop when they are off work.
Austria - Shopping Hours
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| These Austrian shopping center doors indicate the limited shopping hours that have been typical in German-speaking countries—a situation that has finally improved for shoppers in Germany. “Mo.-Do.” means “Mon.-Thur.” Note the use of 24-hour time. |
Future shopping hours?
It may still be too early to celebrate Germany’s new shopping freedom. How much more real shopping time Germans will get still depends on union agreements and proprietors’ inclinations. Even under the old law, when stores were granted the right to stay open until 8:00 pm on Thursdays, most smaller shops continued to close their doors by 6:00 pm. Even some bigger enterprises and department stores failed to take advantage of the longer hours allowed on Thursdays and Saturdays. Under the previous law, some businesses still closed at noon on Saturdays, although they could legally remain open until 2:00 pm.
The VAT - When shopping in the German-speaking countries, be aware that they all levy a value-added tax (VAT, Mehrwertsteuer) on the price of goods and services. The VAT is a type of sales tax already included in the price of anything you buy, not added on as in the U.S. The price you see is the price you pay!
The standard VAT is 20% in Austria, 16% in Germany (since March 1, 1998), and 6.2% in Switzerland. Under certain conditions when making larger purchases it is possible for non-Europeans to get a VAT refund, but the procedure is complex (there are forms to be filled out) and arrangements must be made at the time of purchase.
Web page Copyright © 1997-2005 Hyde Flippo
Related Pages
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ON THIS SITE
- Business in the German-speaking world - from the German Way book
- German Business Links - Banks and businesses in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland
- Online German Shopping - Links to sources for books, CDs, and other products from Austria, Germany, Switzerland.
