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Store opening hours; application for a temporary individual exception
Under certain conditions, the Bavarian Shop Closing Hours Act (BayLadSchlG) allows temporary individual exemptions from the general store closing hours to be applied for from the competent authority.
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Procedure details
Description
As a rule, the district administrative authorities and municipalities are the points of contact for enforcing the Bavarian law on store closing times.
Principle
In Bavaria, the Bavarian Shop Closing Hours Act (BayLadSchlG) regulates when sales outlets must close. As a rule, sales outlets may be open from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm on weekdays. Bakeries may open as early as 5:30 am. Stores are generally not allowed to open all day on Sundays and public holidays.
Legal exceptions
There are numerous exceptions, some of which relate to certain commercial areas (e.g. petrol stations, pharmacies, cultural, leisure and sports facilities), certain local conditions (e.g. railroad and long-distance bus stations, airports) or certain goods (newspapers and magazines, flowers, confectionery and bakery products, dairy products).
These exceptions do not have to be applied for under store closure law, but result directly from the Bavarian Shop Closure Act.
Exceptions through municipal ordinances
In addition, the municipalities may, by ordinance, set up to four Sundays and public holidays open for business on the occasion of markets, trade fairs or similar events, as well as up to eight nights open for business on weekdays from 8 p.m. to midnight at the latest, irrespective of the occasion.
In spa, recreation, excursion and pilgrimage destinations, the municipalities may permit the opening of tourist Sundays and public holidays on up to 40 days per year for the sale of tourist goods. On these days, shops may be open for up to eight consecutive hours between 10 am and 8 pm.
These exceptions also do not have to be applied for under store closure law, but result directly from the respective municipal ordinance in conjunction with the Bavarian Shop Closure Act.
Individual open nights on working days
In addition to the municipality-wide open nights on weekdays, owners of a sales outlet may hold up to four individual open nights on weekdays from 8:00 p.m. to midnight at the latest per calendar year. Further information can be found under "Related topics" under "Shop opening hours; notification of an individual night open for business on a working day".
Individual exceptions in the public interest
The Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labor and Social Affairs (StMAS) can only grant temporary exceptions to the general store closing times in individual cases within the narrow limits of Art. 8 Para. 1 BayLadSchlG if the exceptions are urgently required in the public interest.
In contrast to mere private and individual interest or mere economic interest, the "urgent public interest" is limited to cases of exceptional need, in particular a need to supply the population, and can therefore be assumed, for example, if it is necessary to supply a large number of people with food in the event of an emergency.
In addition, according to Art. 8 Para. 2 BayLadSchlG, the governments can approve temporary exceptions with different opening hours in individual cases if it is in the public interest to satisfy the needs of the population that are particularly prominent on individual days - especially in the case of major supra-regional events with an extraordinary number of visitors. The StMAS is responsible for exceptional permits that affect more than one administrative district.
Requests for exemptions must provide sufficient justification for the required public interest. Furthermore, the temporal and local scope of the desired exception must be described (e.g. by means of a program of events and an excerpt from a street map). In principle, the exception request must be submitted by the respective municipality to the competent authority. A request for exemption from an individual company or an interest group cannot generally justify a public interest. The final assessment of whether there is a public interest in granting an exemption is the sole responsibility of the granting authority.
Exceptions by the municipalities on a case-by-case basis
In the case of local events, the municipalities may permit the sale of goods for immediate consumption, consumption or consumption or of perishable goods (e.g. otherwise perishable fresh fruit) to a limited extent for the supply of visitors in accordance with Art. 8 para. 3 sentence 1 BayLadSchlG, if this is necessary to satisfy local needs and is unobjectionable with regard to occupational health and safety.
According to Art. 8 Para. 3 S. 2 BayLadSchlG, municipalities may, in individual cases, permit sales at wholesale and weekly markets in the context of Sundays and public holidays open for business, nights open for business on weekdays throughout the municipality or sales on Sundays and public holidays for tourists.
Requirements
A temporary exception to the general store closing times can only be granted if the exception is urgently required in the public interest or is necessary to satisfy the needs of the population that are particularly prominent on individual days in the public interest.
Temporary exceptions to the general store closing times may only be granted by the municipalities for the sale of perishable goods and goods for immediate consumption, consumption or consumption if this is necessary to satisfy local needs and is unobjectionable in terms of occupational health and safety.
Proceedings
You must apply for the exemption permit from the competent authority.
Fees
none
Deadlines
none
Appeal
Administrative court action
Related issues
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Store opening hours; display of an individual shopping night on a working day
Owners of a sales outlet in Bavaria may open their store on four individually selectable working days per year for longer than 8 p.m. up to a maximum of midnight. The necessary notification must be submitted to the responsible municipality.
Status: 06.08.2025
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Familie, Arbeit und Soziales
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