{"id":483673,"date":"2026-01-01T01:49:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/483673\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T01:49:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:49:14","slug":"almost-half-of-all-germans-want-a-ban-on-fireworks-dw-12-30-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/483673\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost half of all Germans want a ban on fireworks \u2013 DW \u2013 12\/30\/2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early hours of Monday, December 29, residents in the state of Thuringia<\/a>\u00a0called the police<\/a> out to a local supermarket, warning that thieves were trying to break in. But when the authorities arrived, they found a group of young men, armed with hot tea and blankets, who just wanted to be first in line when the supermarket opened.<\/p>\n

December 29 is the start of the three-day window in Germany<\/a> when fireworks can be sold, to adults over the age of 18, to celebrate New Year’s Eve.<\/p>\n

All over the country, undeterred by the cold and dark, people line up and wait every year for fireworks to go on sale. The coveted products have names like Giftzwerg (“poison dwarf”), Hysteria and\u00a0Hurricane Force. The fireworks come in brightly colored packages of various sizes, with a fuse sticking out.<\/p>\n

\"ASome people spend hundreds of euros on fireworks for New Year’s Eve in GermanyImage: Frank Hammerschmidt\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n

When the fuse is lit, they\u00a0shoot up into the air. Black powder produces loud explosions, while colorful effects are created by metal powder, in combination with other chemicals.<\/p>\n

Only a minority let off private fireworks<\/p>\n

Germany has a long tradition of people setting off their own fireworks on New Year’s Eve. For manufacturers, it’s a profitable and steadily growing business. The German Pyrotechnic Industry Association calculated\u00a0that in 2024 its turnover was \u20ac197 million ($232 million) \u2014 a record high, up from \u20ac180 million the previous year. The association estimates that 10% to 15% more goods will be on sale in 2025.<\/p>\n

Yet only 22% of people living in Germany want to see in the new year with a private fireworks display<\/a>. These were the findings of a representative survey of 2,500 people over the age of 18 by the opinion research institute Civey. The survey was commissioned by Germany’s Association of Technical Inspection Agencies (T\u00dcV).<\/p>\n

“It’s only a minority of people who set off their own firecrackers, rockets or other fireworks<\/a> on New Year’s Eve,” said Joachim B\u00fchler, the CEO of the T\u00dcV association. He explained that the tradition is most popular among younger people and families with children.<\/p>\n

More and more people seriously injured<\/p>\n

But while some regard fireworks as colorful, exciting\u00a0and fun, the rockets and firecrackers\u00a0have serious downsides. In addition to creating an enormous amount of trash, the Federal Environment<\/a> Agency has recorded\u00a0that burning fireworks to ring in the new year generates more than 2,000 metric tons of fine particulates<\/a>, which constitute a risk to health. That represents around 1% of Germany’s entire annual particulate pollution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AIllegal fireworks from the black market are a danger to life and limbImage: Andreas Arnold\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n

The most serious concern, however, is that injuries and property\u00a0damage<\/a> are increasing year on year, especially in big cities. Firecrackers can cause serious injuries like acoustic trauma, burns\u00a0and the loss of body parts, such as fingers\u00a0or an entire hand.<\/p>\n

More and more often, injuries are caused by fireworks that have been purchased illegally on black markets in Poland, Czechia\u00a0and the Netherlands, and have considerably more explosive power. According to police, they’re comparable to bombs and grenades.<\/p>\n

In 2024, two young men died in Germany after handling so-called spherical bombs that contained more than 600 grams of black powder. A doctor described one of the men as having been “ripped to shreds.”<\/p>\n

This year, fireworks have been banned for the first time in large parts of Czechia. Starting in 2026, the Netherlands is banning private fireworks altogether. The hope is that this will stop the two countries being used as key transshipment points for homemade firecrackers\u00a0and goods smuggled in from China.<\/p>\n

German customs officials reported that in 2024 they seized more than 7 tons of pyrotechnics that were not authorized for use in Germany. That’s considerably more than in all three of the previous years put together.<\/p>\n

“For many people, ordinary fireworks aren’t enough anymore,” warned Jochen Kopelke, the chair of the federal German Police Union. “They want them to be more and more powerful, with big explosions and lots of fire.”<\/p>\n

Many organizations want firecrackers banned<\/p>\n

There has also been an increase in the deliberate use<\/a> of pyrotechnics as a weapon, including against police officers, firefighters\u00a0and paramedics. Aggression and violence tend to break out on New Year’s Eve, especially in the bigger cities, with some neighborhoods almost resembling\u00a0a war zone.<\/p>\n

\"BerlinPolice officers have been attacked with fireworks on New Year’s Eve in several German citiesImage: Julius Schreiner\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n

This is why the security services are calling for a blanket ban on all fireworks. A petition<\/a> to this effect, launched by the police trade union (GdP) in Berlin<\/a>, has already been signed by almost 2.5 million people.<\/p>\n

The branch leader of the GdP in Berlin, Stephan Weh, believes politicians have to do something<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“All that’s happened in the last few years has been the imposition of localized bans on firecrackers, guns\u00a0and knives, in specific zones. But these make no difference to the excesses of violence,” he said. “We don’t want to wait until one of our colleagues loses their life in this wild, senseless firecracker frenzy.”<\/p>\n

More than 50 civil society organizations have also come together to call for a ban on private New Year’s Eve fireworks, under the hashtag #b\u00f6llerciao (“Bye-bye, firecrackers”). Medical associations, Environmental Action Germany, animal welfare organizations\u00a0and the German Children’s Fund are among those supporting the initiative. Around 750,000 people have already signed their petition.<\/p>\n

One in three against a ban on\u00a0fireworks<\/p>\n

Increased aggression on New Year’s Eve also affects people’s perception of security. The T\u00dcV survey found that almost one in three \u2014 women in particular \u2014 do not feel safe in public if there are firecrackers around. Of those surveyed, 32%\u00a0said they didn’t feel safe outside on New Year’s Eve because of fireworks;\u00a045% of women\u00a0said they didn’t feel safe.<\/p>\n

\"APets like dogs are scared by the loud noises and flashing lights of fireworksImage: Patrick Pleul\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n

More and more people would welcome restrictions on private fireworks. Almost half are in favor of a total ban, with only the smallest fireworks excepted, such as sparklers or table fireworks; 22% would like to see a ban on firecrackers, both large and small.<\/p>\n

However, there are also people \u2014 33%, according to the survey \u2014 who reject any sort of ban, citing tradition and personal freedom.<\/p>\n

There is no prospect of a nationwide ban on private fireworks any time soon, as Germany’s state and federal interior ministers have not been able to reach agreement on this. The state premier of Lower Saxony, Olaf Lies, is relying on local decision-making instead.<\/p>\n

“Lots of local authorities stipulate areas where people are not allowed to set off fireworks,” he said before the holiday.<\/p>\n

More and more prohibited zones have been established in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich\u00a0and other big cities in recent years, particularly in the town centers. And it’s completely forbidden all over Germany to let off fireworks in the vicinity of hospitals, churches, children’s homes, old people’s homes\u00a0and airports.<\/p>\n

This article was originally written in German.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the early hours of Monday, December 29, residents in the state of Thuringia\u00a0called the police out to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":483674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-483673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}