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The place to talk/ask about stuff in Germany in English.

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What are some of the weird/hilarious/stupid things that are legal in Germany but illegal in other countries (and vice versa)? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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My buddy and I were discussing the allowed blood alcohol content for driving (purely hypothetically) and how it varies across countries and then we stumbled upon the question in the title. Would be curious to hear if you guys know any good examples.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

Probably not exactly what you are looking for, but these are my personal go to examples for hilarious laws in good ol' Schermany...

Per law, it's forbidden to detonate a nuclear weapon. It's at least 5 years in Prison.
According to state law in Hesse, burglars could still be sentenced to death until 2018, but since this was already prohibited by federal law, the law was no longer applied for a long time. It has since been abolished, but it's still funny.
Driving blind is forbidden.
You're allowed to drive naked - getting out of the car however requires you to be clothed.
If you fall asleep at work and injure yourself as a result, for example because you fell off a chair, it's considered to be an accident at work and the insurance is liable.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the following applies: If a civil servant dies while travelling on business, the business trip is deemed to have ended.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the following applies: If a civil servant dies while travelling on business, the business trip is deemed to have ended.

In the rest of Germany they deal with zombie civil servants.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

They have a looooong time to wait for you to fill out those forms.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Actually there is no law that specifically prohibits anyone from being naked in public

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

§183 StGB prohibits men from "exhibitionist acts", which is nowadays reduced to meaning "indecent exposure" but in the past was used to discriminate LGBTQ people. It is only prosecuted upon request though.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

regarding the death sentence in Hesse: By law, a public vote had to be held. You could have voted against the abolishment of the death sentence.