EXPLAINED: Bavaria's complicated rules for when you can buy certain things

The rules around shop opening hours, and which products can be sold at which times, are quite complicated in Germany, and not the least in Bavaria.

Here staffed shops have to close from 8pm, but some kiosks are allowed exceptions. Grocery stores are not allowed to open on Sundays, but exceptions can be made for those within a central train station.

And the most recent update: potato chips and other salty snacks cannot be sold at kiosks after 8pm.

These rules can change from state to state, and often come with a number of seemingly arbitrary exceptions. 

Bavaria updated its rules this month when the state's new shop closing law (Ladenschlussgesetz) took effect on August 1st.

So what exactly can you buy and when in the southern Free State? Here's a look at the rules affecting sales in specific types of businesses in Bavaria.

Spätis 

Some late-night kiosks (often called Spätis) have been able to operate in Bavaria because of a loophole in the shop closing law.

Legally, they are neither defined as a retail business or a restaurant and the rules for "mixed businesses" as they are defined, are different. (If a Späti sells alcohol that you can consume on-site then it is subject to the state's Restaurant Act, if it sells bottled beer but does not permit on-site consumption, than it is not.)

The bottom line for customers is that Spätis often sell bottled alcohol, but not all of them allow you to drink on the premises. 

Also the content of what these shops can sell after 8pm is limited. According to the law only "bottled beer, non-alcoholic beverages, tobacco and confectionery" can be sold from then on. So the sale of chips and other salty snacks is effectively banned.

READ ALSO: 'Chips-verbot' - Why you can't buy crisps in Bavaria after 8pm

Gas stations

Gas stations are allowed to be open around the clock, but they are also limited in what they can sell after 8pm.

What's allowed here includes: fuel, travel supplies like newspapers, travel reading, food in small quantities, including chips, foreign currencies and spare parts for cars.

Pharmacies

The Bavarian State Chamber of Pharmacists determines which pharmacy has emergency duty and is open and when.

There are no specific limits on what you can buy here to ensure that people can get everything they need immediately, like medicines and other products that are available in a pharmacy.

Bakeries

Bakeries are an age-old cornerstone of local German economies, and therefore are afforded some exceptions to the rules. Namely they are allowed to open early and partially on Sundays.

Bakeries in Bavaria may sell their goods as early as 5:30am on weekdays. On Sundays, bakeries are allowed to be open for three hours.

Railway stations

This is the tip to know if you ever need groceries on a Sunday: At train stations, stores may also be open beyond regular shop opening hours, including on Sundays and holidays. Note that this doesn't necessarily apply at all railway stations, but is generally the case at major transit hubs and definitely at central train stations (Hauptbahnhöfe).

This significant exception to the rules is intended to allow travellers to get the essentials they need. Here grocery stores can also stay open later than 8pm.

Airports

Similar to central train stations, exceptions also apply at airports. Here, everyday goods and gift items may also be sold outside regular opening hours.

What's changed in the law?

Bavaria is actually the last German state to adopt its own closing law. Until now, the state has maintained the rules as set by the federal shops closing act from 1956 – which maintains that shops need to close from 8pm and on Sundays and holidays, among other things.

Whereas many other German states have adopted there own shop closing laws to allow shops to stay open to 10pm or later on weekdays, Bavaria's newly adopted law confirms the federal 8pm limit.

However, it has also brought a few interesting new exceptions.

First, municipalities can now grant permission for shops to stay open until midnight on up to eight working days each year. Presumably this would be to allow shops to stay open during certain festivities or events.

Also, individual shops can request permission to stay open until midnight on up to four days each year. This would allow a book store to continue selling books during an evening reading event, for example. 

The other major new exception is made for unstaffed shops, i.e. automated markets or "smart-stores". Unstaffed supermarkets with a floor space that does not exceed 150 square metres can now stay open 24 hours seven days a week in Bavaria, yes even on Sundays.

READ ALSO: 'Smart stores' - The new retail trend disrupting Germany's shop-free Sundays

According to the original rules, an exception was made for tourism, excursion and pilgrimage sites which could stay open on up to 40 Sundays and public holidays each year. This rule has been maintained but relaxed slightly, with municipalities being granted more authority to decide where tourism sales are permitted.