Opening times
The opening times of shops are regulated by law (the “Ladenschlussgesetz”) in Germany, and these laws vary from state to state.
Shops are almost never open 24h a day; the vast majority of shops open between 6-8 in the morning and close between 20-22 at night. Banks and post offices will typically have even shorter opening hours (often closing at 17:00 or 18:00 in the evening). Shops that are open longer are rare; you would most likely find these in central locations, such as near the entertainment part of the town. In many places there are small shops that might be open late or even the whole night; in Berlin those are called “Spätis”.
The website nochoffen, can help you to find regular opening times of shops.
Maximum allowed opening times
| State | Monday-Friday | Saturday | Sunday | public holiday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden Würtemberg | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Bavaria | 6-20 | 6-20 | closed | closed |
| Berlin | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Brandenburg | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Bremen | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Hessen | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Hamburg | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Mecklenburg Vorpommern | 0-24 | 6-22 | closed | closed |
| Niedersachsen | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | 0-24 | 6-22 | closed | closed |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | 6-22 | 6-22 | closed | closed |
| Saarland | 6-20 | 6-20 | closed | closed |
| Sachsen | 6-22 | 6-22 | closed | closed |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | 0-24 | 0-20 | closed | closed |
| Schleswig Holstein | 0-24 | 0-24 | closed | closed |
| Thüringen | 0-24 | 0-20 | closed | closed |
Exceptions:
- Bakeries are allowed to sell bread, rolls, cakes etc. on Sunday mornings.
- Shops in big train stations, big airports, highway rest stops, gas stations and a few more may be open for longer an on Sundays.
Public holidays and shopping Sundays
Pay particular attention to public holidays, as, on these days, nearly all shops will be closed. Germans often do a lot of shopping the evening before a public holiday, so expect shops to be very busy during these times.
Many cities have a few Sundays per year where shops are allowed to be open for a few hours. The dates are different for each city; look up “Verkaufsoffener Sonntag” for your city.
There are also shops that are allowed to open on Sundays in certain train stations. They are usually overcrowded at that time, but they are useful for emergency shopping. In Berlin, these shops are open on Sundays.
Tips
Prices
Prices always include VAT (MWSt), so you will pay exactly what it says on the sticker.
At the checkout
Unlike in other countries you have to bag the items yourself at the checkout of grocery stores. While you do this you have to keep pace with the (often lightning-fast) scanning speed of the cashier - and, as soon as the cashier has finished scanning, you are expected to pay right away (or the people in the queue behind you will start getting fidgety). The easiest solution is probably to not even try bagging your groceries in real time, but put them straight back in the shopping cart and then bag everything later at a leisurely pace.
Bags are never free, you usually pay about 0.10-0.20 € for a sturdy bag (which is designed to be used multiple times). Try to remember to bring bags when you go shopping.
Where will I find ingredients from my country that I cannot find in the supermarket.
- Asking the manager of a Rewe, Edeka or another store like this, if he can order something can help sometimes.
- Big stores like Kaufland and Real have a bigger selection of items.
- In a lot of cases the answer is in an Asia store, they sell a lot of stuff that is exotic for our countrymen.
- Other speciality stores, especially with owners who are immigrants or children of immigrants from you part of the world. You will find them in places with a significant number of people who immigrated from there.
- Sometimes the answer is mix it yourself, like self raising flour it is simply flour (Mehl) + baking powder (Backpulver).