Shop opening acts: shopping Sundays in all 16 states
Pick two states: the comparison shows the maximum, hours, Advent rule, occasion and who releases, according to the wording of both acts.
North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria: Sundays per year
8 : 4
North Rhine-Westphalia allows more Sundays.
| Barred Sundays 2027 | 6 : 8 |
| Advent Sundays possible | 4 : 1 |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Bavaria | |
|---|---|---|
| Act | LÖG NRW § 6 | BayLadSchlG Art. 6 |
| Maximum | 8 | 4 |
| Hours | from 13:00, 5 hours at most | between 10:00 and 18:00, 5 hours at most |
| Advent | Only one Advent Sunday town-wide; one per district, two at most in total. | Advent Sundays in December are barred; a first Advent Sunday in late November is possible. |
| Occasion | a public interest: festivals, markets, fairs, supporting retail, reviving centres, the town’s visibility | a special occasion: markets, fairs, major cultural, religious, traditional, historical or sporting events and festivals |
| Who releases | the local public order authority, by ordinance | the municipality, by ordinance |
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · acts and ordinances checked on 29 October 2026
Since the federalism reform of 2006 each state regulates shop hours itself, and Bavaria was the last to replace the federal Shop Closing Act with its own act, on 1 August 2025. The range is wide: Baden-Württemberg allows three shopping Sundays or holidays a year, most states four, Brandenburg five, Lower Saxony six per town, and Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia eight. Hours differ too: a fixed noon to 6 pm in Saxony, 1 pm to 8 pm in Berlin and Brandenburg, up to six hours ending at 8 pm in Hesse and Thuringia, five hours until 6 pm in many others. All share the protection of Sunday under Art. 140 of the Basic Law: almost everywhere the opening needs an occasion, Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday are barred almost everywhere, Volkstrauertag and Totensonntag in thirteen states. Who decides also varies: usually the town, in Berlin the Senate, in Thuringia the district, in Saarland the shops themselves. We read every text in the state portals on 29 October 2026.
The 16 states at a glance
| State | Maximum | Hours | Possible Sundays 2027 | Act |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | 3 | ending by 18:00, 5 hours at most | 45 | LadÖG § 8 |
| Bavaria | 4 | between 10:00 and 18:00, 5 hours at most | 44 | BayLadSchlG Art. 6 |
| Berlin | 8 | between 13:00 and 20:00 | 47 | BerlLadÖffG § 6 |
| Brandenburg | 5 | between 13:00 and 20:00 | 47 | BbgLöG § 5 |
| Bremen | 4 | between 11:00 and 18:00, 5 hours at most | 42 | Bremisches Ladenschlussgesetz § 10 |
| Hamburg | 4 | ending by 18:00, 5 hours at most | 41 | LÖG Hamburg § 8 |
| Hesse | 4 | ending by 20:00, 6 hours at most | 43 | HLöG § 6 |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 4 | outside main church service times; no fixed hours in the act | 44 | ÖffZG M-V § 6 |
| Lower Saxony | 6 | 5 hours at most | 40 | NLöffVZG § 5 |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 8 | from 13:00, 5 hours at most | 46 | LÖG NRW § 6 |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 4 | from 11:00, 5 hours at most | 43 | LadöffnG § 10 |
| Saarland | 4 | ending by 18:00, 5 hours at most | 44 | LÖG Saarland § 8 |
| Saxony | 4 | between 12:00 and 18:00 | 45 | SächsLadÖffG § 8 |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 4 | between 11:00 and 20:00, 5 hours at most | 48 | LÖffZeitG LSA § 7 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 4 | ending by 18:00, 5 hours at most | 43 | LÖffZG § 5 |
| Thuringia | 4 | between 11:00 and 20:00, 6 hours at most | 49 | ThürLadÖffG § 10 |
The “possible Sundays” column counts the Sundays of the year the act does not expressly bar. A town may release only as many of them as the maximum allows, and only with the required occasion. States that also allow holidays can pick a weekday holiday as well.
What is the same everywhere
No state allows unlimited shopping Sundays. Opening should avoid the main church service, staff are entitled to time off in lieu, and a release can be limited to districts and trades. Courts scrutinise the occasion closely: where shopping rather than the festival comes first, the release often fails. The basis is Art. 140 Basic Law and the Federal Constitutional Court judgment of 2009.
Check a Sunday under one state’s act
Hesse, Sunday, 28 November 2027
Barred
| Maximum per year | 4 |
| Opening hours | ending by 20:00, 6 hours at most |
| Possible Sundays 2027 | 43 / 52 |
| Who releases | the municipality, by general order published at least three months ahead |
Bavaria since August 2025
Until July 2025 Bavaria had no shop closing act of its own; section 14 of the federal act still applied there. The new act keeps four days but opens the first Advent Sunday in November and holidays such as 3 October, and allows eight late shopping nights on weekdays. More on the Bavaria page.