For the music bar owner Henryk, the curfew at 9pm is an “absolute disaster”. He was one of the first in Bavaria to submit an urgent application to the VGH in Munich for disproportionate reasons.
Image: Gabi Schönberger
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The Weiden bar owner Henryk Stach has filed an urgent application before the Bavarian Administrative Court in Munich. As one of the first in Bavaria, he complains about curfew at 9 p.m. According to Söders Corona traffic light, this applies in risk areas with a 7-day incidence over 100. Weiden has been in the dark red area since last week. The regulation is intended to reduce the number of infections. Henryk Stach and his lawyer Christoph Scharf see the curfew as “disproportionate”.
An “absolute disaster”
“There is no evidence that bars increase the number of infected people,” says Christoph Scharf. In addition, there is no evidence that more people become infected after 9 p.m. “The time is in no relation to the number of infections,” said Scharf.
“The curfew at 9 p.m. is an absolute disaster,” says Henryk Stach, owner of the Absolut music bar in Weiden. Normally he wouldn’t unlock until 8:30 p.m. “I don’t need to open for an hour,” says the bar owner. Even if it opens at 6 p.m., it is not profitable for him. Most of his guests are employed. “Before you go to my bar for half an hour, you’d better stay at home or celebrate somewhere else,” says Stach. “That doesn’t work. I’m not a mask opponent and the alcohol ban is also correct. But the curfew is counterproductive and will not reduce the number of infections.” Meetings in a bar are something that authorities can control. There would be no hygiene requirements and visitor lists in private rooms.
An encroachment on the freedom of occupation
“The curfew is disproportionate,” said Christoph Scharf. This is exactly what the Bavarian Administrative Court must now examine. The aim of the curfew is to reduce the number of infections. Nevertheless, it must be checked whether the goal can really be achieved by shortening the opening times, said Scharf. In addition, the curfew is an interference with the occupational freedom and property rights of bar operators. In Berlin, a bar operator’s lawsuit against curfew has already been successful. But there is a different legal system there, says Scharf. Nevertheless, he and his client are confident. “If I had no hope of success, I would not complain,” says Henryk Stach.
The lawyer hopes that a decision will be made in favor of his client by Friday. “Urgent applications are given priority, but no decision is foreseeable yet,” says the press spokeswoman for the Bavarian Administrative Court, Franziska Haberl. The Weidener is no longer the only one complaining against the curfew in Bavaria. As of Tuesday, ten more urgent requests had been received. Among others from Augsburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Würzburg.
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