Just a few weeks back, in the small town of Datteln between Dortmund and Münster, the city council cancelled an Open Sunday during a springtime festival on , less than 48 hours before shops were supposed to open their doors - to the irritation of most shop owners and their staff. They were hoping to add a few more hours and thus euros to their wages and gain compensatory time-off.

Rulings like this are a lot more common than ones relaxing the strict regulations - German politicians still seem to shy away from loosening the shop closing law in its entirety.

GA-English online editor Carol Kloeppel has observed that some Germans regarding working on Sunday as a sacrifice - time away from family. Unless one is working in the medical, law enforcement or culinary industries, for example, Sundays are still kept as family days. “When I went to buy Brötchen a couple weeks ago in Bonn, there was a sign hanging on the window that informed people of prices being higher on the weekend. There was an explanation about the sacrifice that workers were making, being away from their families on Sunday morning and that this had to be compensated.“ Something that, according to Carol, is not considered unusual in the U.S. at all. “Some actually see it as an opportunity to work or get in some extra hours, and it offers both workers and customers flexibility in their schedules.“

Kate Carey, also online editor at GA-English, remembers campaigns in England before the relaxation of Sunday opening laws back in 1994, with calls to “Keep Sunday Special” and people putting forward mostly the same arguments currently being debated in Germany: “Time for friends and family, protection of workers etc.“

Having lived in the UK and Australia, where Sunday opening hours are much more relaxed, and then several years in Belgium and Germany, where restrictions are tight, Kate says she prefers the latter. “„I do think it’s becoming more and more important in today’s world to take time out to just switch off and relax. I like that in both Germany and Belgium, not only is it virtually impossible to shop on Sundays, but you also can’t do anything too noisy. There’s nothing worse than being woken early on a Sunday to the dulcet tones of the neighbour’s lawn mower!“

Carol has found: “Quite a few American families who have lived in Bonn and returned home tell me they appreciated the slower pace of life while living here - they saw the store closings on Sunday as encouraging family time or just relaxing. Many were also regular visitors to the Sunday vegetable markets.“

But it’s not all sunshine and roses, Kate admits: “What I do find really inconvenient here are the banking hours. I don’t understand why banks are closed at lunchtime, just when other workers want to visit them. In fact, I find any shops closed for lunch a bit odd. That doesn’t happen so much in the UK anymore.“

And of course, full-time workers would be the ones who head to the supermarket on Sundays. “It does help if you don’t have to cram all the chores into one day of the weekend, especially as Saturday is often taken up with kids’ sports and other activities. However, many working people in the UK also regularly do their supermarket shopping online and have it delivered to their house. I used to do that in Belgium too. Maybe that’s something German supermarkets could think of doing more. I certainly found it surprising that wasn’t more widespread when I first came here,“ says Kate.

Germans do enjoy shopping on Sundays and late at night, at least when they are on holidays. Yet to change the opening hours at home still seems a step too far. German journalist Mareike Graepel, who lived for years in Cork, Ireland, says: “I happily went shopping outside the hours that I was used to from home when I forgot something important for a Sunday barbecue, didn’t get to buy the new album of my favourite band on Friday, or needed a gift for the newborn baby of a friend.“ But, she adds: “It is convenient - is it really necessary?“

For certain, it is a new experience for many who come to Germany, says Carol Kloeppel. “American university students who were recently in Berlin for a semester told me they had to get used to the shops being closed on Sunday, it forced them to plan ahead. ’Wild’ was the word used by some of them to describe the shop closings. They were used to shops being open 24/7 in the US.“

Of course it is lovely to stroll through a pretty and picturesque city or village on a Sunday - no other commitments, no appointments, no stress - other than maybe trying to push through packed little shops. During the four weeks leading up to Christmas, some bigger cities add Sundays to their shopping week. But it stays special because it’s unusual - you don’t get to do this on any other Sunday and not in every city.

Family life is not to be underestimated, says Mareike: “Work, school and many other daily duties during the week make those Sundays extra-special and we thrive on those special moments when all of us sit down and play together. I am very sure our children will remember those moments more than having to stay near me in a busy supermarket - which they have to do too often on the average week day.“

The discussion continues.