Shopping in Germany: opening hours, Sundays, deposits and paying

Shop opening hours are regulated by state law. In Berlin, the Berlin Shop Opening Act (Berliner Ladenöffnungsgesetz, BerlLadÖffG) allows shops to open 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday. The law covers ordinary shops, kiosks, pharmacies, petrol stations, sales points in stations and airports, and mobile stalls. It does not oblige anyone to open, so real hours vary from shop to shop: check the sign on the door or the shop's website.

Two dates need planning:

• 24 December (Christmas Eve): when it falls on a weekday, shops must close at 14:00 at the latest.
• Public holidays: shops are closed as on a Sunday. Berlin has its own holiday calendar, including 8 March (International Women's Day). See the guide on public holidays in Berlin.

Other federal states have stricter weekday limits and their own exceptions. If you travel or move within Germany, check the local rules.

On Sundays and public holidays, shops in Berlin must stay closed unless an exception applies. The main exceptions are:

• Bakeries, florists, newsagents and dairy shops: shops whose range consists only of baked goods and pastries, flowers and plants, newspapers and magazines, or milk and dairy products may open 7:00 to 16:00.
• Petrol stations, pharmacies and shops in passenger railway stations, long-distance stations, airports and coach terminals may open. In practice, station and airport shops are where you can still buy groceries on a Sunday.
• Shops for tourists' needs may open 13:00 to 20:00 if they sell only souvenirs, maps, city guides, tobacco, photo supplies, items for immediate use and food or drink for immediate consumption. This only applies if the shop limits itself to that range on every day of the week.
• Art and second-hand markets (flea markets) may open 7:00 to 18:00.
• Restaurants, cafés, cinemas, gyms and self-service laundrettes are not "shops" under this law and may open on Sundays without special permission.

For medicines outside normal opening hours, see the guide on pharmacies and prescriptions.

Berlin's late-night convenience shops (Spätkauf, usually called Späti) are shops like any other under the opening-hours law. From Monday to Saturday they may open around the clock. On Sundays and public holidays the same exceptions apply as to every other shop, for example the tourist-needs exception (13:00 to 20:00, with the restricted range described above). Whether a particular Späti may open on a Sunday, and what it may sell, therefore depends on its range of goods. Do not rely on a Späti for a full Sunday shop.

Berlin may allow citywide Sunday opening from 13:00 to 20:00 on up to eight Sundays or public holidays a year, announced by a general order (Allgemeinverfügung) in the official gazette. For 2026 the Senate approved four: 25 January (International Green Week), 21 June (Fête de la Musique), and 6 December and 20 December (Christmas markets).

In addition, an individual shop may open on up to two more Sundays or holidays a year for a special occasion, such as a company anniversary or a street festival, if it notifies the district public order office (Ordnungsamt) two weeks in advance.

Some days are always protected and never shopping days: 1 January, 1 May, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday, the national day of mourning (Volkstrauertag), the Sunday of the Dead (Totensonntag), 24 December when it falls on an Advent Sunday, and the public holidays in December. If 24 December is a Sunday, some food, bakery and flower shops may open in the morning, generally until 14:00.

Germany charges a deposit on most drink containers. There are two kinds:

Single-use (Einweg) deposit: 25 cents. It applies to plastic bottles, cans and some glass bottles from 0.1 to 3 litres for water, soft drinks, beer, juices and nectars, many mixed alcoholic drinks and, by now, milk and milk drinks in single-use bottles. The law sets a minimum of 25 cents, and in practice it is exactly 25 cents. You recognise these containers by the deposit logo of the national system (DPG) and by the shelf sign EINWEG. Wine and spirits in glass bottles, cartons and pouches carry no single-use deposit.

Reusable (Mehrweg) deposit: usually 8 to 15 cents. Glass and some plastic bottles that are washed and refilled carry a deposit set by the bottlers, not by law. The shelf sign reads MEHRWEG. You can usually return them wherever such bottles are sold.

Where to return single-use containers:

• Any shop that sells single-use drink containers of the same material (plastic, cans or glass) must take yours back and refund the deposit, even if you bought the drink elsewhere and without you buying anything.
• Small shops under 200 square metres, such as kiosks and small petrol stations, only have to take back the brands they stock.
• Most supermarkets have a return machine (Pfandautomat). It prints a voucher (Pfandbon) that you cash at the till of the same branch; other branches of the chain usually cannot redeem it. According to the Verbraucherzentrale, these vouchers remain valid like gift vouchers for three years from the end of the year in which they were printed.
• Do not crush bottles or cans. If the machine rejects a dented container that is still identifiable, staff must accept it by hand. Without label and barcode, it may be impossible to identify.

If a shop wrongly refuses to take back containers, ask the store manager. The Verbraucherzentrale also suggests reporting it to the local waste authority (untere Abfallbehörde) and offers template letters.

Restaurants, cafés, takeaways and delivery services that sell food in single-use plastic or drinks in disposable cups must also offer a reusable option, which may not cost more than the disposable one. Very small businesses (up to five staff and 80 square metres) are exempt from offering their own, but must fill a container you bring. Reusable cups and boxes often carry their own deposit; the Verbraucherzentrale reports around 1 euro per cup and 4 to 12 euros per food container.

Germany still uses a lot of cash: according to Bundesbank figures cited by the Verbraucherzentrale, about 51 percent of payments in 2023 were made in cash, down from 74 percent in 2017. Card and phone payments are now common in supermarkets and chains, but acceptance is not universal, and some businesses no longer accept cash at all.

Practical rules of thumb:

• Carry a debit card and some cash, especially for small purchases, markets and bars.
• Credit cards cost merchants more than debit cards or cash, so do not rely on a credit card alone. A German current account with a debit card makes daily life much easier; see the guide on opening a bank account.
• Look for card logos at the door or the till before you order.

Bags: lightweight plastic carrier bags are banned at the till in Germany; only very thin bags for loose fruit, vegetables or for hygiene reasons are still allowed. Bring your own bag or buy a paper or reusable bag at the till.

Receipts: businesses that record sales with an electronic till must issue a receipt (Kassenbon), on paper or electronically, for each sale (Belegausgabepflicht). Keep receipts for anything you might need to return or claim under warranty.

Returns: there is no legal right to return or exchange something you bought in a shop just because you changed your mind. Many shops allow it voluntarily, sometimes only for a voucher; ask before you buy. If the item is defective, you have statutory warranty rights for two years, wherever you bought it. Online and telephone purchases have a 14-day withdrawal right. Both are explained in the guide on consumer rights.