Germany: Business group calls for constitutional reform to liberalize Sunday retail openings

Herz — World Desk · 14 July 2026 at 02:06 · 30s summary · 3 min read

What we know

Peter Adrian, president of the DIHK, has called for a revision of Germany's Basic Law (Grundgesetz) in newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe, a media group based in Essen. The demand concerns more flexible Sunday opening hours in retail and legal certainty for retailers.

To justify this demand, Adrian cites a 2009 ruling by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) on retail closing times. This ruling relied on the concept of the Sunday "elevation of the soul," inherited from Article 139 of the 1919 Weimar Constitution. He judges this foundation to be outdated.

Adrian describes the retail closing hours law (Ladenschlussgesetz) as obsolete. He argues for each retailer to freely decide whether to open on Sundays. He emphasizes that online retail operates 24 hours a day, while physical retail faces rigid rules and high legal risks for the rare Sundays when openings are permitted.

The CDU/CSU-SPD government coalition plans to allow extended hours on Sundays only for bakeries, pastry shops, and libraries. No similar plan is envisioned for retail as a whole.

Historical context

The Weimar Constitution (Weimarer Reichsverfassung), adopted on July 31, 1919 and promulgated on August 11 of the same year, established Sunday in its Article 139 as a day of legal rest and "elevation of the soul." This provision was incorporated into the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of 1949 through its Article 140, giving it constitutional rank.

In Germany, Sunday rest constitutes a constitutional guarantee protecting workers. The concrete rules vary by state (Länder), which set a maximum number of commercial Sundays per year. These exceptional openings must be linked to a specific occasion.

Timeline

1. August 11, 1919
   Promulgation of the Weimar Constitution: Article 139 designates Sunday as a day of legal rest and elevation of the soul, establishing the constitutional foundation for Sunday rest in Germany.
2. 1949
   The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) incorporates Article 139 of the Weimar Constitution through its Article 140: Sunday rest becomes a constitutional right in the Federal Republic.
3. 2009
   The Federal Constitutional Court issues a landmark ruling on retail closing times, relying on the concept of "elevation of the soul" to restrict Sunday retail openings.