Germany’s Quiet Sundays’
For Germans, whether religious or otherwise, Sunday is a sacred day of rest.
That’s what the Wall Street Journal said in its Life & Style section on March 23.
“Germany holds to much the same Monday-to-Friday workweek rhythm as the rest
of the world, but on Sundays it skips a beat,” wrote Frankfurt-based assistant news
editor Sarah Sloat in her article
From the WSJ Expat Blog: Germany’s Quiet Sundays - WSJ
She continues:
This uber-efficient country, which puts more restrictions on Sunday activities
than nearly all of its neighbors, nearly shuts down. …
Opening Sundays to shopping is fiercely resisted .… Efforts by retailers and businesses
to loosen the rules have also been unsuccessful. But a blanket prohibition was lifted in 2006,
when states were allowed to designate a certain number of Sundays as open for shopping.
In Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, four are permitted each year.
So normal labor and commerce are tightly restricted on Sundays. But what if residents
want to spend their Sunday doing yard work around their homes? Sloat answers this:
Laws regulating shopping hours and noise levels mean stores shut, lawnmowers fall silent,
and woe unto him who flips the switch on an electric tool. … Sonntagsruhe is one term
they use. It simply means “Sunday rest.”
Anyone considering undertaking outdoor chores or home improvements will be in
for a surprise. Regulations limit noise levels, forbidding the use of electric tools
like drills and leaf blowers, as well as hammering, sawing and loud music.
At recycling containers, it’s even prohibited to throw away glass jars and bottles
on Sunday because of the noise. Heavy trucks are banned from German roads on Sunday
… to relieve streets and cities of noise and traffic, and to give drivers a break.
The wsj article makes only a passing and vague mention of the influence of “churches”
on Germany’s reverence for Sundays. But there is one specific church which lies at
the very heart of why Germany “skips a beat” on Sundays: Roman Catholicism.
the Brussels-based European Sunday Alliance, a network of dozens of religious
and nonreligious organizations from 27 European nations whose purpose,
according to its website, is to “raise awareness of the unique value of synchronized
free time for our European societies.”
At the helm of these crusaders for Sunday rest is the Roman Catholic Church.
On March 3, the European Sunday Alliance met in Brussels with politicians from
all around the European Union for a “Call for Action” about banning Sunday work.
European Sunday Alliance - Time-conference to take place in Berlin
The press release for the meeting says:
Stop Sunday Work Now! … Europe is not only an economic but also a social and
cultural community. … The “economization” of Sundays and public holidays
deepens social divisions at the expense of workers and their families.
The common weekly day of rest is a clear and visible sign for the reconciliation
of personal, family and professional life. … We need a Europe-wide Sunday protection.
[T]he European Sunday Alliance draws attention to Sunday as the common weekly day
of rest which enables EU citizens to live their citizenship together.
Why does this Sunday alliance exist and work so arduously to influence Europe’s
labor laws? Why is the Catholic Church so adamant about instituting a Continent-wide
day of rest? And why must it be Sunday instead of another day of the week?
In large part, it is because it was the Catholic Church—in intentional violation
of biblical teachings—that appointed Sunday as a day of rest and worship.
)) We can get into whether God's holy spirit/power/ruach/pneuma is a "Person" at a later date. For now I'd like you to tell me about your ride - and why you love it. There is only so much we can handle at a given time. TTYS. jg
