Injuries and deaths from powerful fireworks across Germany over the New Year holiday have again prompted debate about new restrictions or even a possible nationwide ban on fireworks.
The interior minister for Berlin, Iris Spranger, spoke out on Thursday in favour of a broad prohibition of fireworks in the country that allows for only limited local exceptions, and said the federal government has a duty to act.
“I support calls for a general ban on fireworks,” Spranger told dpa.
Under current German law, fireworks are regulated as explosives but are generally allowed, with local governments granted only some limited authority to impose further restrictions.
Berlin has been roiled by wild fireworks celebrations in recent years, and Spranger said she’d prefer a new legal framework that would allow the city to restrict fireworks to only a handful of designated “pyro permit zones.”
