Until recently, children in Germany were restricted in how loud they could be when playing, and being too loud could land someone in court.

For a private household, there is the ever-present problem of the local Rühezeiten, but if a group of children were playing together, then their level of noise could put them on a par with a factory building.

So building a playground or even a Kindergarten near a housing estate was a risky business, because there was always the chance that someone might start proceedings just because the children were too loud.

Of course, you could wonder who would be so annoyed by the sound of children playing, that they feel the need to go to court.

But, as they say, the law’s the law and [Read more…]