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The Bavarian Assembly Act grants everyone the right to organize public assemblies and to participate in such assemblies. Therefore, neither the organization of nor participation in an assembly requires the permission of an authority.

Only open-air assemblies within the pacified area around the Bavarian State Parliament require a special permit, which can be issued by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration in agreement with the President of the State Parliament. Applications in this regard must be submitted to the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration no later than seven days prior to the announcement of the assembly. The obligation to notify the assembly to the City of Munich remains unaffected by this.

Public assemblies in the open air take place on generally accessible streets, squares and roads, which is why the Bavarian Assembly Act stipulates that the responsible assembly authority must reserve the right to make regulations for the protection of assembly participants and participants in general road traffic, for example.

The prerequisite for this is information that a public assembly is to take place in the open air as a stationary or moving assembly. For this reason, you must notify the competent authority (generally the local district office or the district-free municipality; in the case of urgent assemblies also the police) in good time - this applies regardless of the expected number of participants - that an open-air assembly is planned and provide the following information:

• Location of the assembly (in the case of moving assemblies, the route),
• Time (intended start and expected end of the assembly),
• subject,
• Organizer and leader with personal data (surname, first name, maiden name, address).

As a rule, you will then receive a confirmation of notification from the authorities, which may be subject to restrictions depending on the circumstances of the individual case.

However, there is no obligation to notify the authorities for gatherings in enclosed spaces.

Attention is drawn to the ban on weapons and uniforms at gatherings.

Contact:

+(49) 09131 / 86 - 1749

+(49) 09131 / 86 - 3288

if

• it is public, i.e. if everyone has the opportunity to participate,
• it is to take place outside closed premises (it is irrelevant whether it takes place in a fixed location or in the form of an assembly moving from location A to location B), and
• two or more persons are to come together for a communal discussion or demonstration that is primarily aimed at participating in the formation of public opinion.

As a rule, cultural, scientific, religious, sporting or commercial public events such as theater performances, concerts, processions, street festivals, flea markets, etc. are not notifiable gatherings. Other provisions apply to so-called public amusements. Industrial action, such as picketing in front of companies, are also not public gatherings and therefore generally do not require notification. However, something different applies to demonstrations outside workplaces in the context of (warning) strikes, which are intended to inform the public about the content of upcoming or ongoing industrial action.

You must register an assembly with the district administration office or the independent city in whose area the assembly is to take place.

According to the Bavarian Assembly Act, such an open-air assembly must be announced 48 hours prior to its public announcement - not to be confused with the start of the assembly. Announcement of an assembly is understood to mean notification by the organizer of the place, time and subject of the assembly to a specific or unspecified group of people, e.g. by announcement on a website or in a newspaper. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are not taken into account when calculating the deadline.

Special regulations apply to so-called urgent and spontaneous meetings. In the case of an urgent meeting, the reason for the meeting arises at short notice. In this case, the notification must be submitted to the competent authority at the latest when the meeting is announced. In the case of a spontaneous meeting, the obligation to give notice does not apply. However, a spontaneous assembly only exists if it is unplanned and arises from a situation or an immediate occasion without an organizer.

• Display for assembly
  Content: Organizer, responsible leader, day, time, place, topic, expected number of participants, intended course of the meeting, items brought along for the implementation or technical aids

Administrative fees are generally not charged for assembly law. Fees are only payable if an exception to the ban on weapons at assemblies (e.g. for bodyguards) is applied for in justified individual cases. For these cases, a cost range of 15.00 to 200.00 euros is provided for.

Administrative court action
If necessary, granting interim legal protection in the run-up to an assembly

From December 24, 2024 up to and including January 1, 2025, the Erlangen City Police Station is responsible for accepting notices of assembly. Please contact them directly (contact: Die Bayerische Polizei - Polizeiinspektion Erlangen-Stadt).