Wine Tavern; Advertisement

In general, to operate a restaurant or bar that serves alcohol, you need a restaurant license in accordance with Section 2(1) of the Restaurant Act (GastG).

However, serving home-produced wine or home-produced cider is exempt under certain conditions and requires only a notification to the municipality (Sections 4 et seq. of the Bavarian Restaurant Ordinance—BayGastV).

The serving of home-produced wine or home-produced cider is permitted without a license only for a period of four consecutive months or in two consecutive periods totaling four months per year.

In doing so, you must observe the following requirements in particular:

• Only wine or cider made from fruit produced on the premises may be served.
• Serving in a “Straußwirtschaft” is permitted only in premises located within the municipality of the producer’s business.
• Serving in a Straußwirtschaft may not, as a general rule, take place in premises that are rented specifically for this purpose.
• A Straußwirtschaft may not be combined with another establishment serving alcohol or food.
• A Straußwirtschaft may not have more than 40 seats.
• Only cold dishes and simple hot dishes may be served in a Straußwirtschaft.
• The sale of bottled beer, non-alcoholic beverages that the Straußwirtschaft operator does not serve on the premises, and tobacco and confectionery items via street vending is prohibited.

The only exception is the serving of wine or cider produced on the premises. If you also wish to serve other alcoholic beverages, you must obtain a restaurant license. The same applies if you intend to operate the business for more than a maximum of four months per year.

You must file a notice of your open-air wine bar with the relevant municipality at least two weeks before beginning operations, providing the following information

• the period during which the wine or cider will be served,
• the location where the fruit used for the wine or apple wine was pressed and where the wine was aged,
• the premises designated for operating the wine tavern.

There is no doubt about its reliability.

You must register the wine tavern with the relevant municipality.

• valid ID card or passport
• Detailed Information on Wine Taverns
  A notice containing the following information: - The time period during which wine or cider is to be served, - The location where the fruit used for the wine or cider was pressed and where the wine was aged, - The rooms designated for the operation of the wine tavern.
• If an authorized representative is present: a written power of attorney and identification for both the principal and the authorized representative