Fireworks can still be set off on New Year’s Eve! We checked with the Federal Ministry of the Interior

Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel.

You will no doubt remember the petition launched by the Berlin Police Union (GdP), entitled ‘Nationwide ban on fireworks – now!’. We haven’t heard anything about it for a long time; the last update on the innit website is already ten months old.

On 25 October 2026, the petition had 3,374,245 supporters who had signed it. That was reason enough for us to make enquiries with the Federal Ministry of the Interior. We decided against making enquiries with the petitioner, the GdP Berlin.

The enquiry:

On 6 January 2025, the petitioners – in this case the Berlin Police Union (GdP) and Deutsche Umwelthilfe – submitted the petition “Nationwide Fireworks Ban, Now!” with more than 1,961,000 signatures to State Secretary Juliane Seifert of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. On 4 December 2025, the GdP Berlin submitted this petition – which had by then gathered over 2.2 million signatures – to the Conference of Interior Ministers. As of 25 October 2026, the petition has garnered 3,374,245 supporters. There is no information from your Ministry regarding the current status of the processing of Germany’s largest petition. There are still 67 days until New Year’s Eve 2026/27 – that is not long.

I ask you:

1. Is the petition, which was initiated by police officers – whose protection is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of the Interior – currently being processed by the Ministry?

2. If so, what is the status of its processing? According to the Berlin branch of the German Police Union (GdP), the state Ministers of the Interior were reportedly committed to advocating for greater legal discretion for local authorities.

3. According to a statement from the GdP Berlin, the petitioners had intended to hand the petition over personally to the Federal Minister of the Interior, Mr Alexander Dobrindt, as early as January 2026. However, the Minister apparently had no time for ‘his’ officers. Why did the Minister not accept the petition?

4. Is the Federal Ministry of the Interior taking this petition seriously, and what steps will the relevant staff members take to examine the petitioners’ concerns?

Naturally, we had low expectations of receiving a detailed response – and we were not to be disappointed. It arrived on 28 October.

The reply:

Thank you very much for your enquiry. On behalf of the press office of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), I can inform you of the following (source: a spokesperson):

The Federal Minister of the Interior is aware of the GdP’s position regarding a ban on private New Year’s Eve fireworks. The signatures for two petitions with identical content were handed over to the Federal Ministry of the Interior by the DUH on 5 January 2026 and, prior to that, on 6 January 2025 (with the involvement of the GdP).

The political decision-making process regarding the extension of the powers of the federal states and local authorities to impose restrictions on private New Year’s Eve fireworks is ongoing. Further restrictions on private New Year’s Eve fireworks raise complex social issues, particularly with regard to individual freedom and the balancing of conflicting interests. These issues require careful consideration. In the BMI’s view, there is still no consensus amongst the federal states on this matter: whilst some states would like to see greater scope for action for the competent authorities – mostly local authorities – others see no need for this or view it critically.

What does the response mean?

Not much has happened since 5 January 2025. Alexander Dobrindt is aware of the concerns raised by his officials in Berlin, and a political decision-making process is under way. The question arises: what, if anything, has been resolved in the space of almost two years?

The individual’s freedom to set off fireworks conflicts with the interest of at least 3 million people in peace and quiet, and that of the emergency services in greater safety on New Year’s Eve. How many more years does the Ministry think it needs to weigh up the matter carefully?

The wording regarding the federal states is almost laughable. ‘In the BMI’s view, there is no consensus’ – that can only mean: we haven’t asked specifically. Otherwise, it would say, for example, ‘Five states oppose a ban on fireworks.’

The response suggests that nothing has happened and nothing will happen in the future either.

Conclusion: It was probably not the right approach to leave the political decision-making to the Federal Ministry. Despite all the problems associated with a Bundestag petition, this one would already be in the hands of the political decision-makers. How they would decide remains to be seen, but the stalemate might already be over.

The cover photo is captioned: “Why?” On Kochstraße in Leipzig, near the “Connewitzer Kreuz,” an ambulance is being pelted with New Year’s Eve fireworks. Photo: Tom Richter