Overview
- Local authorities and consumer sources reiterated the rules on Wednesday, reminding people that municipalities set specific cleaning duties under the Verkehrssicherungspflicht.
- Property owners normally bear responsibility but may delegate sidewalk cleaning to tenants in rental contracts or hire services and recover costs through Nebenkosten.
- Failing to remove a continuous layer of wet leaves can trigger administrative fines and civil claims for injuries, and insurers warn serious cases may lead to long-term compensation obligations.
- Many towns limit noisy equipment like leaf blowers to set daytime windows—commonly mid-morning and mid-afternoon—so using them outside those hours can bring penalties.
- Leaves must go to the biowaste bin, municipal leaf‑sacks or home composting and must not be dumped in forests or burned while small garden piles can be left to shelter hedgehogs.