Overview
- Retailers began the legally limited sales window for consumer fireworks, with the industry reporting 10–15% more stock than last year and aiming to exceed 2024’s €197 million turnover.
- Berlin designated five no‑fireworks zones from 6 p.m. Dec. 31 to 6 a.m. Jan. 1 and plans about 4,000 police on duty, after seizing 140,000 pyrotechnic items in recent weeks, most of them F4 devices.
- A TÜV survey finds only 22% of respondents plan to light private fireworks, while some retailers, including individual Edeka stores and chains like Bauhaus and Hornbach, are not selling pyrotechnics.
- Medical and environmental groups renewed calls to prohibit private fireworks due to injuries, pollution and animal distress, and the interior minister signaled support for expanding municipal banning powers from 2026 subject to approval.
- Cross‑border buyers from the Netherlands are expected at midnight openings in the Kleve region, where authorities stress limits such as 25 kg per vehicle and warn about prohibited imports, as officials reiterate that F2 items may be sold only Dec. 29–31 and used on Dec. 31–Jan. 1.