After suffering through the ridiculously smoky bars and restaurants of Zurich for two years, we were delighted to learn that Bavaria was planning to go smoke-free a few days before our arrival in January. Hooray for going out without coming home smelling like an ashtray!
Our initial excitement is wearing thin, though, given the number of locales which have decided to become ‘smoking clubs.’ A loophole in the Bavarian law allows smoking in establishments that aren’t open to the public, such as members-only clubs. It seems quite easy for a place to transform itself into a private club, though – apparently all that is required is a ‘membership list’ which includes all of the guests present in the establishment. Enter a bar or restaurant which allows smoking, and you will be asked to provide your personal details in exchange for the privilege of staying and being smoked at. From what I’ve seen, nobody’s taking these ‘membership lists’ very seriously – in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed anyone provide their real name. A lot of restaurants are choosing to be smoke-free until about 8 or 9 PM, and then turning into a smoking club for the after-dinner crowd.
What’s so bad about simply sending smokers outside, especially now that the weather is nice? One reason is the noise. Whereas in Italy (which has a very successful no-smoking law) a group of folks smoking and chatting on a street corner at midnight is no big deal, the Germans (and Swiss, for that matter) take their right to after-hours silence very seriously. Establishments are very wary of noisy customers outside that might garner complaints to the police from the neighbors.
The other night we wandered into a bar that had a ‘Bayern atmet durch‘ (‘Bavaria breathes free’) poster on the door, only to find that it too had become a private smoking club, and a really stinky one at that. After we ordered our drinks, we were presented with a sheet of notebook paper to sign in order to ‘join the club.’ Despite the humble decor, the bar was obviously quite hip – the membership list contained everyone from Paris Hilton to Barack Obama.
Fantastic!
You’ve been to the same places as those hipsters?! I wish I could be so lucky.
Or not.
Berlin has initiated a smoking ban, but as we might expect from this hip city… everyone summarily ignores the rules!
I remember when Italy and Ireland instituted their smoking bans. Smoking bans seem to run counter to these countries stereotypes, and yet they were among the first in Europe to have a ban. A lot of people at the time predicted that they wouldn’t work, but in my personal experience they have. What makes Bavaria different/special?
the “smoking ban” in georgia is about the same – restaurants have to be smoke-free, but bars can allow smoking. so come 9 or 10 pm, places suddenly become bars. its annoying. and that private club rule sounds like chapel hill, where only private clubs can serve liquor – thus, many places you must sign a list upon walking in and pay a “membership fee” instead of a cover charge …
Ugh, I feel your pain. I am in Zurich and this is the only thing that I really dislike about Switzerland… will there ever be a smoke free Zurich? Probably not…
Over fifteen years in Germany, and I can’t see how you’d ever make a smoke-free situation. The idea of a German drinking a beer without a cigarette in his hands….I just can’t imagine it.
I’ve only been in Germany for a couple of weeks since the beginning of the year but from the sounds of it it was not handled very well. They should just do away with that club exception. From my impression my favorite bar (Escobar) is smoke-free though, so I’m glad about that, I hope things haven’t changed since January.
One of the things I did not look forward to when I learned we were moving to Germany was having to endure smoke-filled bars and restaurants. But here in Bad Durkheim in the Pfalz, they adopted a smoke-free law right as we arrived. The same was true of Mannheim. And in both places, it has been very successful. I wish you had a better experience.
It’s so disappointing that Bavaria has managed to get it so wrong. I hope they plug up the law at some point!
TQE – I know, I’m just so darn hip!
Snooker – interesting that it is ignored in Berlin but followed in Milan… who knew?
Scatterlined – Bavaria is special because we live here, darling.
Caddy – I never knew that about Chapel Hill. Although I do know that South Carolina recently got rid of their liquor-only-in-airline-bottles silliness. The US is nothing if not fun for crazy liquor laws.
Jessica – hang in there! Someday it has to happen. The Swiss love rules so so much…
TRP – I used to think that about the Italians, too. If they can manage to do campari without the ciggie…
Viviane – I’ll have to check Escobar out! We have a plan to start scoping out the smoke-free places around and making sure we visit them regularly.
Diane – lucky you! I hope Bavaria fixes its law soon.