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Sonia Harvin
Mr.Phillips
1 May, 2015
Honors English III
Ban the Ban
Tanzverbot was introduced to society during the middle Ages in Germany. It was
established to hinder people from partying, playing sports without law enforcement, listening
to music, and participating in any dancing activity during the course of a four day Easter
weekend. The law was also built to provide respect to Christians mourning the death of Jesus
Christ. Now, this sounds great to Christians but what about the other people? What about the
non-Christians, people belonging to other religions, atheists, clubs, and even restaurant
owners? If Tanzverbot continues in Germany the club owners will have less money coming in
which affects their lively hood. People who don't believe in god or take part in other religious
activity will start pushing the limits of this insane law.
Thirteen out of the sixteen states in Germany truly enforce the no dancing law but all
sixteen still have it as a law. Chairman of the Stuttgart based club kollektiv, which takes
interest in night clubs and event organizers, says "The ban does represent a big constraint."
James feels that its not fair to be told how to organize his days. James also feels we live in a
multicultural society so therefore this law is clearly a state of imposition, and lifting the ban
doesn't mean introducing dance enforcement (Connolly).
Tanzverbot has been around since the Middle Ages, old is exactly what it is. Many
people are shocked that such a ridiculous law exists but they do feel that it is too old and
should not apply to todays culture. All sporting events on the holy day are regulated by

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regional or municipal ordinances and local authorities who have the responsible for ensuring
compliance (EFE World News). States like Wrttemberg and Bavaria are very strict about
following the rules of the law. They won't tolerate any noncompliance issues for the entire
four day Easter weekend. Berlin on the other hand is a bit more lenient and only makes
dancing and listening to loud music illegal from four in the morning to nine o'clock at night
but, this is only on Good Friday. Many argue that the law is out of date and should have no
place in today's cultural practices or society. Restaurant owners also have a voice in the
matter. Most of them say they don't understand what the problem is with people going out
with friends and loved ones on a day of remembrance (Deutsche Welle).
In the past years people have protested on Good Friday. Political activist, students, and
atheists organize silent demonstrations in public and online (Deutsche Welle). Political
activist like the Pirate Party want people to responsibility fight for their natural rights as
citizens of Germany. The party also urges people to come to the square of cities like Stuttgart,
Cologne, Frankfurt, Bochum, and Mainz to dance in public and push the limits of legislation
(EFE World News). The Pirate Party feels that every individual should have the ability to
choose how they want to celebrate holidays. They also say that religious or governmental
regulations that take away someone's god given freedom for unnecessary reasons needs to be
dealt with.
Asides from Pirate Party, there has been more and more driving this law farther and
farther away. The Green Youth Bayern has more than 1,300 supporters on their Facebook and
is looking for more. They also have an online petition dance bans-quiet holidays in Bavaria
abolish "(Heinrich). Two hundred and forty six people have signed in hopes of the law being

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put away (Heinrich). But still there are obstacles trying to test the law. In Bochum, a protest
was held on Good Friday titled Life of Brian" and unfortunately received a fine of three
hundred Euros (Heinrich). In the past two years the district administration has received fines,
says Dietmar Ernst. These fines can be as much as ten thousand euros against organizer who
are categorized as unreasonable. The party argues that being peacefully unreasonable is okay
when a law hinders the rights of the people and peace should not have a cost attached to it.
Setting aside days for one religion and making the rest of the country plan their day
accordingly is absolutely unfair. Forty percent of the populations in Germany dont conform
to Christianity (EFE World News). Only eighteen percent of the population attends the mass
regularly (Deutsche Welle). There are just a lot of people that claim to be Christians who
aren't even doing what they should be doing on a daily basis. Although a majority of people
in Germany are Christians there's still a lot that aren't. Everyone has to respect the Christians
but they don't respect other peoples way of life and beliefs.
The president of the German Evangelical Church, Bedford Strohm, says that he doesn't know
why postponing the dancing, loud music, and parties for just four days out of 365 days of the
year was too much (EFE World News). He says the purpose of Tanzverbot is to show respect
and reflect on the death of Jesus (EFE World News). This ban is a very important cultural
value that transcends belief and religion says Strohm. Although four days would be
considerably short when comparing it to the amount of days in a year, that is not the point of
the matter. Daniel Ohl, spokesman for the Hotel and Catering industry Dehoga, says adding
association and keeping everything the same throughout the entire year wont challenge the
traditional practices on Easter Weekend (Deutsche Welle). People do whatever they want to

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do whether you want them to or not. If Tanzverbot were to stop Christians would still
continue to celebrate how they already do. If everyone just went according to the rules all the
time the world wouldnt be half of what it is today.
Each and every year more and more people go to the squares of a state in Germany and
continue to dance with their headphones plugged in to their devices. The Pirate Party
continues to protest against the law on their Facebook page and encourage people to test the
legal standpoint of the government. Governmental officials still dont see what all the fuss is
about but the hard work of these protesters isnt in vain. Minister of the Internal Affairs told
DPA agency that Tanzverbot and thoughts of rethinking the law were being discussed
(Deutsche Welle). As a supporter of the law that wasnt easy for him to say or except but it is
for others. Peter James was glad to hear that some law makers are rethinking the rules on this
one. He and many other protesters expect to see some changes coming soon.
Tanzverbot cant stay forever and the changes such as lessening the time that people
arent able to enjoy their music and daily activities is pretty soon going to prove that. No one
expects these changes to be tremendous but it is a step in the right direction after all these
years. But as people gather together year after year it starts change the perspective of
supporters that didnt see a problem with it. It might seem childish and immature but this is
favoritism. Why is there not a ban for other religious holidays? Why is it just about Christians
and Easter and their holiday? The point is ever individual, no matter what you believe in,
should be able to spend their day the way they want to and celebrate holidays the way that
they desire to do so. Tanzverbot is a violation of rights and in no instance should it apply to
the worlds society today.

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Works Cited
"Dancing, loud music banned in Germany over Easter." UPI NewsTrack 4 Apr. 2015. Global
Issues in Context. Web. 22 April 2015.
"Good Friday protests against dancing ban in Germany." EFE World News Service 3 Apr.
2015. Global Issues in Context. Web. 22 April 2015.
Heinrich, Markus. "Osterfeiertage: So Teuer Ist Ein Versto Gegen Das Tanzverbot."
Augsburger Allgemeine. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
Welle, Deutsche. "Pious German State Considers Relaxing Easter Dancing Ban | Business |
DW.DE | 03.04.2015." DW.DE. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.