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Huizhao Huang

Germany’s drive to compete with Chinese imports is colliding with its long-standing tradition of Sunday rest, with policymakers and retailers now asking whether a century-old consensus still fits an economy struggling to regain its competitiveness.
The latest flashpoint came in early July, when the country’s coalition government unveiled a package of measures to boost Germany’s competitiveness, including plans to let bakeries, confectioneries and public libraries operate longer on Sundays from the start of next year.
However, retail and business associations argue that the changes do not go far enough. The reform only touches federal working-time rules, leaving shop opening hours – regulated by Germany’s 16 states – untouched.
“The shop closing law is, in my view, a relic of the past,” Peter Adrian, president of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in mid-July. “Retailers should be left to decide whether they want to open their stores on Sundays or not.”
For many newcomers to Germany, the Sunday shutdown can be a culture shock.
After six days of almost unrestricted shopping, supermarket doors suddenly stay shut, leaving only narrow exceptions such as petrol stations, pharmacies on emergency duty, bakeries for limited hours, and shops at railway stations, airports and in designated tourist areas.
Sunday is a day of rest – a belief rooted not only in Christian tradition but also in constitutional law. First enshrined in the 1919 Weimar constitution, it remains protected under Germany’s Basic Law today.
But economic realities are putting that tradition under pressure.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly argued that the country must work harder to restore its competitiveness. After a visit to China this year, he said that “with work-life balance and a four-day week, long-term prosperity in our country cannot be maintained”.
Sunday has changed. For many people it is a day of leisure, on which restaurants, cultural venues and leisure facilities are naturally open
Stefan Genth, German Retail Federation
Retailers say they are already feeling the strain. In a mid-July survey of 600 companies by the German Retail Federation (HDE), 69 per cent reported falling profits, with its president, Alexander von Preen, saying sentiment had sunk to levels last seen in the second Covid-19 lockdown.
“Sunday has changed. For many people it is a day of leisure, on which restaurants, cultural venues and leisure facilities are naturally open,” HDE managing director Stefan Genth told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
With online retailers already free to sell on Sundays, physical shops should be allowed to open occasionally too, he argued.
The rise of Chinese e-commerce platforms is adding to the pressure. An April study by the German Economic Institute, commissioned by HDE and based on a survey of 4,000 consumers, estimated that Temu and Shein alone cost the German economy €2.4 billion (US$2.7 billion) a year in lost value added, including €1.3 billion in retail, and more than 40,000 jobs.
Opposition comes chiefly from unions and churches. Sunday work in retail was “an attack by employers on the work-life balance of more than 3 million retail employees”, Silke Zimmer, a member of the United Services Trade Union’s federal executive board, said in the magazine Politik & Kommunikation in July, calling Sunday the only reliable day off for many workers.
The union has said it would take the fight to the Federal Constitutional Court if necessary. In a landmark 2009 ruling, the court said commercial interests alone could not justify expanding Sunday trading.
Church leaders have also long warned that regular Sunday work would erode society’s one shared day off.
Despite the debate, the scope for change remains limited. The 2009 ruling means any broader overhaul would probably require amending the Basic Law – a step Adrian has openly called for but one that would need two-thirds majorities in both houses of parliament.
Public opinion remains divided, though attitudes are shifting. In a YouGov survey of more than 4,000 people published in early July, 43 per cent backed more frequent Sunday openings, up from 34 per cent a year earlier, while half of respondents still opposed the idea.
“I understand it’s a lot of GDP gain, a lot of productivity gain for a country, that makes sense,” said Luis Czajka, a university student in Berlin. “But I like the cultural stuff about not working on Sunday, and everybody has a slow day.”
Even so, some states are already experimenting. Schleswig-Holstein now allows small unstaffed supermarkets in rural areas to open on Sundays, while Thuringia is moving to do the same for staff-free 24-hour mini-markets, provided no people are on duty.
Machines, it turns out, do not need a day of rest.


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As rise of Chinese e-commerce platforms adds to pressure, having Sundays off remains protected under Germany’s Basic Law


As rise of Chinese e-commerce platforms adds to pressure, having Sundays off remains protected under Germany’s Basic Law.


Germany’s drive to compete with China collides with long-standing tradition of Sunday rest

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}As rise of Chinese e-commerce platforms adds to pressure, having Sundays off remains protected under Germany’s Basic Law

As rise of Chinese e-commerce platforms adds to pressure, having Sundays off remains protected under Germany’s Basic Law