Late-Night Drinkers Win Another Round

Late-night drinkers in Bavaria won another round Thursday in the state’s long-running beer garden war.

The Federal Administrative Court ruled that the state was on sound legal ground last year when it approved longer hours for the traditional, open-air establishments.

The state passed the new ordinance in May 1995 after a Munich court, responding to neighbors’ complaints about noise, ordered taps to shut at 9 p.m.

After some 20,000 beer lovers took to the streets in protest, the state passed a new closing-time ordinance especially for beer gardens, allowing them to stay open until 11 p.m. during the summer.