Is it legal to sleep in a parked car on the streets of Munich?
Oktoberfest is the world's largest beer festival held annually in Munich, Germany. Being the largest beer festival means accommodation during the festival is either super-expensive or hard to book within a short notice. Showers, breakfast, lunch and beer are available without reservation, so a place to sleep is the only problem.
My friend has a small minivan which is convenient enough for sleeping. Would it be legal to find a quiet parking space somewhere (relatively) close to Oktoberfest and just sleep in the van? Bonus points for recommending a good spot to park in that area.
Best Answer
The legal situation is unfortunately a bit more complicated than what is stated by Dirty-flow and user24582.
Even if the German traffic regulations do not directly forbid you to sleep in your car, you may easily violate other regulations doing so. Roads and public parking spaces may in general only be used for traffical purposes and even though stopping for a night to rest or even sleep is considered acceptable, setting up a 'home' for several nights in a mini-van is not what road-side parking was intended for. To be more abstract, it is generally considered acceptable to stop and sleep in your car if the purpose is to relax and regain fitness to continue a ride.
user24582 is right, that the Munich city council writes on their web pages that sleeping in a caravan is forbidden, but they actually have no legal means to prevent you from doing so. This article (unfortunately only in German) addresses exactly this topic and explains that when asked on the phone, the city council also confirms that they actually mean that it is not allowed to stay and live somewhere for several days. Stopping for a night of sleep is also in Munich fully acceptable.
Even if you could get around the law by driving to a new parking space each day and only stay for one night in one location, you should also consider other practical problems. When parking anywhere, you will probably not have a toilet nearby and using the next house corner or a tree in a park as an emergency solution raises new legal issues. Before someone claims that there is no German law forbidding you to urinate in public, the public leak is usually fined according to § 118 OWiG as a 'crude, offensive action'.
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Is it legal to sleep in your car in Germany?
Since it is legal in Germany to sleep in your car / van, you can sleep anywhere you want. If you do not mind the noise, you can just use a "Parkplatz" (parking area) right next to the Autobahn. A lot of them are equipped with toilets.Can you sleep in your car in Europe?
In Europe it is absolutely legal to sleep in your car, as long as you have parked in a spot where it's allowed to. You can in fact be fined because you haven't positioned your car in the right spot but not because you are sleeping in a vehicle.Can you sleep outside in Germany?
In Germany it's allowed to bivouac, yet you can't sleep in a tent. In Southern Europe \u2013 especially in the more touristic areas \u2013 heavy fines are to be expected. In the United States \u2013 except a few spots \u2013 bivouacking is strictly prohibited.Can you sleep in a van in Germany?
Are you allowed to stay overnight in a camper? In contrast to our camping-crazy Dutch neighbors, where spending the night in a camper van is forbidden as 'wild camping', in Germany you can also spend a night in a camper van on the side of the road.Is it allowed to sleep in your car? #Vanlife and the legal situation in Europe
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Answer 2
It is not forbidden to sleep in the car as long as it is parked according to the rules. I could find many articles about it, but they are in German (www.welt.de or www.anwaltauskunft.de).
A good place to sleep could be a parking on a highway - there you can also find a toilet and a rubbish skip for your garbage.
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