Hordes of foreign travellers hoping to enjoy a few cold German beers outdoors in the tourist hub of Heidelberg this summer could face fines as the country expands a crackdown on public drinking.
A spokeswoman for the picturesque city on the Neckar river on Thursday confirmed reports in the local press that Heidelberg planned to put a stop to brawls and carousing with an alcohol ban on its medieval streets and squares.Deputy mayor Wolfgang Erichson told the daily Rhein Neckar Zeitung that the city aimed to stop those "who get senselessly drunk in public," by imposing the restrictions on weekend nights and holidays from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am.
He said, however, that beer gardens and street cafes in the popular old town would be excluded from the rules.
About 150 people are injured in Heidelberg's old town each year, according to local records, most of them on weekends and after heavy drinking.
The city attracts about 3.5 million guests annually including tens of thousands of tourists from the United States and Japan.
Similar bans have already been imposed in Freiburg and Marburg in western Germany and on a popular square in Magdeburg in the east.
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Source-AFP
SRM/L
