Lawsuit over children’s noise: More and more cases in BW?

The needs, rights and problems of children and young people are far too often overlooked and forgotten. That was one of the messages of the special program “KINDERstören” with Carolin Kebekus, which was recently broadcast on ARD during prime time. And many users of SWR Aktuell also have the impression that tolerance towards children in society is declining.

Andreas K. from Pfinztal (Karlsruhe district) is one of them. The father of a family in his late 40s was amazed when his son found himself standing in front of a locked gate at the local football pitch a few years ago – apparently an annoyed resident had locked it with a bicycle lock on his own initiative. A father of the football friends removed it a short time later with bolt cutters.

Dispute over noise on the football pitch in Lahr moves many

Like many others, the father of two children aged 10 and 15 has also noticed what is happening in Lahr (Ortenau district). Current residents are taking legal action there because they are disturbed by the noise from a football pitch. The residents want the pitch to be closed at 4:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. as is currently the case.

“I can confirm exactly what is happening in Lahr here in Pfinztal,” says Andreas K. A basketball hoop has been taken down on a sports field and playing times have been shortened. Another football field is open until 8 p.m. on weekdays, but only until 5 p.m. on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays. Andreas K. was particularly critical of the poor opening times on weekends, because then the children have time and are not busy with school or homework. “And that in this day and age, when you’re actually happy when the children are moving.”

In addition to Andreas K., many other people have commented on the case surrounding the Lahr soccer field on Instagram at SWR Aktuell. One user writes: “It doesn’t get more German than this today. Children who play outside are a case for the courts.” Someone else writes: “The real scandal is that the field is closed on weekends. The parents of the kids should sue about that.”

Another user asks the question that many are asking under the post: “Who was there first? The school with the football field or the plaintiffs? I would say they chose the wrong place to live.”

Football pitch important for children’s leisure time

Andreas K. from Pfinztal sees another aspect – football brings people together, he says. He has been training young people in a football club for eight years. “I have five or six nationalities in my team. That is integration, that is an opportunity for children to come together and play.” However, training only takes place twice a week on the grounds of a sports club, everything else takes place in the children’s free time – on the football pitch.

Andreas K. wishes there was more tolerance towards children and young people. At normal times, their noise should be accepted, “you have to put up with it,” he thinks. The father of a family has understanding for residents when older young people meet up and are still loud after 10 p.m. He understands when people say, “that’s enough now.”

State Family Council: Pressure is increasing

Petra Pfendtner from the Baden-Württemberg State Family Council also notices that tolerance towards children and young people has decreased. “I believe that it has always been difficult to maintain places for children and young people in public spaces. But I also see that the pressure is currently increasing,” she says.

Twenty years ago, residents of youth centers were already complaining about noise, says the speaker. “But today people build houses near youth facilities and then complain when a ball goes ‘bonk-bonk-bonk’ in the yard. For me, that’s noise that’s part of life.” The self-centeredness of the people in the country has taken over, she concludes.

What are the reasons for this? “Society as a whole is under pressure. Various studies show that even people who are in a secure life situation feel insecure today,” says Pfendtner. You could imagine that people are therefore showing less and less understanding and compassion for others.

In European countries like France or Spain, people are happy to have children – in Germany, however, they are seen as an additional noise nuisance. “Interestingly, people are more willing to put up with noise from a street than from a playground,” the speaker describes her experience. In France, for example, there are more places with seats and tables to sit at, even in central locations. “Even in places where we only tolerate expensive cafes,” she says. There are problems with homelessness in large cities in particular, and there are no such places.

Are there too few places for children and young people in the country? Yes and no, says the speaker. Although there are enough playgrounds for small children, suitable meeting places for young people are lacking in many cities. “In my experience, where conflicts arise because of this, it helps if municipalities give young people the opportunity to take responsibility for their meeting place themselves, for example within the framework of youth councils.”

Karlsruhe City Youth Committee sees no trend towards complaints

As the Karlsruhe City Youth Committee told SWR upon request, the number of activities for children and young people in Karlsruhe has remained at a similar level in recent years. There are currently a total of 325 public children’s playgrounds in the city, including 62 football pitches, 18 ball games areas, seven skate parks and numerous volleyball, basketball and streetball fields. In addition, there are 19 children’s and youth centers available, according to the umbrella organization under which the youth associations and providers of open children’s and youth work in Karlsruhe are organized.

The majority of public spaces for children and young people are accepted and used intensively. The city’s basic attitude is that the spaces are needed and that children’s noise does not disturb the peace. There are only a small number of complaints – usually these come from individuals. There is also no trend towards increased complaints. However, the city’s youth committee states: “In individual cases, the complaints turn out to be so persistent and stubborn that facilities have been closed.”

According to the city youth committee, in the last survey on December 31, 2023, a total of 70,761 people between the ages of six and 25 lived in Karlsruhe. Just over half of them were between six and 20 years old. The proportion of young people in the city corresponds to almost a quarter of the total population.

City of Stuttgart: Development of complaints unknown

For comparison: According to the city, 63,487 children and young people between the ages of six and 17 lived in Stuttgart as of June 30, 2024. In total, there were 95,715 children and young people in the state capital as of the reporting date. According to the city, in addition to 475 play areas and 124 soccer fields throughout the city, these children have access to other exercise options such as table tennis tables, outdoor fitness, skate and parkour facilities. There are also 41 youth centers run by the city in Stuttgart.

A spokeswoman told SWR that the city could not say whether the number of complaints about children’s noise in Stuttgart had increased. Neither the city’s enforcement service nor the police station have detailed statistics on this.

Densification and home office cause conflicts

However, the children’s representative for the city of Stuttgart, Maria Haller-Kindler, sees a possible cause of conflict in the densification of the city. Due to the increasing pressure on space, different uses of public spaces are competing with each other, especially in the city center. “A prime example of this is the case of the Johann-Friedrich-von-Cotta School, on whose sports field young streetball players regularly meet to play football,” says Haller-Kindler. Due to the construction of new apartments at the school in Stuttgart-Ost, the buildings have moved closer to the school grounds. As a result, residents have complained about the noise from the streetball players. This has led to the closure of the sports field for non-school purposes, reports the children’s representative.

She identifies another possible factor for the increasing trend in complaints as being the fact that more and more people are working from home. “Unfortunately, the needs of a person working from home and those of children and young people playing in their neighborhood often do not match,” says Haller-Kindler.

Children’s Commissioner: A single complaint can lead to closure

However, she believes that it is going too far to say that society as a whole is becoming less tolerant of children and young people. She stresses that it only takes a single legal action to close an area if the use of the area is not legally protected – as in the case of the sports area at the Johann Friedrich von Cotta School. Such cases are often used to determine how youth-friendly the residents are in general or not. “In some cases, this may be a single person,” says the children’s representative. This could therefore potentially create a distorted picture.

According to the city, the Stuttgart School Administration Office does not generally have the impression that society is becoming less tolerant of children and young people. Rather, there is a certain competitive pressure due to a lack of resources on public facilities, which is why children and young people are increasingly turning to facilities that are only partially usable for playing, for example because of nearby residential buildings.

How the administration deals with noise complaints

The school administration office generally investigates all complaints that concern school property. In the case of complaints about noise, it is checked whether the source is actually children and young people. If so, according to current law, it depends on whether they are younger or older than 14 years old: if they are younger than 14, the noise is classified as “socially acceptable”. “However, if the noise comes from children and young people aged 14 or older, the noise complaints must be investigated in any case according to the Federal Immission Control Act,” says the city. The school administration office then usually endeavors to either agree on the usage times with all parties or to provide the children and young people with alternative facilities.