A Berlin court has thwarted an emergency plan of the city government to allow the use of road salt to keep pavements useable after an unprecedented cold spell turned the German capital into an ice rink
Today, the Berlin Administrative Court nullified an ordinance by the Senator for Transportation, Ute Bonde, from January 30, which would have permitted private individuals to use road salt and other agents to free pavements from black ice.
The ruling means that landlords in Berlin – who are responsible for clearing snow and ice from pathways outside their buildings – are limited to mechanical means of de-icing, such as breaking the ice or applying grit. So far, these have proven insufficient to keep many pavements safely usable.
Many in the German capital have been turned into slippery ice fields by exceptionally cold weather since January 25.
The icy conditions have caused a wave of accidents and injuries. On the morning of February 2, the police registered 201 accidents – more than three times as many as a week before. The biggest trauma hospital in Berlin reported that 30 to 40 people showed up daily with slip-related injuries such as broken wrists and concussion.
The court had been asked to intercede by environmental NGO Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nabu).
Nabu had argued that the large-scale use of salt endangered trees and other plants and that the senator had no legal standing to pass an ordinance in contradiction to Berlin’s legal ban on road salt – which has long been inscribed in the city’s Street Cleaning Act and Environmental Protection Act.
Nabu director Melanie von Orlow rejoiced at the ruling: “With this ordinance, Senator Bonde attempted to override applicable law. A blanket deviation from the legal ban on road salt without a sound legal basis is unacceptable and would have set a dangerous precedent. Environmental protection and nature conservation must not be simply undermined by general rulings, even in exceptional situations!”
Politicians from both sides of the aisle fumed at the court’s decision.
Greens Party MP Ricarda Lang wrote on X today: “Sorry, but what madness! Some elderly people no longer leave their homes because they are afraid of injuring themselves, and then legal action is taken against a pragmatic solution.”
The chairman of Berlin’s liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), Christoph Meyer, criticised the NGO for filing the lawsuit: “Nabu shows how little it cares about people. The main thing is to be ideologically pure – even if half of Berlin falls flat on its face,” he said.
“Anyone who complains about road salt being used on black ice has lost touch with reality. Defund Nabu!”
Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) is now pressing for a change of the legal ban on road salt. “The Administrative Court’s decision shows that we urgently need to amend the Street Cleaning Act so that we can take effective and swift action against icy conditions in Berlin during extreme weather conditions. This is a matter of the safety and health of Berlin’s residents,” he said.
Meanwhile, the wintery weather is not letting up. For tomorrow, meteorologists are projecting a spell of freezing rain for the German capital.
