Photography in Germany: What tourists need to know 

Photography in Germany: What Germans need to know

Also: Do not take selfies in railroad tracks. If a train has to brake because someone is near or on the tracks, it's considered a criminal offence and will result in a fine of up to 5.000€ or - if you did something REALLY dangerous - a prison sentence of up to ten years.

Your perfect reenactment of the slideshow night made me laugh so hard. Apparently things were the same here in Germany where I grew up and in England where you grew up. Just with the narration being in a different language, but absolutely the same style of presentation. :-D

And this is the friendly local we asked to take a picture of us in front of the Brandenburg Gate, in front of the Brandenburg Gate

I really felt the slideshow bit.

The Eiffel Tower at night in Paris when lit up is an example of where copyrights tend to get people into unexpected litigation. German law would prevent that.

"One of the worst forms of torture was the slide show." True, so true ... I'm not a software engineer, but I'm sure it could be done to restrict digital cameras to 36 pictures per day, the amount that fits on a classical film roll, or to 30 minutes of video.

Two museums explicitly allow taking photographs and videos for private purposes, that are the Technik Museums in Sinsheim and Speyer. You might even use a tripod or artificial lighting as long as it does not cause problems for other people. World's largest model railway, the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, not only permits taking private photographs and videos, it declares them desired and encourages visitors to share them in social media or on YT. Charging batteries is free and you can buy new ones or memory cards in the souvenir shop.

More people need to hear the message about taking pictures only for the 'Gram and actually being a nuisance. It's about what you experience on a trip, not about the "Likes" your pictures will get you.

So when can we expect the Rewboss onlyfans with pictures of feet on interesting cobblestones? :D

Thanks! This is the topic I've been looking for forever

So very true When we travel we never go to the touristy spots. We can’t stand crowds and I prefer visiting places that are quieter and less known. I find this way I experience more of the real country. I did not take my kids to.Neuschwanstein,I visited it about 30 years ago and it was no where near as crowded as these days. We took our kids Berg Hohenzollern instead.

Excellent advice Andrew, i hope you are well

This is how I get along with this (non-profit) channel: -Filming trains, trams, buses or just the city itself (castle) from public places: No problem at all. - Filming DB stations: Usually no problem at all, they just forbid tripods, and you probably shouldn''t take your camera out at crowded, busy Hauptbahnhof. -Filming on VAG premises: Technically you need a permission, but U2/U3 are conductorless trains so you can film there, no conductor can yell at you ;) There is CCTV there but they don't really care as long as you behave. When filming on the U1 (with drivers), trams and buses, I just use my phone camera and film in a inconspicious manner. Also, because of corona, but also because of privacy, I tend to go to the stations and places off-peak. Both rail operators don't really care about privacy (as long as you don't go somewhere you should not be), they just don't trust people not to cross tracks or endanger passengers when filming.

I took four rolls of film with the lens cap on -- and you are going to look at every one.

Great advice, another great video and a lot of good instruction about taking photos; anywhere - not just in Germany! Generally applicable!

RewBosses general tips are right. I take photos for some time now and yes, do sort your pics, only show the best ones, and try to find new perspective. AND YES if you are on location, experience first. Take photographs later.

This is me and Martha in front of the Brandenburg Gate with the Spanish Inquisition!

😄😄😄😄😄 You're so funny! And I totally agree with you about what not to post on IG. And thank you for your advices and suggestions.

Es gibt auch die Instagram Diät: das Essen wir NUR fotografiert! There is also the Instagram diet: the food is ONLY photographed!

6:12 And this is the Spanish Inquisition hiding behind a coal shed.

When my wife and I were in Germany (around Munich), we visited Neuschwanstein Castle and did the cliche touristy picture from the footbridge. But the more interesting picture looked along the bridge at the throngs of people and the guard limiting how many were on it a any given time. This was the "un-fairy tail" view but every bit of the experience!

We have very similar photography ordinances in Quebec regarding privacy. It should be easy enough to avoid offending the local population....or so I hope.

Löffelliste? Großartig! Ich fürchte, das Wort werde ich nie wieder aus meinem Kopf herausbekommen^^

Once I was whale-watching with a huge camera, there was only one hunchback showing his fin one time. I took a foto, but after that I realized, I haven'T seen it really with my eyes, only through the lense. So I absolutly confirm Andrews experience.

Very well explained. Granted, a 7 minute video is not enough to go into depth of ask the legal details that even law scholars argue about. One thing to always keep in mind is that privacy laws in Germany differ fundamentally from e.g. UK and US. While in the US you generally do not have an expectation of privacy in a public forum, this is very different in Germany. Your privacy is protected in Germany even in public unless some exemptions apply...

As someone with aphantastia, if I do not take photos of videos then I simply do not remember trips. I will remember facts like, there was a cute street with cute buildings, but I will not remember what it actually looked like. I think this is why I love making my vlogs and taking a million and twelve photos 😂

Thank you! Even as a long-time-German-now-Austrian I did not know many of the legal details that you explain in the video.

Photograph anything you want anywhere you want !

Well, I feel a bit guilty now. I took a photo of that Rothenburg ob der Tauber street. (Mind you, 12 years ago. Does that make a difference?)

I did the first Rothenburg o.d.T shot but also 65 others, and the first only because it is Mêlée Island town.

Great video of a summary of 7 different Law texts (directive 95/46/EC, BDSG, KunstUrhG, UrhG, LuftVO, BGB and GG). If anything, I'd probably add that better not to use camera drones without explicitedly be allowed by authorites. The filming/photo on private property applies to them aswell ofc, making drone flights over homes and private propertys problematic atleast.

My aunt once texted me saying that I needed to take down some pictures that I'd uploaded to Facebook because I didn't have the permission of the people in the pictures to upload them - not 'could' I take them down, but I 'needed' to! Now, I didn't argue with her because she is a solicitor and would therefore probably know better than I do what the legal situation is, but they were taken in locations that were fully accessible to the public and anyone could therefore have happened to see those people anyway, so what difference does it make if it's in a picture? If anyone that's in a picture wants me to take it down then I will, but otherwise it's staying put. Besides, it was rather bold of her to assume that I didn't have those people's permission - for all she knew, I might have done!

I missed the point with Dashcams and the publishing of plate signs. Maybe in another vid?

Can you help me with an advice? I'd like to take photos of trucks driving on German highways. Is this allowed?

Damn, I just visited the Bastei last week. That burn…

And whatever you do, do not try to get the facade of the Dom in Cologne in a single shot. Your time is too precious.

Hello Rewboss - as always, enjoyed your advice - this time on social principles in relationship to photography in Germany. 1. I enjoyed your forays into nana advice somewhat less - a bit patronising and superior. People can decide for themselves what they want from their experience. 2. Did you fail to touch on photography of children or did I miss it? In Australia it is not acceptable to photograph other people's children, especially at swimming pools etc. without knowing them or having permission. It is part of the fear of wierdos thing.

This is true not just in Deutschland. But pretty everywhere else in the welt!

There's one exception to the "freedom of panorama": temporary art installations. Publishing photos of these might be a copyright violation.

idk how it exactly works but there are places around in germany where if ya enter certain areas it will like straight up disable the camera on someones smartphone....?

To be honest, I don't think your slideshow analogy really works, because the difference with uploading pictures to your social media is that you're not forcing anyone to look through them by doing that and they can just browse at their leisure. If they see anything they don't find particularly interesting then they can just skip it

German say they value their privacy, so they don’t like cameras pointing at them…but they will stare at you with their eyes and not mind there own business. They will judge you and correct you at the slightest infraction. Some privacy.

had to remove a video from youtube of the carnival as one person complained

6:16 Ah, yes, the Dia Show from hell... Today that can be accomplished on the telly with digital and it's not 120+ pictures, it's 400...

What you don't know you can't complain. There are nice apps to do it without making people notice

If a unwanted subject walks into your frame you should stop closing your off camera eye and scan what is happening outside your frame. Spacial awareness and that ...

We re taking more pictures because it is easier, cheaper, more disposable, etc. In the past you needed a roll of film that needed to be developed and if those pictures were bad money was lost. Nowadays no money is lost taking pictures and you can take thousands, free of charge, no need to take them to the lab to process the film.

Nice video, but if this is legal advice you should really reference whatever law you're referring to (GDPR I guess?)

5:32 100%

6:19 Anyone else waiting for THE SPANISH INQUISITION?

You aren't a serious photographer unless somebody has called you a terrorist for what you do ...

I am sure part of the reason people take the boring pictures is because they know they are safe in a legal sense...how can you tell a country is too legally restricted...look at tourist pictures...all the same? Too many laws and regulations.

Also: Never take a picture of an eating German. You take a picture of the food but never how it is being eaten.

Löffelliste? As translation for bucket list?

I once sat in a public transport train in my city, and there were some young girls, tourists from America, maybe in their high school age or something. One of them posed for a picture quite next to me, and the other one shot the photo in such a way that I was also on it, although she wante to photograph her friend. I asked her "Could you please delete that", and she complied, even gesturingly held up her phone to me really quick "look, it's deleted", although I couldn't see that I still believed her, because she did give me an honest impression. Anyways, I don't appreciate being photographed, especially not when the picture is likely to end up on the internet somewhere. When I'm not really recognizeable in the background, I guess it has to be fine, I possibly wouldn't even know that, but the way the described situation happened, I would have taken a considerable part of the photograph. And being on the internet for about as long as Google exists, having kept it clean from photos of me, I really don't want to start showing my face online in a time when it could also be seen by biometric facial recognition algorithms. I wouldn't even care if any real human being who read this comment could see my face, but since these algorithms could also see it then, and they would be able to identify me on any other picture from that as well, this gives me the creeps. It is a great jeopardy to the freedom in our societies. Not people, algorithms are the problem.

Rewboss: "If you do decide to visit one of the classic tourist destinations, [...] try looking for a different angle." Also Rewboss: Mocks fictitious person for taking photograph of interesting patterns in the paving stones. 🤔

you underestimate the different patterns of paving stones!!! 😂

As a German from how it felt all my life whenever I tried to: "EYY DU ***** WAS FILMST DU MICH? DU WEISST SCHON DAS IST ILLEGAL?! DU **** *** *** * * ** ******" It's so damn obnoxious how many of us Germans switch to berserker mode as soon as they see a camera even if not directed at them.

Something unexpected can happen so caution is recommended. Unexpected as say, politicians?

I would like to give more than one like(s).

I had no idea that the slideshow wasn’t just a sin committed by us Americans.

Lol yes, slideshows, the bane of my youth!

This sounds like simple common sense. Why would anyone infringe someone's privacy just for like?

Photography rules for Germany =Common sense

i don't know, but shouldn't this all be common sense? It's so often that I see people in the park or other public spaces just take out their phone and film other people they deem to be interesting without asking them for permission... not seldom during activities they certainly don't want to be shown randomly on the internet (e.g. drinking, smoking weed...)

We're having some serious thunderstorms in Warsaw right now...

The short version at the end should be "don't be a prick". People who view their enjoyment as the most important are annoying. (I know how he meant it, just doing my german nitpicking duty)

And taking photos of car accident on the road is illegal

If only Instagram is a paid service ??!!😢😢

Hi there!

Beware of Hutbürger!

Sie haben mir ins Gesicht gefilmt, das dürfen sie nicht!

Some people, me also somewhat included, does not find pleasure in a place if I cannot share my experience with others. Others being separated by time and/or space. Which paradoxically can make a city more fun to watch through a camera lens than without one.

You look more German than most Germans.

In a nutshell: Enjoy the real life and don't live for the likes. And respect german privacy rules. Thank you!

Speaking of what not to post after you get done with your vacation: ANY out of focus or under/over exposed images. And for the love of God please do not post pictures in which the horizon is not LEVEL!!!

The drone advice is not completely correct. Flying daytime in public places is OK.

I mean, you arent really allowed to take a pic from licence plates. DSGVO sagt Nein.

Sie haben mir ins Gesicht gefilmt! Das dürfen sie nicht! Das dürfen sie nicht!

this is my foot lolololool

Ha ha, the least favourite uncle who keeps everybody hostage for two hours while showing off his boring slides. We've all been there (i.e., seen it), and many of us have come dangerously close to replicating it.

Weirdo

"back into lockdown"? We never left the lockdown since the end of last year...

Fotografieren Sie nicht!

Like in north korea

The era of tourism is over.

Good tip - don't go in germany, just choose good country for travel