Dresden – How times are changing: Anyone who wears mouth and nose protection in the Free State must now expect a fine in certain cases!
During the corona pandemic, it was indispensable like a mobile phone, wallet and apartment key, almost everyone had one in their pocket.
Initially made of fabric – often self-sewn, then it had to be a medical mask, most recently the Free State prescribed FFP2 masks.
If you didn’t wear a mask, you were threatened with a fine of 50 euros!
For a while, masks were also compulsory on the street – e.g. in the center of Dresden. In January 2023 in Saxony only on buses and trains, the mask is still mandatory in hospitals, nursing homes and when visiting a doctor.
Police officers check compliance with the mask requirement in downtown Dresden during the corona pandemic
But with the omission of Corona Protection Ordinance Are the rules changing – are you now violating the so-called ban on masking by wearing a mask voluntarily?
Maria Freystein (33) from the Saxon Ministry of the Interior: “Wearing a mouth and nose cover is permitted in public spaces.” But there are exceptions, which the authority explicitly points out to BILD.
“Wearing a mouth and nose cover may be prohibited under certain circumstances in meetings if it is aimed at preventing identification,” says Freystein.
The Dresden Ministry of the Interior explains: “If there are concrete indications in individual cases that the presentation as a whole serves this purpose, the responsible police station can issue orders in accordance with § 17 Paragraph 4 of the Saxon Assembly Act, for example that a further face cover with clothing etc. is omitted. This must be checked against the circumstances of the specific case and evaluated accordingly.”
In plain language this means: the local police decides whether a face mask is considered to be masked – e.g. B. if the hood is also pulled up.
According to the Saxon assembly law (section 28, paragraph 2, number 2), this is a criminal offence. You could face a year in prison or a fine.
This is also the case in stadiums, usually regulated in the respective stadium regulations. In the Rudolf Harbig Stadium – the home of SG Dynamo Dresden – there is a ban on masking in the house rules or rules of use – Clause 7, paragraph 2.
In the Dynamo Stadium, the house and usage regulations regulate the ban on masking.
Violations also result in fines. A Dynamo spokesman for BILD: “But we will not forbid anyone from voluntarily wearing a mouth and nose protector.” But it becomes critical if the hood is pulled up with the mask here too.
But controlling this would be an enormous effort. The Police would have to pull out the hooded people at meetings and establish their identities. An official told BILD: “That would be an enormous effort in terms of personnel, we don’t have the staff for that.”
The renowned police professor Dr. Dieter Müller (63) therefore doubts that the ban on wearing a mask is so easy to control in practice.
Because: “However, one justification for wearing a medical mask is the protection of health,” says Müller. In his opinion, this would also stand up in court.
