Court Overturns Ban On Smoking Cannabis In Munich’s Famous English Garden

Smoking cannabis has been allowed again in Munich’s famed English Garden after a court overturned a previous local ban by the park administration.

The ruling has been announced after two men challenged the prohibition on consuming cannabis in the English Garden and the adjoining Court Garden, with the ruling on 26th November.

The judges found that the ban imposed by the Bavarian Palaces Administration following the nationwide legalisation of cannabis in 2024 had no legal basis.

They concluded that the authorities had not provided sufficient justification for a blanket ban covering all forms of cannabis consumption in both parks.

The case had been brought by two men who wished to consume cannabis in the English Garden, with one doing so for recreational reasons and the other for health purposes.

One of the claimants, Emanuel Burghard, said before the hearing that previous generations had already been “smoking pot” in the park.

The court noted that it had already suspended the ban in the northern section of the English Garden in a temporary ruling during the summer.

The latest judgment followed a hearing two weeks earlier in which the judges stated that any additional restrictions beyond national rules required evidence of a danger or a significant disturbance to others.

The Bavarian Palaces Administration said it would examine the written reasoning once it is available, adding that protecting non-smokers as well as children and young people remained a priority.

The court did not permit an appeal, but the State of Bavaria can still lodge a complaint with the Federal Administrative Court, the highest administrative court in the country.

The English Garden is named after the English landscape-garden style of the 18th century, with its naturalistic meadows, winding paths and informal woodland layout, which was adopted by its creator Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753-1814) when the park was established.

Thompson was an American-born British scientist and reformer who later became Count Rumford after entering Bavarian service, where he oversaw military and civil projects and designed the English Garden during his work for the Bavarian government.