September 25th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) — Imagine this situation: It is Sunday afternoon and your mother-in-law just announced she will come for dinner. Or your Tinder date insists on trying the delicious potato gratin you said you could make. Or your fridge is absolutely empty and you do not know how to fill it since all supermarkets in the entire damned country are closed. Well, as it turns out, there is a way, if you live in Berlin.
Sunday Rest
One hundred and three years ago, in 1919, Germany introduced something called Sunday rest. Later, this regulation applied in fascist Nazi Germany. In 1957, a similar rule was adopted by the young Federal Republic of Germany. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, shopping for food was hard for those who worked during the day, because as soon as they were done and on their way home, all supermarkets would close, at 6:30 p.m..
On Saturdays, they used to open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.. At some point, an exception to the rule was introduced in West Gerrmany: On the first Saturday of the month, supermarkets were allowed to open until 6:00 p.m.. Wow! Then, in Oktober of 1989, just days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the country got a “Long Thursday”. It gave people the opportunity to shop until 8:30 p.m.. In 1996 and 2003, the shopping hours were extended. Supermarkets had the right to open until 8:00 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays.
Weird Regulation
By now, most federal states have their own regulations. Many of them let supermarkets open 24/7, but not on Sundays. Most stores close at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. anyway. Berlin has a few large supermarkets that open from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. But, whoever insists on shopping for food on Sundays will be disappointed, especially new expatriates who just moved here and tourists who had no clue about this weird regulation before they arrived.
While people in Germany (but also in Austria, Switzerland and Poland) have to plan ahead and buy their chicken wings and ravioli cans on Saturday, contemporaries in most other countries do not have this issue. Going to Safeway in Washington D.C. on a Sunday afternoon, to get marshmellows and cucumbers, is not a problem. In the United Kingdom, shopping for fish & chips or Worcester sauce on Sundays has been allowed since 1984.
Teriyaki Sauce
Back to Berlin: If the narrow range of products those “Rewe to Go” and “Spar Express” places at gas stations is not good enough, if you want more than a bottle of club soda from a “Späti” convenience store, or if a couple of bread rolls from the bakery around the corner are not satisfactory, there are emergency supermarkets you can go to. They do open thanks to special permissions they have.
They include an Edeka shop at Lichtenberg station and another one at Südkreuz station. These two stores open from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day, including Sundays and official holidays. Awesome!
But what if you feel the need to consume half a cow with Teriyaki sauce on Sunday at 10:15 p.m.? Head to Ostbahnhof station. Here, you have both a Penny and a Rewe supermarket, located on both sides of a Rossmann drugstore. All of them open on Sundays. This Rewe’s opening hours are 6:00 a.m. to midnight, every day (!), while this particular Penny works from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.. Yes, this includes Sundays.
Shouting Contest
Going there is quite an adventure. The basement, where those shops are located, is not exactly clean. And it is usually crowded as hell. On a typical Sunday, in the afternoon, a dozen intoxicated individuals holding beer bottles seem to be in the middle of a shouting contest. One topless gentleman who spoke Russian had a huge injury on his forehead. He explained he had tripped and fallen. He did not really care whether people there wanted to hear the story or not.
The stampede down there also included travelers who were pulling their suitcases through the isles at Penny, the cheaper one of the two supermarkets. Others looked like party people who needed a few sixpacks. Of course, there were many Berliners and other individuals who purchased tons of food. None of them seemed to be surprised about the long waiting lines at the cash registers or the smell in the hall between the stores. So, you need butter and ollives on a Sunday? Or maybe you just want to see this spot and inhale the atmosphere down there, the scent of freedom and adventure. Whatever it is: Go to Ostbahnhof.
Are there more emergency supermarkets in Berlin? Sure, here we go: There is a sort of small “Rewe” at Hauptbahnhof, on one of the lower levels. There is another one of those at BER Airport in Schönefeld (Brandenburg province).
Gesundbrunnen and Bahnhof Zoo
At Friedrichstrasse station, an “Edeka” supermarket opens from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays, or from 8:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekends.
Another one, a “Hit” supermarket at Zoologischer Garten station, located under the main bridge there, opens from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sundays. Whoever enters this one will feel he or she is in a bad movie. But they do offer food and drinks of all kinds.
On top of all of the above, there are “Denns Biomarkt” shops at Central Station, Gesundbrunnen station and Zoologischer Garten station. “Go Asia”, an small Asian supermarket at Potsdamer Platz station, opens from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays, and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m..
We counted the supermarkets mentioned. The total is eleven, in Berlin, and one at BER Airport.
