You're basically describing what it was like for me as a child in Canada in the late 70s and early 80s..

Stores were closed on Sundays, things closed earlier in the evenings.. We survived, we planned ahead..

Now everything is open all the time. Malls are open on Christmas day, even on New Year's Day!

When do people have time to spend time together, to relax, to not be consumers but be people?

I kind of wish stores were still closed on Sundays..

Not everybody cares about sundays or holidays. I hate it when shops close early.

This also means that if you work in a shop you can go home shortly after 8pm and you have a free Sunday. The difference here is that Germans (arguably) respect the time off-work more.

It introduces a different mentality: you have to do something other than shop.

As an international traveler that for some reason ends up arriving in Germany Sundays, let me assure you, it sucks to high heaven that I can't get something to eat or drink easily.

Restaurants, bakeries, gas stations, and everything at airports or train stations is open on sundays in Germany.

Last time I went to Germany was...2009? I grabbed something to go at the airport and hit the road for my destination in central Bavaria. After I checked into my hotel, I hit six entire towns where everything was closed. It was around 6-7pm on a Sunday. Which is a hugely popular eating out time for families in the States. I finally found a Kebab place that was open and stuffed myself to the gills I was so starved. The rest of the week was perfectly fine. The next Sunday? Same thing, only I made sure to have a couple pre-made sandwiches in my hotel room and some breakfast meats I stored in the fridge from breakfast the previous day.

As a traveler, Germany on Sundays simply sucks.

Where are you having these problems?

International travellers tend to arrive by plane or train (as Derbasti says), you can buy something from there. Or from a restaurant.

The only problem you would have is with supermarkets away from the train station or airport.

The Middle of Bavaria. Of course the airport had food. But I was 2 and a half hours away from an airport by autobahn. Every restaurant for dozens of kilometers around was closed.

I asked my hotelier about it and he just shrugged and told me where to get some kebab three towns over.

my mentality is "I want some milk" and "I bet the gas stations are pretty happy about the Ladenöffnungszeitengesetz"

In Japan, there is no such law, and nearly all stores close at 8 PM anyway, many on sundays as well. There are 24/7 convenience stores which are almost exactly like German gas stations minus the gas. The net effect: harldy any difference.

Thanks, I'll bring up that example the next time somebody tries to convince me that we need a law and the market can't regulate itself.

Since you can get milk at the gas station if you forget to stock up the day before: what's the problem?

This bother me as well. However some stores are open until 10pm

In Dublin they open on Sunday, but close at 6pm on weekdays

At least here in Berlin many supermarkets only close at 22 PM or even at midnight. Haven't yet found any that are open on Sunday, though.

8pm? that's late...more or less everything (apart from the supermarkets) shuts in the UK at about 5:30-6:00...