Street musicians in Dresden should take a lunch break

The city of Dresden wants to impose an art break on street musicians. On the one hand, the city wants to "enable the practice of street art, but on the other hand also take into account the concerns of residents and tradespeople", explained Mayor Stephan Kühn (Greens) in Dresden on Monday. According to a draft presented to the city council committees on Monday, musicians will be allowed to take a break between 1 and 3 pm in future. The south and north sides of the Augustus Bridge are exempt from this.

"The volume associated with street music in particular, especially when using amplification systems, is often perceived as a nuisance and is the subject of many complaints. For this reason, a lunch break is to be introduced and amplification systems are to be dispensed with in selected performance areas," said the mayor.

The Dresden statutes differentiate between street music - musical performances with singing or instruments - and "acoustically perceptible street art", when the art is accompanied by music. There are no new time restrictions for the latter in the draft. It may continue to be practiced from 9.30 a.m. to 10 p.m. from the half hour to the full hour. In several locations - including places on Prager Straße - amplification systems will no longer be permitted in future. In addition, individual play areas are to be eliminated altogether.