Big Boys Hobbies

Hunting in Germany

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dasvinni

New Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2014
Messages
13
Be careful. Metal Detecting is Generally Legal. BUT
You can NOT Actively Hunt for WW2 Ammo and weapons
You can not Detect on Plowed and seeded Fields.
Many states now have a Treasure shelf. Meaning, if you for example find a Roman coin, you have to leave it where you found it, protect it and notify the
archaeological society. Even if you pick it up and take it there, you will be fined and your equipment confiscated. There are many confusing laws from State to State. There are many Historical sites to mind.(Churches,. Most Churches are historical sites. Castles,near old cemeteries) Your best bet ,go to city hall and ask for a map of city owned property. They will give it to you and tell you where you can Hunt. Always write down the name of the Person that gave you permission. This is the safest way to go Hunting with out Problems. I know ,I am from Germany. If some one approaches you and ask questions, they are probably just curious, so ,Don't be a jerk.A Little common sense, and you will have a great time Hunting. By the way, Many farmers and land owners also own gasthauses (Bars) in the Villages. So go have a beer, talk to them and they most likely will give you Permission to Hunt on there Land.

FRANCE
Except for beaches on the southern coast, with Permission of the Mayor it is now illegal to Metal detect
in France.If they catch you ,especially on WW1 &WW2 Battlefield's the very least ,you will lose your equipment. On Battlefields, get caught and you go to jail .These are new and not yet published Laws. Please take them serious ,
Please follow above
 
dasvinni, If I was in Germany, I would not hesitate to hunt far and wide, at as many places as possible. Might there be some archie in an ivory tower castle somewhere who can find something technical to apply? No doubt. So too would archies and lawyers in ANY country probably be able to find dire-sounding verbage, to make any md'r think he's relegated to sandboxes.

There's a long thread of German hunters here on FMDF that has scores of pix of coins (yes even back to Roman times), and (gasp) WWII relics. And .... to my knowledge, they're hunting plowed fields (farmer's fields with permission). Since when can't a farmer do what he wants on his own land ? Oh wait, let me guess: when you ask enough questions of enough bureaucrats.

I'm not saying to "throw caution to the wind". I mean, sure: avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments, use common sense, etc... But be assured, there's plenty of hunters hunting in Germany.
 
dasvinni said:
...FRANCE
Except for beaches with Permission of the Mayor it is now illegal to Metal detect
Click to expand...

Do you say this applies to just public land in France? Or are you saying this extends all the way down to even private land (eg.: farmers fields with permission)?

I have a friend who's mom has an investment property in France. And when he was there a year or so ago, he took his detector and had no problems. He worked old grape vineyards. Found some old coins and relic. Never had any issues.
 
Welcome to the forum dasvinni . There must be a lot of angry detectorists posting in forums in Germany and France .
 
Hunting in germany

Tom_in_CA said:
dasvinni, If I was in Germany, I would not hesitate to hunt far and wide, at as many places as possible. Might there be some archie in an ivory tower castle somewhere who can find something technical to apply? No doubt. So too would archies and lawyers in ANY country probably be able to find dire-sounding verbage, to make any md'r think he's relegated to sandboxes.

There's a long thread of German hunters here on FMDF that has scores of pix of coins (yes even back to Roman times), and (gasp) WWII relics. And .... to my knowledge, they're hunting plowed fields (farmer's fields with permission). Since when can't a farmer do what he wants on his own land ? Oh wait, let me guess: when you ask enough questions of enough bureaucrats.

I'm not saying to "throw caution to the wind". I mean, sure: avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments, use common sense, etc... But be assured, there's plenty of hunters hunting in Germany.
Click to expand...

Hi tom
Of course you can Hunt with a Farmers or Landowners Permission. But no Farmer will allow you to Hunt on Plowed and SEEDED Fields. Keyword SEEDED. Unfortunately Many Detectorist don't ask Permission which are the reason for ever tightening Laws. And yes scores of coins. I am saying HISTORICAL coins and artifacts are of limits to keep .If you put the Roman coin in to your Pocket and shut up about it, then Nobody knows. And yes, you will find lots of Ammo. What I mean to say. You are not allowed to Specifically Hunt for Ammo..
On the other hand, if you find Historical items and you, as you" should" Notify the proper authorities ,they will then declare the field of limits(including the owner) until Archaeological studies are over. They will dig up the whole area of the find. So, would I do this to the Landowner who gave me Permission??
Hell no.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Do you say this applies to just public land in France? Or are you saying this extends all the way down to even private land (eg.: farmers fields with permission)?

I have a friend who's mom has an investment property in France. And when he was there a year or so ago, he took his detector and had no problems. He worked old grape vineyards. Found some old coins and relic. Never had any issues.
Click to expand...


Yes, Public Land. And some of Privately owned Land are historical sites.(Battlefields).Like the Beaches of Normandy, Verdun and so on.
 
dirt doctor said:
Welcome to the forum dasvinni . There must be a lot of angry detectorists posting in forums in Germany and France .
Click to expand...

In France ,yes. In Germany, no. Most everybody knows the laws and follows them.There are plenty of sites to Hunt.
 
dasvinni, I caught the word "seeded" afterwards. Sorry 'bout that. And OF COURSE no farmer is going to want footsteps messing up his plow lines after he's got seedlings going. So that goes without saying, but is not specifically for metal detecting, per se. But just for sake of crops.

So it sounds like you concur that .... just like they do in England, you can hunt farmer's FALLOW fields till you're blue in the face in Germany, since that's outside the realm of laws that apply to public land. Thus then the only issue is a) you can keep anything ancient, and b) you can't specifically look for WWII relics. Have I got this right. And regarding these laws, you say:

dasvinni said:
...Most everybody knows the laws and follows them.....
Click to expand...

But then you turn around and say:

dasvinni said:
....If you put the Roman coin in to your Pocket and shut up about it, then Nobody knows...
Click to expand...

dasvinni said:
...you" should" Notify the proper authorities ,they will then declare the field of limits(including the owner) until Archaeological studies are over. They will dig up the whole area of the find. So, would I do this to the Landowner who gave me Permission??
Hell no.
Click to expand...

Sort of sounds like the "indian bones" laws in the USA: Heaven help you if you found a bone on your property (construction site, etc...). Because the site would be shut down, studies need to be done, indian counsels consulted, ceremonies performed, repatriation steps taken, blah blah blah. So guess what ? NO ONE FINDS INDIAN BONES. Imagine that. :roll:
 
follow the Denkmal, and get permission. It is too easy to detect in Germany. Following these 2 easy steps has saved me from johnny law a time or two. The bergermeister of a nearby town called the poilizei on me and a buddy not too long ago. He took down my license plate and gave themt he number. I get a knock from the polizei and i go down to the station. They tell me I have been hunting on historical monumental property ( according to the mayor ). So they threaten to take my gear and so on and so forth. I ask them to show me on a map where I was reported to be and BINGO...they were right..I was right where the map said I was. So I in turn use their computer, print out a map of the same area off of the denkmal. Voila, by using this Denkmal, it saved my hind end. I was told to disregard, because in fact.....I had the proof from a federal resource that I was in the clear. It is always smart to know the laws...or what little laws they have in place here.....and have permission on a plot...which by law you do not necessarily need permission because there is no trespassing law....and your good to go. As far as the "you cant actively hsearch for weapons and munitions"...got it, my detector doesnt know the difference in a pistol and a oxen shoe.....rules
 
As I Stated, go to city hall and ask for a printout of Town owned Property and ask where you can Hunt. If you have a smartphone ,you can take a photo of the maps. Many of those officials have ask me if they could tag along.to see how that works. And I can say that I turned a few of them on to the Hobby
 
Germany Battlefield Hunting

I don't want to break any laws or disturb graves, but I think it would be amazing to find something for my collection from the ground.

I know you can't dig in Germany but I heard you can pick up off the ground. I will be in Berlin on my honeymoon late in October. If anyone could take me legally to where you could look for battle relics I would pay you to take me out for a few hours.
 
How come then that the german detektorforum(.de) is full with roman finds? Are they all illegal?

Ok. Hürtgen you can not go. Everybody in europe knows that. Same goes for the Bulge.

But i know several Dutch people hunting in germany and they never have problems. They even have official permission.
And they find and present those finds, so not confiscated.
 
beest said:
How come then that the german detektorforum(.de) is full with roman finds? Are they all illegal?....
Click to expand...

This is what befuddles me too. A post where .... sure as heck .... someone can come up with scary dire-sounding laws, for some far-away place. Which causes every potential hunter thinking of going there, to "grovel at bureaucrats and archie's desks".

Yet ... meanwhile ... as you point out ... there's no shortage of show & tell posts from those same exact areas. Hmmm.

I'll bet it would be no different than if the same exact series of steps were done in the USA too : Go ask a bunch of city our county or state people : "Hi, can I dig in the park ?". Then go ask a bunch of purist archies: "Hi, can I disturb indian bones and metal detect ?". Then sit back and hear a bunch of "dire sounding laws". Then go post them on forums as a death-warning to all the other potential md'rs.

Yet .... oddly .... there's tons of people md'ing in the USA without a care in the world. How can that be ? So too is it probably the same thing for Germany and other such European locations. NOT SAYING TO THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND, but just saying: Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy.
 
Ok. There are rules. In each country, but in each country slightly different.
But not that hugely different als al european country's (and more?) follow up the Valletta Treaty in creation of there laws.

Off course, every country forbids to dig on archeological sites. Which is good.
But detecting somewere?
We as amateur archologists should be respected if we bring new locations. In my country we are respected for that, both moral as within law.

Official registries of finds in my country from detectorists.
The aim of PAN is to document archaeological finds in private possession, in particular metal finds found using a metal detector, and to publish them online, thus making the information about the finds and their find location available for science, heritage research, museums and all other interested parties.
Click to expand...
 
beest said:
Ok. There are rules. In each country, .....

Off course, every country forbids to dig on archeological sites.....
Click to expand...

Ok, but so too can the same be said of ANY country. I mean, sure : There are some "rules" here in the USA. And you can't md on "archaeological sites", blah blah. But there's no shortage of md'rs here, and no shortage of places to detect.

I can't help but think that if the tables were reversed, and it was a European hunter getting ready to travel to the USA, that he might not likewise "talk himself out of " md'ing here. By simply finding all sorts of "dire sounding" things that you can find by googling. Yet the reality is far different : So long as you use common sense, you can detect here to your heart's content.

So too, when I read of md'rs musing the various European countries, do I often wonder if they are just finding all sorts of "dire sounding stuff", yet reality is different. Ie.: just don't do anything stupid, don't make waves, and odds are .... no one cares less.
 
+1 Tom.
Althought sometimes hard to do with the beeps in your headphone and the wind in your hair (chill-mode), always keep thinking. Always use your common sence.
 
beest said:
+1 Tom. ...
Click to expand...

thanx beest. Humorously, what happens next, if you suggest to someone that "their hands won't be cut off for detecting in some odd-ball country", here's what they will do next, to get to the bottom of the question:

Drumroll ..... They ask. And get told "no" (or find the "dire sounding" link that says no on the net)

Ok, sure. And so too if I waltz into any place in the USA and ask "Hi can I dig holes and take things ?" : I will likewise be told "no". At places that, quite frankly, you'd be ignored. And then .... sure, I can create a "dire sounding" link with this bad news. Meanwhile, all the oldtimers are left scratching their heads saying "since when ?"

Another thing to keep in mind, when studying the laws for various odd-ball countries (and/or states within those countries), is that often-time what you read ONLY APPLIES TO PUBLIC LAND. So ... like they do 99% of the time in England, presto: Hunt farmer's land with permission. Then you are outside of the scope of laws that govern public land.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
is that often-time what you read ONLY APPLIES TO PUBLIC LAND. So ... like they do 99% of the time in England, presto: Hunt farmer's land with permission. Then you are outside of the scope of laws that govern public land.
Click to expand...

That is not totally right.
Farmers do have to follow laws. They to are prohibited to plow deep on archeological sites for instance. They to can get ristrictions (by law) if wwII amunition is involved. They can be forced to sow gras instead of bigger crops. And more of that.
Here we have cities with prohibitions to detect for wwII risks. And those apply private property to.
Here we have medieval city centres were people living there may not even dig in a beach umbrella foot let alone a pond in their own garden.

It is the same as that you can not say law does not apply on private property so i can kill anyone at home.
I wonder, and think i have it right as i saw it in documentaries, that if you overthere live on a civil war battle field or something like that, that you (and farmers) can not dig as much as you wish either. That you (and farmers) are restricted by law to.

You have a point that farmers land many times is an easy going.
 
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