Germany’s Lübeck to turn off night lighting in public buildings to save money

BERLIN, 26 Aug – PRIME. The German city of Lübeck will turn off the nighttime lighting of public buildings from August 29 in order to save energy, the new measures were not easy for the city, authorities said on the city’s official Internet portal.

“The Hanseatic city of Lübeck will turn off the outdoor lighting of public buildings from Monday, August 29. Those wishing to admire the historic buildings of the city in the glow of night lights will be able to do this on Saturday, August 27, during the Night of Museums, and for the last time on the night of Monday, August 29 “, the message says.

As the city authorities explained, in this way Lübeck contributes to the implementation of the energy saving rules adopted by the federal government. According to the new rules, the illumination of buildings and monuments from the outside was prohibited, unless it concerns security and emergency lighting.

Sights that will be affected by the outage include the cathedral, the churches of St. James and St. Catherine, the museum harbor and the old lighthouse of Travemünde. Previously, these structures were illuminated from dusk to one in the morning. According to the authorities, turning off the lights will save an average of 139.5 kWh of electricity per night.

“Because we know that many residents and visitors of our city do not want to give up the evening view of the illuminated historical skyline of the old city, these measures, of course, were not easy for us. However, we, as a municipality, must do our best to save energy “, commented the mayor of Lübeck, Jan Lindenau.

Earlier, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that the German Cabinet presented a new package of energy saving measures for citizens and businesses, these measures should prevent the occurrence of emergencies in the energy supply this and next winter.

The new measures stipulate that owners of private pools and baths will be prohibited from “intensive heating” of water. The minimum temperature in office premises will be reduced by 1 degree to 19 degrees, in public institutions it is forbidden to increase the temperature above 19 degrees. The heating of general premises where people “are not staying for a long time” will be banned. Warm water for washing hands will be turned off or its temperature will be reduced to a minimum.

Other measures include a restriction on advertising lighting during certain hours, and the lighting of public buildings and historical monuments will also be prohibited, “except for those that contribute to the safety of public transport and protection from other threats.” Building owners will be required to “optimize heating systems”, for which special checks will be carried out. According to a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers, short-term measures will come into force on September 1, they will tentatively last six months. The medium-term measures will come into force on 1 October and will last for 24 months.