This calls it a 'myth', but really concludes that it's hyperbole arbitrarily calling out wasps; they're technically a protected species and you could be fined but.. almost certainly not going to happen for one or two wasps bothering you at a cafe or whatever?
I had a friend kicked out of a cafe once for killing a wasp because they didn't want to deal with the situation if the Ordnungsamt was walking by or something.
Wasps are the usual example because it's legal to kill flies/mosquitoes and no one wants to kill the other protected insects like bumblebees. The wasps in Berlin are common and pretty aggressive, and have free rein in an awful lot of the chain backeries.
I was at a country cafe in the UK where there were plenty of wasps nearby. They had some 'fake nests' hanging up, as apparently wasps will swarm and kill intruders, so they also don't go near nests that they know are not their own.
If it works or not I don't really know but at least I had a bowl of ice cream and wasn't especially bothered..
Interesting, but are they justified in that fear do you know?
What I mean is, if this is a commonly believed exaggeration then it could just be that in this case the person believing it wasn't the wasp-killer (or would-be-killer) but the cafe owner. Has your friend ever actually been fined for doing it, or did the cafe owner/manager mention having had to deal with it in the past?
Certainly does seem odd that this law would (a) exist; and (b) be intended to stop this sort of behaviour; and (c) actually be enforced!
I doubt anyone has been fined the full value just from killing one wasp from some random fine. It is regularly enforced against people who try to burn down or otherwise remove nests on their property (without engaging a professional to try to remove it safely for both parties).
I would say mainly it's not enforced because b) has been effective - Germans (or Berliners at least) don't kill wasps! If doing so became common, it would probably be enforced more consistently.
