A Smoke-Free Berlin?

The city could go smoke-free as early as January 2007. Surprisingly, some Berliners are already beginning to get used to the idea.

Hans, a 39-year-old freelance management consultant, meets friends at a local bar most evenings and looks forward to being able to end a night without smelling like an ashtray.

"I think it's a very good idea because the places are cleaner and have better air," he said "The experiences other European countries already have seem to be positive, so why shouldn't Germany join the club?"

Germans puffs away

Germany finds itself one of the dwindling number of EU countries that does not have a nationwide smoking ban in public spaces but could soon be next. Germany leads Western Europe in tobacco consumption with about 34 percent of the public smoking regularly and nearly 140,000 Germans dying every year from tobacco-related illnesses. Some 3,000 people die from second hand smoke annually, according to the German Cancer Research Center.

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit's Social Democrats (SPD) and their coalition partners, the Left Party, announced last week that they will press ahead with plans to make the German capital smoke-free out of concern over public health.

German pub and restaurant owners pledged to create non-smoking areas in their establishments. Yet only about 30 percent of Germany's 100,000 restaurants offer a non-smoking section, according to the German Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Ban has public support

Supporters of a ban dismiss claims that bars and restaurants will lose customers. Matthias, a 31-year-old teacher from Kreuzberg, believes that Berliners will become accustomed to smokeless bars and points to the experience of Ireland where smoking in the workplace was banned two years ago.

"I'm absolutely in favor of it. I think it's a good idea and people just would get used to it," Matthias said. "It would be better for families and it's nicer to come home and not smell like a smoker. We spent our holiday in Ireland and they have a smoking ban and it works out there. And it's still a great atmosphere in the pubs in Ireland."

Surprisingly, public opinion is largely in favor of the ban. According to a recent Der Spiegel survey, 44 percent of interviewees were in favor of a general smoking ban in restaurants and bars, while 66 percent supported smoking bans at workplaces.

In fact, none of the smokers approached at random at the bars and restaurants around Prenzlauer Berg were against it. After taking an introspective drag on her cigarette, 22-year-old Janine, whose friends dubiously laughed when she admitted to smoking about ten cigarettes each day, said that she looked forward to the ban as an incentive to give up the habit.

"I actually support the ban because I'd like to quit smoking pretty soon, so I think it's just good for health," she said.

Coolness quotient

But not everyone thinks it’s such a good idea. Dina, 23, has been a bartender for two years but has smoked for more than three times as long. She thinks bars without smoke will make for a very tense night out.

"I don't think a lot of it. You know, I'm smoking. I like to smoke when I go out," she said.

Even with broad public support, it's unclear whether Berlin will follow the United States and other European countries before them and give up "the German vice."

In the fashionable bars and restaurants of Berlin, it seems that the coolness quotient is inversely proportional to the air quality. What’s even more surprising is that many of these urban hipsters also stockpile all things organic and moan should they miss their daily yoga lesson.

The new laws could be the herald of a whole new way of life for Germans. But don't hold your breath.