Late-night drunking singing in the street

I live in the inner city, right next to an Irish pub. Most nights are fine, even with the loud talking and the recurrent drunken singing. The people pass by and the voices fade, and I can usually fall back asleep without even realizing I was awake.

This evening a group of about 25 students gathered at the end of my street and sang drinking and sports songs at the tops of their lungs for a solid 15 minutes. This is at 1:00 in the morning.(When I have a presentation in the morning.) What are my rights as a resident of the neighborhood? I was considering calling the police, but I was afraid I was assuming German police are like American ones, and that they'd laugh in my face. I was so angry I was ready to march out and start screaming at the group of people (like that would have done a whole lot of good...). Would it be illegal for me to pour a bucket of water on a crowd of people to get their attention? In the middle of winter it would certainly give them a reason to go home...

Is there anything else I can do to prevent these sorts of things happening again? The problem is, the police here are waiting on every corner for bicyclist biking the wrong way down a one way street, while ignoring the arrogant people driving their cars at 35 mph through the pedestrian zone a street over. How can I make it clear to the city (and to whom should I make it clear to?) that there needs to be more patrolling in the city and stricter laws and penalties for those who disturb the peace?

Thanks for the help.

plj

(By the way, I'm not some stupid prude... I'm just a very very stressed 20-something trying to survive her college education.)

i do not know about the legal case you have, but from past experience of 'almost' living above the arc, asking the people nicely to keep it down as you can't sleep normally works. if you have tried this or this happens regularly with different people, maybe try a friendly chat with the bar owners. if it is a group of guys, maybe you can ask the bar staff or owner to ask / demand on your behalf as they do not want to upset the neighbours.

From past experience you can call the police and they do come (after 11pm I believe is the time that the noise restriction applies). Considering it was a large gathering of 'yoofs' I'd imagine the polizei would be on your doorstep in minutes (this being Munich after all). Other than that, as Eric the Hamster posted, ask them to quiten down... this being Munich, they're not likely to knife you.

In college I used to throw water balloons from the roof at the sorority girls who sang in the streets during tough times like final exam week. It worked.

In the German Apotheker you can buy these really good ear plugs. They are a kind of rubbery plastic that you stretch long and once placed inside your ears they expand and totally block any noise. You will not hear a thing especially if your windows are closed. I also recommend them when you absolutely must have good nights sleep and you don't to be awoke by any unexpected noises during the night.

I found that by asking them to keep quiet and telling them the have say 30 minutes to finish up.before you call the police. Athte end of 30 minutes tell them the time is up and they moved on. But then again I did not live over a pub just a nice place where some people used to congregate for a few beers on a nice summers night.