Noise Disturbance in Weißenfels: Logging and Measurement

Noise Pollution | Disturbance of the Peace in Residential Areas

Three years ago, the single teacher Ms. Rackwitz fulfilled a lifelong dream by purchasing and moving into a stylish period apartment in Weißenfels. The future client of our detective agency in Weißenfels* spent her free time mainly listening to classical music and reading fiction; her apartment served as an oasis of peace. However, a few months ago new tenants moved in above her—and the peace was over. Ms. Rackwitz complained about extreme noise from the apartment as early as 6:00 a.m., including everyday but persistently disturbing sounds such as prolonged showering and constant toilet flushing, as well as unusual noise like sudden banging from cabinet doors, toilet lids, and even explosion-like sounds.

 

Constant noise increases stress levels, prevents relaxation, and can even cause illness. Noise disturbance constitutes an administrative offense pursuant to § 117 “Unacceptable Noise” of the German Administrative Offenses Act (OWiG). In cases of significant noise disturbance, the affected party is entitled under § 1004 of the German Civil Code (BGB) to demand removal and injunctive relief from the responsible party.

More occupants than permitted?

According to the lease agreement, only two people (a married couple) were supposed to live in the neighboring apartment. This was also the intention of the property management, which owned around 80% of the residential units in the building, as it was a very quiet residence primarily for middle-aged to older individuals. Singles and couples without children or with grown children were clearly preferred over students and families with children. All the more surprising for our client was that she regularly perceived more than two people (usually four to seven) in the apartment above her, including children almost daily (presumably the tenants’ grandchildren).

 

Aaden Detective Agency was tasked with investigating the matter by creating a noise log and conducting sound measurements. Ms. Rackwitz’s attempts to resolve the issue first with the neighbors and then with the property management had been unsuccessful; she was dismissed as hypersensitive and bitter, and told she was imagining things.

Unusual intensity of showering and bathing

Since the noise level, according to Ms. Rackwitz, regularly began to rise as early as 6:00 a.m., our detective for Weißenfels* went to the client’s apartment at 5:30 a.m. to begin the noise log. In fact, shower noises from the neighboring apartment started shortly after 6:00 a.m., but they remained within normal limits. The house was not well insulated against noise, so audible but unavoidable sounds from the bathroom and the pipes running through the walls reached the apartment below the noise source. Ms. Rackwitz commented: “Just wait. It is the woman who showers quietly, but when the rest of the crowd starts coming in one by one, it gets loud.”

 

In fact, the bathtub was then filled at high speed, which created a disturbing level of noise in Ms. Rackwitz’s apartment. However, this could not be attributed to misconduct by the neighbors, but simply to poor insulation. At the same time as the steadily splashing bathwater, shower noises started up again, and together they built into a thoroughly irritating soundscape. The bathwater was left running for more than an hour—as if someone were trying to fill a bathtub without closing the drain. Our corporate detective in Weißenfels* understood that such behavior is annoying in the long run if you have to listen to it every morning, but it was probably not enough to constitute direct harassment. Overall, these Weißenfels shower-and-bath activities continued until about 11:00 a.m., with only short interruptions of up to ten minutes.

Sound Levels Resemble a Construction Site in the Apartment

During the washing period described above, the noise level temporarily increased further due to running around and the dropping of various objects. According to the voices, these noises clearly came from children, who also had to be wearing sturdy shoes, since their steps on the parquet floor caused distinct clicking sounds. From around 4:15 p.m., the investigator from our corporate detective agency in Weißenfels* perceived the firecracker-like banging noises mentioned by Ms. Rackwitz. Exactly what caused them could not be determined, but during noise measurements they reached peak values of 86 decibels in Ms. Rackwitz’s apartment. For comparison: a lawn mower produces around 80 dB of noise. This was therefore no longer at room level, and consequently a disturbance of the peace was present that could no longer be justified by the ordinary protection afforded to normal children’s noise. Later, squeaking noises and dull thuds on the floor with an unknown object were also added.

 

From 7:00 p.m. onward, the atmosphere in the apartment was almost unbearable, because banging and crashing sounds came from below every minute. The morning bathing sessions now experienced a revival and culminated after 11:00 p.m. in repeated underwater explosions, possibly caused by fireworks. Clearly audible television noise and overlapping music continued until about 2:30 a.m., after which it finally became quiet. Since no further noise occurred until 3:15 a.m., our detective in Weißenfels* ended the assignment after more than 21 hours.

Disturbance of Sunday Rest

Through the first logging and measurement, our private detective agency in Weißenfels* was already able to establish that Ms. Rackwitz’s neighbors were observing neither night rest nor midday rest and were also generally and repeatedly exceeding the legal guideline and limit values for sound emissions in residential areas by a considerable margin. During a second operation on a Sunday, it was then to be proven that the first documented incidents were not isolated cases and that there was also a disturbance of Sunday rest. The events and measurements from the first operation largely matched those of the Sunday assignment. In particular, the extensive showering and bathing both very early in the morning and very late in the evening or at night were highly unusual.

 

Ms. Rackwitz received a court-admissible investigative report with a compilation of the measurement data from our detective team in Weißenfels*. Based on this, she was able to prove to the property management that she was not the crazy person they had made her out to be. She demanded appropriate action from the property management (warning notice, termination of the lease, and, if necessary, eviction by force should the tenants continue to show no insight).

Second Assignment for Our Weißenfels Detectives* in the Same Matter

The property management agreed that the tenants could no longer be tolerated because of the known incidents—even if they were to stop the nuisance in the future. Their general behavior did not fit the intended clientele of the house. The management was particularly displeased that apparently more people than the two permitted tenants were regularly living in the apartment. However, a warning notice with a demand to cease the nuisance and a threat of termination was initially sent only because of the disturbances of the peace.

 

Since the company already had the contact details of our corporate investigators in Weißenfels* from the investigative report prepared for Ms. Rackwitz, the property management also commissioned us to investigate the noisy tenants. In addition to further noise measurements, their main concern was proof that additional residents were regularly being housed there. As part of our second investigation in this matter, these turned out to be the main tenants’ son, his wife, and two children. Instead of the two occupants permitted under the lease, there were thus six living there in total—so with such an overload of what was actually too small a living space, it is of course no wonder that even the sounds of everyday life become disturbing when combined. After completion of the follow-up assignment by our detective agency in Weißenfels*, the married couple was given short notice of termination of the lease due to various serious violations of the lease terms.

Notice

Note: For reasons of discretion and data protection, the locations and certain personal details have been altered without changing the substance of the actual events.

 

*Note: All assignments of Aaden Commercial Detective Agency Leipzig are processed by our operations management in Leipzig. We have a network of qualified, vetted investigators who can be active on site for you within a short time.

Aaden Corporate Detective Agency Leipzig

Brünner Straße 10

D-04209 Leipzig

Tel.: +49 341 3549 012-0

Fax: +49 341 3549 012-9

E-Mail: info@aaden-detektive-leipzig.de

Web: https://aaden-detektive-leipzig.de/en

 

CEO: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Register Court: Amtsgericht Köln

Registration Number: HRB 83824