There's a middle ground, and that middle ground is just in a different place. In most cases, it just means that if you're pointing your camera at specific peop

There's a middle ground, and that middle ground is just in a different place. In most cases, it just means that if you're pointing your camera at specific people, you should just ask first. The activity of the photographer has zero bearing on that. I've been in Germany for many years. If someone points their camera at me, it would be perfectly normal for me to walk up to them and ask them what the hell they're doing. In this case, the law has very strong cultural backing. Case in point: for another guide on the same website, I needed a photo of a convenience store. I took one, and the man inside walked out and asked me why I was taking photos, saying that I shouldn't be doing that and so on. This was well within Panoramarecht, but I still had to reassure him that I needed a photo of a standard Späti to explain what they are, that the photo would be published on this specific website, that they were not visible in the photo and so on. Germans take privacy seriously.