--- title: Lawsuit Over Cowbells Divdes a Small German Town description: Are cowbells too loud? That's the question polarizing residents of Holzkirchen, Germany, where an unnamed couple is suing their neighbor. canonical: https://time.com/5469040/cowbells-lawsuit-germany/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-03T04:51:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:15.476Z og:title: Lawsuit Over Cowbells Divdes a Small German Town og:description: A couple in Holzkirchen, Germany say they can't get any sleep og:url: https://time.com/5469040/cowbells-lawsuit-germany/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d67481a620c53/69894063929fadc576bf235c/gettyimages-557384727.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5333 og:image:height: 3000 og:image:alt: Switzerland, Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Cow with bell, Hoher Kasten in the background og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lawsuit Over Cowbells Divdes a Small German Town twitter:description: A couple in Holzkirchen, Germany say they can't get any sleep twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d67481a620c53/69894063929fadc576bf235c/gettyimages-557384727.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Lawsuit Over the Sound of Cowbells is Dividing a Small German Town > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 3, 2018 4:51 AM UTC  Schweiz, Kanton Appenzell Innerrhoden, Brülisau, Alp Sigel, im Hintergrund der Hohe Kasten Schweiz, Kanton Appenzell Innerrhoden, Brülisau, Alp Sigel, im Hintergrund der Hohe Kasten Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 3, 2018 4:51 AM UTC Are cowbells too loud? That’s the question polarizing residents of a market town to the south of Munich, [Germany](http://time.com/tag/germany/), where an unnamed couple is suing their neighbor. The BBC [reports](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46371208) that the couple bought a house in 2011 in the town of Holzkirchen. In 2014, a local dairy farmer leased the adjacent meadow and used it for grazing cows. The animals wear clanging cowbells so that their movements can be monitored. In their legal action, originally dismissed in 2017, the couple argued that the noise of the cowbells at night prevented them from getting proper [sleep](https://www.health.com/condition/sleep), which led them to suffer from depression. They also argued that putting cowbells on the animals was tantamount to animal cruelty. The couple is now appealing the dismissal of their suit, the BBC says, as well as launching a second action against the farmer and another against the local authorities who leased the meadow to the farmer. Many residents of the rural community are in favor of the farmer, with one insisting to the BBC that “Cows and cowbells are part of our tradition.” The mayor of Holzkirchen offered more neutral comments to the British broadcaster, asking “how far should the keeping of animals be seen as an objective disturbance” and “whether cowbells can be considered an appropriate part of agriculture in our region.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5469040/cowbells-lawsuit-germany/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5469040/cowbells-lawsuit-germany/"},"headline":"A Lawsuit Over the Sound of Cowbells is Dividing a Small German Town","datePublished":"2018-12-03T04:51:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:15.476Z","description":"A couple in Holzkirchen, Germany say they can't get any sleep","url":"https://time.com/5469040/cowbells-lawsuit-germany/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Germany","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d67481a620c53/69894063929fadc576bf235c/gettyimages-557384727.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94d67481a620c53/69894063929fadc576bf235c/gettyimages-557384727.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Switzerland, Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Cow with bell, Hoher Kasten in the background","caption":"Switzerland, Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Cow with bell, Hoher Kasten in the background","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5469040/cowbells-lawsuit-germany/","name":"A Lawsuit Over the Sound of Cowbells is Dividing a Small German Town"}}]}] ```