Berlin (AFP) - On a sunny Sunday in April, 20 people were enjoying a barbecue in the city of Schwerin in northern Germany.
The police promptly intervened, slapping them with a fine for breaking new social distancing rules to limit the spread of COVID-19.
They were alerted to the festivities by a neighbour, "outraged by such behaviour", who also proceeded to boast about her efforts on social media, opening up a heated debate about the return of denunciation to Germany and whether it is acceptable in the current crisis.
Telling on your neighbours is a highly sensitive subject in a country still haunted by memories of Nazism and the former communist dictatorship in East Germany, two regimes under which informing on others was practically a national policy.
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