The protection of historical monuments cannot fundamentally prevent the installation of solar energy systems. This has now been clarified by the Münster Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in two landmark rulings (Ref.: 10 A 2281/23 and 10 A 1477/23 of 27 November 2024). According to this, the expansion of renewable energies should be prioritised over the protection of historical monuments when weighing up the protected interests. Only special circumstances relating to the protection of historical monuments could prevent the construction of solar installations. When examining whether such special circumstances exist, it depends on the reasons that led to the property being placed under monument protection. In the two cases that the OVG Münster had to decide on at second instance, these special circumstances of monument protection did not exist in the opinion of the court. In another case from 2023, however, the court ruled that OVG Lüneburg in favour of monument protection.

Contact persons for all legal questions regarding photovoltaics and monument protection in our practice are Rechtsanwalt Prof Dr Jan Thiele, Rechtsanwalt Tobias Ross and lawyer Josefine Wilke.