Downstairs neighbor hired a lawyer to send me an Abmahnung for showering at night
I work late shifts at a local clinic and usually get back home around 10:45 PM. The first thing I do is take a quick ten minute shower so I can go to sleep without feeling disgusting. I do not blast music, I do not sing, I literally just wash myself and turn off the water.
My neighbor downstairs has been banging on the ceiling with a broom for two weeks. Yesterday a formal yellow envelope arrived from a local Anwaltskanzlei representing him. They claim I am violating the Hausordnung and breaking the statutory Nachtruhe after 22:00. Even worse, they attached a strafbewehrte Unterlassungserklärung demanding I sign it and promise to pay 5,000€ for any future noise violation, plus pay 380€ for their legal fees.
the letter gives me until Friday to send back the signed paper. I talked to a colleague at work who said I should of ignored his banging from the start, but now I am panicking. Is personal hygiene really considered illegal noise disturbance under German law just because its past 10 PM?
I can not afford to drop hundreds on a counter-lawyer just to prove I am allowed to be clean. What happens if I just throw this garbage in the trash?