There's a saying: "In Germany everything is forbidden until it is permitted". This continues with various other country's variations - I'll put a list at the end of this post, I'm sure many people can add to it.
One rule that particularly annoys affects me is "Everything Must Be Closed on Sundays". Sunday is sacrosanct. The church is surprisingly powerful here and insisted upon this law in 2009. I live near a church and they do not have a large congregation... [ETA: I've since been informed the Trade Unions had a big part to play in this law too.]
While attractions such as the zoo and museums are allowed to be open, no retail establishment is permitted to trade. This means that all shopping has to be done either during the week or on Saturday. Some out of town places even close at lunchtime on Saturdays.
I don't like having to be this organised. If I start some gardening project, for example, I'd like to be able to pop to the garden centre on a Sunday to purchase whatever it is I've forgotten. Or if, as is usual, I've run out of milk... I can't pop to the conbeni or local store to get more. I suppose I'll get used to it, but I'm already bored with trying to remember everything we need to get on a Saturday.
Another interesting rule is about washing your car. Basically you can't. You're not allowed to; it's against the law. You can wash your car yourself IF you happen to live near a special city-authorised car-washing drain. Otherwise you must use a public car wash. Some places even have restrictions on which day of the week car washing is permitted!
Gardens: You must keep your front garden looking good. But you are not allowed to cut any trees.
Quiet Time: During the hours of 1pm-3pm and after 8pm and all day on Sundays and public holidays you must not make excessive noise. Such as mowing the lawn, drilling, hammering or anything else noisy that may upset your neighbours. I think barking dogs and squealing kids are also included but we haven't been told off yet...
It's also illegal to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing when the light is on red and if the police see you do it, you'll be fined. (So just make sure they don't see you!)
And one of the strangest rules of all - it is against the law to have the ashes of your loved one stored in an urn at home after cremation. Lucky I don't have any then...
As for the rest of the list I referred to at the beginning of this post... these were contributed by an expat forum I belong to. I hope they are taken in the humorous way they're intended.
- In Germany everything is forbidden until it is permitted.
- In England everything is permitted until it is forbidden.
- In France everything is permitted even if it is forbidden.
- In Singapore everything is forbidden even if it is permitted
- In the US, everything is permitted until a marketing research study finds that it A) causes cancer or B) is fattening. Then it's forbidden, but only in certain states.
- In the Philippines everything forbidden can be permitted depending on your social status.
- In Italy, if you're the Prime Minister or know the right people...everything is permitted... otherwise, everything is still permitted, but you have to talk your way around it.
- In India everything is permitted if you can pay for it, and everything is forbidden if you can't.
- In Thailand, everything is permitted and everything is not forbidden!