[OJFord]

Interesting, but are they justified in that fear do you know?

What I mean is, if this is a commonly believed exaggeration then it could just be that in this case the person believing it wasn't the wasp-killer (or would-be-killer) but the cafe owner. Has your friend ever actually been fined for doing it, or did the cafe owner/manager mention having had to deal with it in the past?

Certainly does seem odd that this law would (a) exist; and (b) be intended to stop this sort of behaviour; and (c) actually be enforced!

[morelisp]

I doubt anyone has been fined the full value just from killing one wasp from some random fine. It is regularly enforced against people who try to burn down or otherwise remove nests on their property (without engaging a professional to try to remove it safely for both parties).

I would say mainly it's not enforced because b) has been effective - Germans (or Berliners at least) don't kill wasps! If doing so became common, it would probably be enforced more consistently.