In Germany, only a licensed pharmacist may own a pharmacy. Every partner in a pharmacy must hold the permit to run it. Besides the main pharmacy, which the owner must run in person, an owner may run at most three branches. On 19 May 2009, the European Court of Justice upheld the rule. A pharmacist also wants to make a profit, the court said. But as a professional pharmacist, he runs the pharmacy nicht nur aus rein wirtschaftlichen Zwecken, not only for purely economic purposes, but also from a professional point of view. His interest in profit is tempered by his training, his professional experience and the responsibility he bears.
In 1958, the Federal Constitutional Court decided an earlier pharmacy case. Bavaria had allowed a new pharmacy only where the public needed one and its economic basis was secure. The court declared the rule void, because it violated the freedom to choose an occupation. But it allowed the state to make entry depend on personal qualifications, especially education and training. The court described an occupation as something that is for the individual Lebensaufgabe und Lebensgrundlage, his life task and the basis of his livelihood.