The following are exempt from distraint:
items for the personal use of the debtor and his family, such as clothing, personal effects, household appliances, furniture or other movable items, insofar as they are indispensable;
animals kept for domestic purposes and not for property or profit;
books of religious edification and items of worship;
tools, equipment, instruments and books, insofar as they are necessary for the debtor and his family to practise their profession;
at the choice of the debtor, either two dairy cows or other cattle, or four goats or sheep, as well as small animals, together with the fodder and straw necessary for their subsistence and bedding for four months, provided the animals are indispensable to the debtor and his family or for the maintenance of his business;
the food and combustible fuels required by the debtor and his family for the two months following the distraint proceedings or the cash or claims required to purchase them;
the clothing, equipment and weapons, the service horse and the pay of a member of the armed forces, the pocket money of a person performing civilian service as well as the clothing and equipment and allowance of a person performing civil protection service;
welfare benefits and support from relief, health and welfare funds, death benefit organisations and similar institutions;
pensions, lump-sum settlements and other benefits paid to victims or their relatives for bodily injury, health disorders or the death of a person, insofar as such benefits constitute satisfaction, compensation for medical expenses or for the purchase of aids;
pensions pursuant to Article 20 of the Federal Act of 20 December 1946199 on Old Age and Survivors’ Insurance or pursuant to Article 50 of the Federal Act of 19 June 1959200 on Invalidity Insurance, benefits pursuant to Article 12 of the Federal Act of 19 March 1965201 on Benefits Supplementary to the Old Age, Survivors’ and Disability Insurance and benefits from family compensation funds;
claims to pension and vested benefits against an occupational pension scheme before they fall due;
assets of a foreign state or a foreign central bank that serve sovereign purposes.
Items for which it can be assumed from the outset that the surplus of the realisation proceeds over the costs would be so small that removal is not justified may not be distrained. However, they must be noted in the deed of distraint together with the estimated amount.204
High-value items in accordance with paragraph 1, numbers 1–3 are distrainable; However, they may only be taken away from the debtor if the creditor provides replacement items of the same utility value or the amount required to purchase them before they are taken away.205