Press
In exceptional cases, the German state is allowed to expropriate property, for example for road construction. The Left Party speaks of “double standards” with regard to the lack of housing.
Berlin – Many people in Germany react almost allergically to the word expropriation. Liberals and conservatives in particular do not approve of the state-ordered confiscation of property. This makes the figures presented by the federal government at the request of the Left Party on expropriations in recent years all the more astonishing. They are IPPEN.MEDIA The result: In federal states governed by the CDU, by far the most people have been expropriated for many years. This is not due to a break in the conservatives’ ideology, the left nevertheless criticize “double standards”.
Expropriations in Germany: Most proceedings in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt
The Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag asked about expropriations in the course of road and land consolidation measures by means of a small request. The government’s response was provided in mid-June by the Parliamentary State Secretary for Digital and Transport, Oliver Luksic (FDP). It shows that most potential expropriations have been initiated in recent years in the CDU-governed federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. In 2023 alone, there were 32 new expropriation proceedings in Saxony-Anhalt, of which 18 were completed and 14 are still ongoing. In Saxony, there are a total of 28 proceedings for the year, of which 4 have been completed.
In previous years from 2020, the two federal states always occupied the top places in terms of expropriation proceedings (in Saxony from 2020 to 2023 110 proceedings, in Saxony-Anhalt 122 proceedings). Brandenburg ranks third with 24 proceedings in 2023. In the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, there were 12 expropriation proceedings, in Hesse 5. In the current year 2024, the federal state of Thuringia is in first place with 7 cases started.
Road construction projects as a basis for expropriations by the state
The Federal Highways Act allows the procedure. Paragraph 19 allows it if it serves the “fulfillment of the tasks” of the body responsible for “the road construction of federal highways”. This means that if a new highway is built, the federal government is in principle free to expropriate if necessary and in accordance with the respective circumstances. The federal states also have their own options for expropriation, although the laws differ at the state level. Those expropriated are entitled to compensation for the property taken from them.
Federal State | Number of expropriation proceedings in 2023 according to §19 FStrG |
Baden-Wurttemberg | 5 |
Bavaria | 7 |
Berlin | 5 |
Brandenburg | 24 |
Bremen | 0 |
Hamburg | 0 |
Hesse | 5 |
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 3 |
Lower Saxony | 8th |
North Rhine-Westphalia | 12 |
Rhineland-Palatinate | 0 |
Saarland | 2 |
Saxony | 28 |
Saxony-Anhalt | 32 |
Schleswig-Holstein | 4 |
Thuringia | 4 |
In both Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, it is motorway and federal road projects that are leading to expropriations. The A14 motorway, for example, is currently being expanded. It begins near Dresden, is interrupted near Magdeburg, before leading back through Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to the Baltic Sea. The northern extension of the A14 is scheduled to be completed by 2030 at the latest. Work on this A14 motorway alone led to expropriation proceedings in four federal states in 2024.
Left complains about expropriations for the streets, but lack of them when it comes to housing
For the Left, this is a reason to criticize the federal states governed by the CDU. The party has its eye on the issue of housing shortages. “When it comes to road construction, people in Germany are happily expropriating. In Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in particular, where the CDU has been the prime ministers for many years, people are expropriating as much as they can,” says Caren Lay, spokesperson for rent, construction and housing policy for the Left in the Bundestag. Lay continues: “The ultra-conservative prime ministers are not suspected of wanting to rebuild the GDR. But driving a car seems to be more important to the CDU than affordable housing.”
Heidi Reichinnek, the party’s spokesperson for children and youth policy, follows up on the criticism. “There must not be double standards. If expropriations for road construction are possible, the socialization of large housing companies must also be possible.”
How much the states themselves expropriate is unclear
Since many infrastructure projects – such as the expansion of motorways – are the responsibility of the federal government, it is not always the state government’s decision whether and to what extent expropriation takes place locally. However, the federal states still have a say within the framework of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan, in which the Ministry of Transport regularly determines the necessity and urgency of infrastructure projects. The federal government does not provide any information on expropriation procedures initiated by the respective state governments themselves.
The government also says it has no information on how long expropriation procedures take on average and how many objections people have raised against them. “The individual procedures are the responsibility of the states,” the government’s response states. The government also has “no reliable information” on the question of how many expropriations are planned in the coming years.
#figures #expropriations #astonishing #CDU #states #lead