Communities that have already spent money on planning the reuse of former military sites will not receive compensation from the federal government if such projects are halted.
A letter from Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) to Left Party Bundestag member Katalin Gennburg – reported by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland – made this clear. Pistorius wrote that, “where urban‑planning considerations and the efforts of cities and municipalities to convert individual areas can no longer be realised due to the Bundeswehr’s needs, there is no legal claim to compensation”.
Gennburg had asked how the Defence Ministry would proceed in cases where municipalities or private parties had already incurred significant costs based on official assurances or ongoing conversion processes. In reply, Pistorius emphasised the “structural‑political opportunities” of redeploying military areas by the Bundeswehr, noting that communities could actually benefit if the military were to return to the sites. He also stated that the Bundeswehr aims to find consensual solutions with the affected cities and municipalities.
The Left rejects the militarisation of federal properties and demands civil use of former barracks and military grounds. Gennburg told RND that, “we rejected the militarisation of Bundesliegenschaften and instead call for the civilian use of old barracks and military sites. Housing‑building and city‑planning projects on these conversion sites have demanded a great deal of energy, money, and creativity from our municipalities over recent decades. It cannot be that the federal government simply destroys these plans, buries them – and perhaps does so without compensation”.