Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner Plans to Bring All Federal Ministries to Berlin, Calling it the ‘Only Efficient’ Solution.
Berlin’s Mayor, Kai Wegner, has announced plans to relocate all federal ministries to Berlin, stating that the current shared capital with Bonn is “not efficient, climate-damaging, and expensive.” Wegner, a CDU politician, believes that a complete relocation is necessary and has begun planning for the move.
Despite his stance, Wegner expressed a positive outlook for Bonn, stating that he welcomes the city’s continued importance as a seat of the United Nations and a hub for international organizations. This stance contradicts plans by Bauministerin Klara Geywitz, who signed an intent to establish Bonn as a permanent secondary government seat, along with the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the city of Bonn, and surrounding districts.
Currently, six of the 14 federal ministries have their primary offices in Bonn, with the remaining ones having a branch there. According to the Bund der Steuerzahler, 27% of the ministry’s personnel still work in Bonn, with the intention of maintaining this arrangement for at least another 35 years, as stated in a proposed addendum to the Bonn/Berlin Act.
The addendum, which is no longer viable due to the collapse of the coalition government, aims to strengthen Bonn’s international focus as the seat of the United Nations and establish the city as a hub for cybersecurity.
The city of Bonn, with a population of 335,000, is home to the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the highest authority for cybersecurity in Germany, which is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior.
Reiner Holznagel, President of the Bund der Steuerzahler, has criticized the proposed addendum, calling it an “overdimensioned regional support” and stating that the shared capital and new funding promises will further burden the already strained federal budget. According to the Bund der Steuerzahler, the dual government seat costs taxpayers around 20 million euros annually, mainly due to the commuting of officials and the need for additional offices for commuters at the second location.