German government still in Bonn. When will they move (and cut costs)?

The social democratic party (SPD) is claiming a final date when the rest of the government will move from Bonn to Berlin. It sounds impossible to understand why 20 years after the fall of the wall, in the 20th year of reunification there are as many civil servants and government employees in Berlin as in Bonn. Does the German population actually know? Apparently not. The subject came up when somebody in the Bundestag had a closer look on the list of government spending.


In 1999 the government moved from Bonn to Berlin, partially as we now know. Yes, we knew that some remained "for the moment" in Bonn. These are the figures from 2009: 6 of 14 ministries are still in Bonn, plus there are "representations" of the other eight that are already in Berlin, 8,732 civil servants in each city, 250 double offices, 132,000 airline tickets, 751 tons of mail. The association of tax payers estimates that this costs around 23 Mio EUR each year that could be spent elsewhere (data published by SZ on 15 Apr 2009). This sum includes the wasted working time that is never calculated in official lists. No surprise that the government gives a sum of only 8.8 Mio EUR.


Who has an interest in keeping the government divided? Many of the most influential politicians have their electoral district in the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, the home of Bonn. Now that the pockets are empty, the association of tax payers claims that moving the rest of the government to Berlin could save costs. The government say that this move would costs between 3 to 5 billion EUR and they cannot afford it. Also, why bother? The situation has been so cozy for the last 10 years. Mainly Eastern German ministers are fighting for a united government in Berlin. The rest keeps commuting. As they always did.

But there is hope. Those who lobby for Bonn are growing old. Young politicians have never known the real Bonn, but they do know the real Berlin which was a different story 10 years ago. Berlin has gained so much as a city, moving to Europe’s most exciting spot is appreciated by many. In 2008 the Department of the Interior planned its new building the way that also the staff from Bonn could be integrated. Politics through the back-door?

Germany is very proud of being one of the two countries that met the Kyoto agreement to reduce CO2. The commuting of its civil servants is definitely not very environmental. Maybe this will be decisive for the outcome of the war...