DW: Germany is suffering from a dilapidated infrastructure and an investment gap worth billion
The night of September 11, 2024, shocked Germany when one of the four bridges spanning the Elbe River in Dresden collapsed.
Miraculously, no deaths or injuries were reported.
The incident occurred on the Carol Bridge in the world-famous Old Town, home to nearly 800,000 people in the Dresden area and visited by more than two million tourists each year.
The last tram of the night had crossed the Carol Bridge 18 minutes before the collapse.
The cause of the collapse was quickly discovered.
The steel installed in the bridge between 1967 and 1971 had been severely corroded and cracked.
This discovery sounded an alarm throughout Germany, as thousands of bridges are in such poor condition that they urgently need to be renovated or even demolished and rebuilt.
In total, it’s estimated that there are approximately 130,000 bridges in Germany.
Nearly 40,000 of these bridges on highways and major roads are essential for traffic flow nationwide.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, approximately 5,000 of these bridges are in urgent need of repair or demolition and reconstruction.
In 2024, €4.6 billion has been allocated from the budget for the renovation of motorways, major roads, and associated bridges.
In the failed 2025 budget discussions under the previous federal government, €5 billion was allocated.
This amount is not enough, according to the federal government-owned highway company Autobahn GmbH.
However, renovation is needed not only for bridges, but also for aging roads and railways, energy and water supplies, telecommunications, schools, universities, and hospitals.
Technical and social infrastructure has been neglected for decades.
Social Democratic Party leader Lars Klingbeil warned in early March that “our country has exhausted its resources.”
The need for renewal is compounded by the country’s lagging behind in digitalization and the incomplete transformation and expansion of its climate-neutral energy infrastructure.
Economists have long predicted the need for politicians to increase investments in infrastructure renewal.
A study by the Institute of the German Economy, which is linked to employers, estimated this need in the summer of 2024 at approximately €600 billion over the next ten years.
Modernizing the transport infrastructure requires most of these investments.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, approximately €25 billion is needed to renew the motorways alone by 2029.
Some €13 billion in overall railway network renewal plans have yet to be funded.
Deutsche Bahn, the recently under-fire rail operator, aims to overhaul the 40 most important lines, covering approximately 4,200 kilometers, by 2030.
The cost of a single transportation infrastructure project can be gauged by the costs of the Stuttgart 21 train station, which has been under construction for 15 years.
Official cost estimates have increased several times: from four billion euros at the start of construction to eleven billion euros in December 2023.
In June 2024, the Federation of German Industries estimated that €165 billion would be needed for transport infrastructure alone over the next ten years.
Current Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing had announced his intention to establish an infrastructure fund worth billion and was also seeking to allocate capital for it, but this never materialized.
Expanding the electricity grid requires massive investments.
Wind power is generated primarily in northern Germany, to distribute power across the country, more and stronger transmission lines must be built.
Transmission system operators estimate that expanding electricity grids alone could cost €55 billion – in addition to €110 billion for expanding local distribution networks by 2033.
So far, the costs have been borne by consumers through increased electricity prices.
This makes it less competitive worldwide; If the state wants to ease the burden on consumers, it must partially cover the grid charges.
There are also the costs of setting up backup power plants and a hydrogen network.
There is a significant housing shortage nationwide, especially in cities and urban areas.
This has led to significant rent increases in recent years, as in Munich, for example, €24 per square meter is no longer unusual for new rentals.
This has several negative consequences: People with average incomes can no longer afford to live in cities.
Employers who don’t pay higher salaries can only find workers if they don’t provide housing for their employees.
An analysis by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) estimates that an additional €56 billion will be required over the next ten years to boost housing construction, but also to enable climate-friendly construction.
Renovating kindergartens, schools, and universities, and digitizing all educational institutions, also costs a lot of money.
The Federal Association of German Industry (BfD) expects funding requirements to reach around €100 billion.
The Federation of Education and Science (BfD) projects €130 billion.
“The German education system is like a construction site… The tasks are enormous,” he said in a statement issued in early March 2025.
The shortage of skilled workers is also very alarming, especially in daycare centers and schools.
Education is a state matter, and therefore the sixteen federal states are primarily responsible, but cities and municipalities also maintain infrastructure that is outdated and in desperate need of renovation.
However, less investment is made by municipalities because there isn’t enough money, as funds are empty and debt is high.
There are accumulated investments of approximately €50 billion in the hospital sector.
According to the German Hospital Association, approximately 70% of all hospitals in Germany are loss-making.
An additional €10 billion is needed to invest in disaster protection, including major crises and accidents such as floods and other weather disasters, but also in protection against risks associated with war.
