Bavarian municipalities sell property to plug budget gaps
Monday 9th November 2026 on 05:31 in
Bavaria
Bavarian municipalities are increasingly selling land and buildings to ease strained budgets, BR reports, though experts warn that the sales can limit cities’ options for future development.
One possible sale is Kempfenhausen Castle, a 16th-century property with a chapel and large grounds in Berg on Lake Starnberg. It belongs to the City of Munich and earns about €100,000 a year by hosting training events, weddings and conferences. Munich’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) council group has proposed selling it.
The castle could fetch at least €10 million, and potentially more, according to local estate agent Errit Schlossberger. He said prospective buyers could come from around the world and that interest from the United Arab Emirates remained high.
FDP councillor Jörg Hoffmann says a sale could save Munich an estimated €500,000 a year in interest payments. The Social Democrats have so far taken a cautious position. The Greens say each sale should be carefully assessed, and that properties serving the public should remain in municipal hands. The city council is due to decide whether to sell the castle at a future meeting.
Figures from the Bavarian State Office for Statistics show that municipalities across the state are selling more assets, particularly land and property. Their combined revenue from these sales rose from €815 million in 2024 to €1 billion last year, an increase of about 25%. Revenue in the first half of 2026 was 40% higher than in the same period of 2025, rising from €436 million to €617 million.
Georg Grosse-Verspohl of the Bavarian Association of Municipalities said local authorities were selling significantly more assets than in the past to try to balance their budgets. But the proceeds fall short: last year’s €1 billion in property-sale revenue compared with a combined budget deficit of €4.5 billion.
Sandra Wagner-Endres of the German Institute of Urban Affairs cautioned against selling municipal assets out of financial necessity. Each property should be assessed for its importance to a city’s development, including its potential future role, she said. Selling can mean giving up a long-term tool for shaping a city.